February 2009 WFI Update Now Available

The newest WFI Update can now be downloaded from: http://wfi.worldforestrycenter.org/WFIupdate2.09.pdf

In this issue, find articles on:
*Welcome to New Fellows from China and Australia
*Congratulations to new Board of Directors member, Danish alumnus Jes Munk Hansen
*Holiday snow hits Portland
*Recent field tours to Weyerhaeuser Aurora Nursery and Tillamook Forest Center
*Alumni updates

Thanks,
Angie, Program Manager

Danish Alumnus Joins WFC Board of Directors

JMU poitrait for publications 2008
Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute

When Jes Munk Hansen joined WFI as the Danish Fellow in 1994, he hardly imagined that one day he would sit on the organization’s Board of Directors. Jes became the first alumnus to be voted in as a board member, and he is eager to contribute. "As a former Fellow I know the value of having senior executives on the Board who can guide the center and open doors for the activities and the interns at WFI," he says.

Jes has come a long way in the past fifteen years since he researched shipping projects and pricing for special forest products at WFI. He completed his Masters in forestry at the University of Copenhagen, as well as an MBA from London Business School. In 2000 he joined Grundfos Group, a company which develops, sells and produces pumps. Although Grundfos is not in the forest industry, his business and management training plus forestry’s long term perspective prepared him well. "I am looking forward to reconnecting with my background in forestry,” says Jes, “an industry which will always be close to my heart."

"I am very exited to rejoin WFC. The World Forest Institute was fundamental in getting my personal career started - now I want to contribute to further develop this great institution."

WFI Welcomes New Fellows from China and Australia

Two new Fellows recently joined WFI: in December, WFI welcomed Dr. Shouxin Xie, from Beijing, China, and in February, Ms. Roslyn Henricks from Mount Gambier, Australia.

Dr. Xie works for the Department of Forest Resources Management in the State Forestry Administration. His primary responsibilities are inventories and layouts of forest resources and supervising and management of forest harvest and resources utilization.

Shouxin will spend six months at WFI, researching the establishment and implementation of sustainable forest management policies in the US, especially in the Pacific Northwest. He hopes his research results will help improve the administration of China’s forest resource laws, particularly the establishment of sustainable harvest levels.

Roslyn Henricks joins WFI as the twelth fellow sponsored by The Gottstein Trust, Forest and Wood Products Australia, and the Harry Merlo Foundation. During her one year Fellowship, Roslyn’s research will investigate the relationship between the visual impacts of plantation forestry, social acceptability, plantation resource expansion, and landscape planning.

“Forest aesthetic value is strongly correlated with acceptance of forest management by a visually stimulated society,” Roslyn says, “and understanding how aesthetic value can be managed is critical if a forest industry is to be sustainable in a region or community.” Roslyn will compare plantation regions across Australia and the US, and hopes to recommend practical applications for improving aesthetic values and community support of plantations. Roslyn is well prepared for such a project, and has a combined degree in Forestry and Visual Arts at the Australian National University in Canberra, which included a 12 month international exchange at Oregon State University.

Weyerhaeuser Aurora Nursery Amazes Fellows with Production

IMG_1531
Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute

In well organized, machine-like precision, 160 contractors rapidly processed newly lifted seedlings for shipping at Weyerhaeuser’s Aurora Forest Nursery. With only 11 permanent staff members, and a large crew of seasonal labor, the nursery produces 28 million seedlings for reforestation and Christmas tree stock.

About half of the seedlings are used on Weyerhaeuser’s lands and the rest are available to the public, in quantities of one to one million. Many are grown under contract, with provided seed, or using Weyerhaeuser’s improved seed. Thirty-five different species are grown on the 190 acre site, which was one of Oregon’s original homesteads in the 1850s.

Generally, lifting seedlings begins in December, but with Oregon’s unusually cold winter, nursery activities were delayed six weeks. Manager Mark Triebwasser was confident that all orders would be filled, although it means long hours and few days off for staff. The intense schedule doesn’t deter Mark from enjoying his job: he has worked for Weyerhaeuser nearly thirty years and was still smiling as he explained the production process to Fellows.