Newsroom

CORVALLIS - Clearcutting as a management and harvesting practice in western Oregon will be the focus of a one-day course on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at Oregon State University. OSU faculty and other technical experts will review the research on clearcutting and address questions concerning its environmental effects.

Nearly 300 foresters, resource managers, conservationists, educators, students, policymakers and others are expected at this conference in the CH2M-HILL Alumni Center on the OSU campus.

"People often hear simplistic generalizations about clearcutting and problems it may cause," said Paul Adams, a professor at OSU's College of Forestry. "This short course is designed to create a better understanding of the knowledge base available to professional foresters when choosing among different management and harvest options, including clearcutting."

The course, called "Clearcutting in Western Oregon: What Does the Science Show?," is sponsored by the OSU College of Forestry, the Oregon Chapter of the Society of American Foresters, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. A field trip will also be held on Thursday.

Topics to be presented include the range of management and harvest options available to forest managers, as well as specific relationships between clearcutting and reforestation, terrestrial wildlife, erosion, fish habitat and water quality.

Among the discussion leaders will be forest scientists, researchers, economists and educators from the OSU College of Forestry, the National Council on Air and Stream Improvement, the OSU Forestry Extension program and other organizations.

Anyone wishing to attend the course can register on the Internet at http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/extended/conferen/clearcut, or by calling 541-737-2329. The cost is $45. The Thursday field trip is already full, but names are being put on a waiting list in the event of cancellations.