Tree School

Tree School is a one day training created by the Oregon State University Extension. The purpose is to give small woodland owners an opportunity to learn about subjects related to tree farming. This popular training had over 700 participants. Fellows participated in various classes ranging from marketing, measurement, nursery management, and mushrooms.

Roy Wu, Oregon Department of Forestry

Fellows interviewed Roy Wu and learned about his experience working with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Roy was deputy state forester from April 2000 until his retirement in March 2004 and was responsible for staffing and organization of the Oregon Department of Forestry's (http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/) field operations and offices. He exercised leadership during the 2002 fire season, the most severe in recent history (http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue-siskiyou/biscuit-fire/index.shtml), by providing statewide strategic focus and directing resource priorities. As deputy he worked closely with forest landowners to reorganize a portion of western Oregon field operations.

Columbia Gorge

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Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute.

To understand how Oregon manages highly used recreation areas, Fellows visited the most popular site in Oregon: Multnomah Falls. The falls are the tallest in Oregon at 620 feet and they receive over 2 million visitors each year. There were a few surprises here for Fellows, including the lack of an entrance fee and how little time visitors seemed to spend at the falls (about 15 minutes). Fellows also visited the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.
Click on Nerijus for more photos.

Silver Falls State Park and Johnson-Swanson

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Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute.

Education Director Rick Zenn toured Fellows around Silver Falls State Park and Johnson-Swanson, a WFC-owned tree farm. Silver Falls State Park is home to ten waterfalls and is very popular with visitors. The management model used at Silver Falls is similar to those used in national parks. Fellows learned about managing visitors alongside wildlife such as cougars, income opportunities such as campsites and cabins, and the historic legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corp. Click on Ma for more photos.

Australian Fellow joins WFI

Matthew Pope joined WFI in March for a one-year Fellowship. He is employed by Forests New South Wales and is based in the small regional community of Tumut. Matthew has worked as an operations forester with a broad range of responsibilities including fire, recreation, weed control, and fertilizing and more recently he has been working with construction and maintenance of an 8,000 km road network. He is the first Australian to come from a background in radiata pine plantations, of which his region is responsible for 90,000 hectares.

Matthew will be investigating the use of integrated field data management systems. A competitive global market for timber products has increased the need to efficiently manage every aspect of the forestry business. The amount of information required by managers has also increased, due to greater accountability requirements for investors, environmental regulations, and certification systems. This equates to greater information transfer “to” and “from” the field with as much real time information as possible.

There is growing adoption of handheld computers to manage information in the field that goes beyond simple inventory numbers, and most questions have a spatial element. The coupling of GPS with handheld GIS for various functions allows for easy collection and management of field data. Matt’s project hopes to gain ideas for expanding upon data collection functions for more complicated user questions. For example, imagine the efficiency boost if field users could quickly find answers to questions related to management issues of boundary types, road suitability for harvest, and culvert use, without returning to the office for additional information.

Matthew is accompanied by his wife Ainsley and children Keegan (4) and Will (2). Ainsley has recently completed her teaching degree, but she also has diverse educational and work experience, including degrees in Asian Studies and Aquaculture. Before teaching Ainsley worked with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife service as an interpretive ranger, which included fire fighting duties and managing a silver pearch fish farm. The Pope family has traveled extensively, thanks in part to one of Ainsley’s positions as a travel agent, and are looking forward to their year-long American adventure.