GROUNDED IN SCIENCE
SHARING OBJECTIVE RESEARCH ON OREGON’S FOREST PRACTICES
Our Science is Growing
Oregon is the national leader in forest practices. We were the first state in the nation to enact comprehensive forest practice laws and formalize a way to adopt the latest field-tested and peer-reviewed science into an adaptive regulatory framework. Our practices have evolved with science for more than four decades and we continue to invest in and adapt to a growing body of forestry research.
How Working Forests Impact Climate Change
Oregon’s 30 million acres of forests act as a massive carbon sink with immense potential to help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Trees absorb carbon dioxide – one of the most prevalent greenhouse gases – out of the atmosphere where it can be stored in wood products. Sustainably harvesting and replanting our forests and choosing to build with wood instead of fossil fuel-intensive materials provides permanent climate mitigation benefits.
Featured in Carbon
How Forests Can Help Fight Climate Change
A 2016 study looked at how managing forests in Sweden can help reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change. While the research focused on Swedish boreal forests, it was noted that the...
How Working Forests Impact Our Water
Forests provide the main source of drinking water for Oregonians and provide critical habitat for aquatic species like native fish and amphibians. Trees provide shade that keeps water cold and provide filtration for ground and surface water that feed into rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Research has demonstrated that contemporary forest practices in Oregon provide cold, clean water for aquatic life and drinking water.
Featured in Water
State Data Again Confirms Forests Produce The Highest Quality Water In Oregon
Recently the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released its annual Oregon Water Quality Index Data Summary which evaluates water quality status and trends across Oregon’s rivers,...
How Working Forests Impact Wildfires
Fire is a natural part of forested landscapes and an undeniable part of Oregon’s history. In 1902, over one-third of the forested acres west of the Cascade crest existed in a completely burned-over state. But because of climate change and forest management practices, wildfire seasons have gotten longer and are increasingly burning more acres. Four of the largest wildfires since 1900 have happened since 2012 and the 2020 wildfire season was the most destructive in Oregon’s history. Data confirms that the vast majority of acres that are burning are on unmanaged federal forests and research has demonstrated that active management of our forests, including mechanized harvest, thinning and controlled burns, reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfires.
Featured in Fire
Research Concludes Prescribed Burns Can Reduce Smoke Impacts to Communities
In a study published at the end of 2023, researchers looked at the intricate relationship between forest management practices, wildfire risk, air quality, and public health in fire-prone regions...
How Working Forests Impact wildlife
Working forests provide critical wildlife habitat. From early seral forests that provide habitat for species like pollinators and songbirds to older forests that provide habitat for species like woodpeckers and owls, contemporary forest practices include research-based strategies that create a mosaic of forest types across the landscape to support Oregon’s native wildlife.
Featured in Wildlife
Study Reveals How Forest Productivity Affects Bird and Plant Diversity After Disturbance
A recent study tested Huston’s Dynamic Equilibrium Hypothesis to understand how forest productivity affects how biodiversity responds to disturbances like logging. This hypothesis suggests that...
Can You Trust Us?
To support our resolute commitment to forest practices that are firmly grounded in science, our industry has made decades of significant collaborative investments in robust research. As one example, nearly one quarter of the Forest Products Harvest Tax – just shy of $4 million every year – helps fund research at Oregon State University and funds roughly ten percent of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory’s research budget.
The contribution to OSU research through the harvest tax funds faculty salaries for OSU’s research, teaching, and outreach missions, along with designated projects like the marbled murrelet, the Fish and Wildlife Habitat in Managed Forest Research Program, and the initial round of funding for the Center for the Future of Forests and Society projects. Through the Fish and Wildlife Program alone, which is in its 26th year, roughly 80-100 studies have been at least partially funded by the timber industry, with absolutely no direction on the outcome of that research.
About Our Initiative
Grounded in Science provides a clearinghouse of objective scientific research that underpins Oregon’s forest practices and informs the regulatory foundation on which they are built. We adhere to the most modern environmental laws in the world, which are informed by the latest field-tested and peer-reviewed science. Our industry works with fish and wildlife biologists, hydrologists, geologists and other scientific specialists to grow healthy forests, harvest in a manner that maximizes biological function, and nurture newly planted trees to regenerate forests.
ABOUT THE OREGON FOREST INDUSTRIES COUNCIL
The Oregon Forest Industries Council (OFIC) is a trade association representing nearly 50 Oregon forestland owners and forest products manufacturers. OFIC’s members combine sustainable forest management practices with the latest science and technology to continuously improve the environmental, social and economic value of healthy working forests. We protect and manage more than three million acres of Oregon forestlands, protect employment of over 60,000 Oregonians and make Oregon the nation’s largest producer of softwood lumber, plywood and engineered wood.
