Established | 1964 (organization); 1971 (facility) |
---|---|
Location | Portland, Oregon, United States |
Coordinates | 45°30′38″N122°43′04″W / 45.510635°N 122.717895°W |
Type | private: forestry |
Public transit access | TriMet MAX light rail (Washington Park station) |
Website | World Forestry Center Discovery Museum |
The World Forestry Center is a nonprofit educational institution in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located near the Oregon Zoo in Washington Park, the organization was established in 1964[ citation needed ] as the Western Forestry Center, with the actual building opening in 1971. [1] [2]
The World Forestry Center has its roots in the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair for which an enormous log cabin was built of huge native trees and advertised as the world's largest. [3] Public interest in the Forestry Building, which was turned over to the State of Oregon, lasted long after the exposition ended, right up until it was destroyed by fire on August 17, 1964. [2]
The day after the fire, a group of civic and industry leaders conceived The Western Forestry Center.[ citation needed ] A new, more fire-resistant forestry building designed by Oregon architect John Storrs was built in Washington Park.[ citation needed ] It opened to the public on June 5, 1971. On June 30, 2005, after a $7 million (~$10.5 million in 2023), 6-month renovation, the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) museum reopened with new interactive exhibits about the sustainability of forests and trees of the Pacific Northwest and the world. [4]
The World Forestry Center's mission is to "educate and inform people about the world's forests and trees, and their importance to all life, in order to promote a balanced and sustainable future." [5]
The center achieves its mission with three programs: the Discovery Museum, two donated working forests—the Magness Memorial Tree Farm and the Johnson-Swanson Tree Farm—and the World Forest Institute which was established in 1989. The primary program is the International Fellowship Program.
In 1989, the World Forestry Center established the World Forest Institute to meet a growing demand for forestry information. As the forestry sector becomes increasingly complex, there is a greater need for international collaboration and exchange of information on forest trade, regulation, management, and forest resources. The World Forest Institute was created through the vision and support of Harry A. Merlo, a pioneer of the forest products industry, and an early visionary of the globalization of the forestry sector.
The fellowship program brings young forestry and forest products professionals from around the world to work at the World Forest Institute for 6 to 12 months. Fellows are commonly sponsored by their employer, government institutions, the forest industry, or an NGO, and carry out applied research projects of interest to their sponsors. [6] In addition to completing a practical research project, the program works to get Fellows a broad exposure to natural resource management in the U.S. so that when they return to their home countries they have a basic understanding of the owners and managers of land and natural resources throughout the country.
The institute won the 2012 Portland Mayor's International Business Award from the Oregon Consular Corps. [7] [8] [9] This award recognizes businesses that contribute to a global environment in Oregon. [10]
The World Forestry Center campus also accommodates three other buildings: Julian N. Cheatham Hall, Harold A. Miller Hall and Harry A. Merlo Hall, which houses the administrative offices and the World Forest Institute. [11]
The Leadership Hall of Fame commemorates people who have made important contributions to forestry. The photographs and biographies of nearly 200 forestry leaders are displayed in three chests constructed of select Black Walnut from the eastern U.S.
On display at the World Forestry Center’s grounds is a steam locomotive nicknamed "Peggy" and a log on railroad disconnect trucks. This locomotive is a Class B-42 Shay locomotive used as a logging workhorse in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Built in 1909 by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, she was shipped to a distributor in Seattle and was a few years later purchased by the Stimson Lumber Company as their locomotive No. 1. "Peggy" worked in the forests of Belfair, Washington and then in Gaston, Oregon. The locomotive survived the fires of the Tillamook Burn and was retired from active service in 1950. "Peggy" was donated to the City of Portland in 1955 and was first displayed at the original Forestry Building, which was custom built in 1905 for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. [12] She was damaged in the 1964 fire that destroyed that original Forestry Building and was then moved to "Oaks Pioneer Park" in southeast Portland for storage, the site of other locomotives owned by the City of Portland. The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society rebuilt the cab and wood sills between 1969 and 1971, in preparation for the locomotive's 1972 relocation to the World Forestry Center in Washington Park. "Peggy" was placed under a roof there in 2003. [13]
Parking at the World Forestry Center costs $2 per hour, to a maximum of $8 per day. [14] The Washington Park light rail station provides regional public transit access to the World Forestry Center. Additionally, TriMet bus route 63-Washington Park provides daily service to the World Forestry Center via Washington Park. [15]
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 193 million acres (780,000 km2) of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's Office, National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, as well as Research and Development. The agency manages about 25% of federal lands and is the sole major national land management agency not part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 colleges. It has the seventh-largest engineering college in the nation for 2023. Undergraduate enrollment for all colleges combined averages over 32,000 while an additional 5,000 students are engaged in post-graduate coursework through the university. In 2023, over 37,000 students were enrolled at OSU – making it the largest university in the state. Out-of-state students typically make up over one-quarter of the student body. Since its founding, over 272,000 students have graduated from OSU. The university is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1: Doctoral University with very high research activity.
