  |
|
|
|
Extension Success StoriesView OSU Extension Success Stories by Program AreaForestryOregon’s emerging secondary forest products industry More than 35,000 workers, their families and communities draw value from the State’s growing secondary forest products industry. In the last year 1,400 new jobs in the forest products sector were created. Nearly 500 secondary firms exist in the Portland metropolitan area alone, where an expanding consumer base demands valuable wood products such as cabinetry and millwork driven by housing and “do-it yourself” markets. OSU serves this burgeoning industry through research and extended education on manufacturing processes and marketing issues. Extension Forestry faculty combat Swiss Needle Cast Swiss Needle Cast, a potentially devastating fungal disease, has spread to 387,000 acres of Oregon forestland. The disease has reduced Douglas-fir yield by 20 percent and is inflicting an estimated annual economic loss of $333,000 on the forest industry. Extension Forestry faculty partner with other Pacific Northwest land grant universities, and federal, tribal, and industry representatives to deliver educational programs on control measures for the disease. Over 350 foresters responsible for managing 1 million acres of forestland attended 18 educational events sponsored by Extension Forestry. Improving profitability of family forestlands Extension educational efforts focusing on log marketing and harvest planning enable rural Oregonians to improve the economic returns from family owned timberlands. These family forestlands account for 16 percent of the forestland in Oregon, and in 2000 produced a harvest of 455 million board feet of timber with an estimated value of $75 million. A new, Web-based directory of Oregon log buyers developed by Extension was downloaded 600 times in its first 3 weeks. Wild fire in Oregon’s forests Extension Forestry is conducting a major educational effort to help Oregonians understand the causes of catastrophic wild fires and how we can manage our forests to prevent them. During 2002—the worst fire season on record—nearly 100,000 acres of state and private forestland were burned in Oregon. Effective forest management can reduce the size and impacts of these wild fires. Last year over 250 landowners attended a major conference about fire in Oregon forests and another 75 attended workshops focusing on ways to reduce the risk of fire on their woodlands. |