Fads in Oregon forestry come and go, but policy makers should recognize the value in a multiplicity of approaches, according to John Gordon, Pinchot professor emeritus and former dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
“Oregon has a lot of forests. It also has a lot of people who know about forestry and are practicing many, many ways to go about it,” Gordon said. “My thesis is we should see that as an opportunity, not a problem.”
Gordon, who taught for a number of years in the Oregon State University College of Forestry and now lives in Portland, will be the keynote speaker in this year’s Starker Lecture Series at OSU. The series has been sponsored since 1985 by Starker Forests Inc., a family-owned timber company based in Philomath.
Gordon’s talk, titled “Forestry Diversity: A Key to Oregon’s Future,” will kick off the 2014 Starker Lectures next Thursday at Richardson Hall on the OSU campus. The theme for this year’s series is “Working Forests Across the Landscape.”
Rather than championing a one-size-fits-all approach to forest management, Gordon said, it makes more sense to tailor the management style to fit the circumstances. Oregon’s Indian tribes, for instance, have had great success in using a variety of techniques to achieve a variety of desired outcomes.
From The Corvallis Gazette-Times: https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/forestry-prof-champions-diverse-approach/article_fc2fe474-887b-11e3-a302-001a4bcf887a.html