OSU forestry dean to open BBR Friends series

Hal Salwasser, OSU Dean of the College of Forestry, will speak on Thursday, October 14 at 3 p.m., at the Black Butte Ranch (BBR) Fire Hall. His talk will focus on forest health.

The presentation is the first in this season's series of presentations by Friends of Black Butte Ranch.

"Western forests with historic short-return-interval fire regimes, i.e., ponderosa pine and mixed conifer, are in very dangerous conditions regarding insects and uncharacteristic fires ­ drought and bugs actually make the fire risk even greater," said Salwasser.

He will cover suggested management activities in his talk as well as what individual homeowners should do in these forested areas.

"Science has lots of information to help people make choices about forest health but it does not have all the answers and much of what we need to know must be learned on the fly -- adaptive management or learning by doing," Salwasser said.

"An important part of learning by doing is having scientists actively engaged with managers and citizens, conducting research and outreach programs as an integral part of continual improvement in problem solving."

Local citizens, managers, and scientists will have an opportunity at this open meeting to share their thoughts and concerns.

Besides being Dean of the College of Forestry, Salwasser is also Professor of Forest Resources and Forest Science at OSU and Director of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory. He worked with the U.S. Forest Service as Regional Wildlife Ecologist starting in 1979 and culminating as Regional Forester in the Northern Rockies and Research Station Director in California in the 1990s before joining OSU's College of Forestry in 2000.

He currently chairs the National Commission on Science and Sustainable Forestry and is a member of the Board of Directors of the World Forestry Center.

Speaking with Salwasser will be forestry expert Stephen Fitzgerald, also from OSU.

Jean Nave, Head of Friends of BBR , invites all interested local citizens to this timely discussion. Friends of BBR started in 1992 and continues to offer timely topics of community interest.

Following Salwasser, the next Friends of BBR meeting on Wednesday, November 10, will feature Paul Claeyssens, from the U.S. Forest Service.