The Oregon State College of Forestry owns 15,000 acres of research forests across the state where students learn, study and work. These research forests were donated to the College of Forestry to serve as a living laboratory and outdoor classroom for students, researchers and managers to learn about forest ecosystems and management.

RESEARCH FOREST ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• The forests have a total of nine forest tracts and one agricultural property (used for hardwood research) around the state totaling nearly 15,000 acres. The largest forests are the McDonald and Dunn Forests on the northern edge of Corvallis, which total 11,500 acres.

• The forests occupy seven counties including: Benton, Polk, Washington, Columbia, Clackamas, Union and Jackson. Although the Research Forests are exempt from local taxes, management and harvest activities provide many direct and indirect jobs, which support local economies. Various studies have shown that timber harvests produce 11.28 to 16.13 direct and indirect jobs per million board feet.

• The college actively promotes and encourages the entire Corvallis and Oregon State community to utilize recreation opportunities within the forests. Throughout the more than 15,000-acres of managed forests, visitors can explore the area by foot, horseback or non-motorized bicycle. During FY 2017 and FY 2018, the forests had more than 280,000 user-visits to the forest to participate in recreation activities.

• According to a recent report, recreation activity on the forests has a cost of illness savings, or health benefit, of more than $750,000. These COI savings accrue to health insurers, providers and outdoor recreation participants, and are associated with mitigating the symptoms of eight chronic illnesses.

• The forests hosted successful STEM Academy events the last five years. The program engages high-level high school students in forest and forest ecology to further their understanding of how forest ecosystems work and what is involved in their management. Approximately 20 students attend the program each year.

• The forests continue to execute sustainable timber management practices that guide timber harvests on college forests. In 2017 and 2018, the college harvested more than 18.2 million board feet of timber generating over $12 million in total timber revenues and $5.52 million in net revenues to support college initiatives.