We acknowledge that our facilities and forests are located on the traditional homelands of a diversity of Indigenous Peoples who were forcibly removed from their lands and relocated to reservations. We navigate, and are part of, systems that marginalize people, and we take thoughtful action to decolonize our practices and ensure a diverse, inclusive and equitable environment for work and study that honors Sovereignty Rights. We respect the contributions of Indigenous communities and center our work around the Seventh Generation Principle, and incorporate multiple ways of knowing and cultural humility into our understanding and stewardship of natural resources.

The College of Forestry is committed to taking people and the institutions with whom we work beyond the land acknowledgement to find ways to support and empower Native Americans and their communities. We honor and respect Tribal Sovereignty and Self Determination Rights as we work to partner with, support and build capacity within Tribal Nations in Oregon and beyond.

The College of Forestry stewards 9 research and demonstration forests across the state, comprising 15,000 combined acres of living laboratories. These outdoor classrooms are where students, faculty and staff learn, study and work, and where Extension faculty teach forest owners and managers. The McDonald and Dunn are the largest forest tracts managed by the College of Forestry and are where the majority of active management, education and research take place.

Given their varying size, terrain and location, the College of Forestry does not provide public access to all its research and demonstration forests. The McDonald-Dunn forests, however, are open to the public, welcoming more than 155,000 recreational users each year. Research activity is not always visible to recreational users, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. This is intentional, with staff thoughtfully balancing research, demonstration, harvest, aesthetics and recreation as part of the college’s carefully managed sustainable working forest model.

RESEARCH IN THE FORESTS