The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, acronym AYP or AYPE, was a world's fair held in Seattle in 1909 publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. It was originally planned for 1907 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush, but the organizers learned of the Jamestown Exposition being held that same year and rescheduled.
The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive. Although the design of Ephraim Shay's early locomotives differed from later ones, there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays. Shay locomotives were especially suited to logging, mining and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep or poor quality track.
The Willamette locomotive was a geared steam locomotive of the Shay locomotive type, built by the Willamette Iron and Steel Works of Portland, Oregon. After key patents on the Shay locomotive had expired, it was possible for other manufacturers to produce Shay-like locomotive designs.
Forest Park is a public municipal park in the Tualatin Mountains west of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Stretching for more than 8 miles (13 km) on hillsides overlooking the Willamette River, it is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves. The park, a major component of a regional system of parks and trails, covers more than 5,100 acres (2,064 ha) of mostly second-growth forest with a few patches of old growth. More than 80 miles (130 km) of recreational trails, including the Wildwood Trail segment of the city's 40-Mile Loop system, crisscross the park.
Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is 23 miles (37 km) west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Woodburn, and has an enrollment of more than 3,000 students.
The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1905 to celebrate the centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. While not officially considered a World's Fair by the Bureau of International Expositions, it is often informally described as such; the exposition attracted both exhibits and visitors from around the world. During the exposition's four-month run, it attracted over 1.6 million visitors, and featured exhibits from 21 countries. Portland grew from 161,000 to 270,000 residents between 1905 and 1910, a spurt that has been attributed to the exposition.
Albert Ernest Doyle was a prolific architect in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. He opened his own architectural practice in 1907. From 1908 to 1914, he partnered with William B. Patterson, and their firm was known as Doyle & Patterson.
The Washington Park & Zoo Railway (WP&ZRy) is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge recreational railroad in Portland, Oregon's Washington Park with rolling stock built to 5/8 scale. Opened in three stages in 1958, 1959 and 1960, it previously provided transportation between the Oregon Zoo, Hoyt Arboretum, International Rose Test Garden, and the World Forestry Center. The extended line through Washington Park, now out of service but still in place, was about 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The service is currently operating on a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) loop completely within the Oregon Zoo grounds. The railway carries about 350,000 passengers per year.
The Tillamook State Forest is a 364,000-acre (1,470 km2) publicly owned forest in the U.S. state of Oregon. Managed by the Oregon Department of Forestry, it is located 40 miles (64 km) west of Portland in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, and spans Washington, Tillamook, Yamhill, and Clatsop counties. The forest receives large amounts of precipitation and is dominated by Douglas-fir trees. Activities include commercial logging, recreation, and other commercial resource extraction activities such as mushroom hunting.
Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental students through four 2-year degree programs, two accelerated degree programs for graduates of Yale College, and a 5-year PhD program. Still offering forestry instruction, the school has the oldest graduate forestry program in the United States.
The Portland Expo Center, officially the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, is a convention center located in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in the early 1920s as a livestock exhibition and auction facility, the center now hosts over 100 events a year, including green consumer shows, trade shows, conventions, meetings and other special events. Located on the north side of Portland near Vancouver, Washington, it includes the northern terminus for the Yellow Line of Portland's light-rail transit system and has connections to TriMet Bus Line 11-Rivergate/Marine Dr.
Portland, Oregon, United States, is home to three major league sports teams — the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, and the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The city also hosts a wide variety of other sports and sporting events.
The Oregon Rail Heritage Center (ORHC) is a railway museum in Portland, Oregon. Along with other rolling stock, the museum houses three steam locomotives owned by the City of Portland: Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700, and Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. 197, the first two of which are restored and operable. The center opened to the public on September 22, 2012. The project to establish the center was led by the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF), a non-profit organization, which was renamed from the Oregon Heritage Steam Foundation in 2002. The non-profit Oregon Steam Heritage Foundation was formed in 2000. The museum site is in Southeast Portland.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Portland, Oregon, United States.
The Barry Point Fire was a wildfire that burned over 92,977 acres (376.26 km2) of Oregon and California forest land during the summer of 2012. The fire began on 5 August 2012, the result of a lightning strike. The fire consumed public forest and rangeland as well as private forest and grazing land located in Lake County, Oregon and Modoc County, California. The public lands affected by the fire are administered by the United States Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The largest part of the private land was owned by the Collins Timber Company. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were 1,423 personnel working on the fire. It took 22 days to fully contain the fire and then an additional three weeks to mop it up.
Harry A. Merlo was an American businessman and philanthropist in the state of Oregon. A native of California, he was chief executive of then Fortune 500 company Louisiana-Pacific after it was divested by forest products company Georgia-Pacific, which were both then headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
Mount Emily Lumber Company No. 1 is a three-truck or 'Class C' Shay steam locomotive that was originally owned by the Mount Emily Lumber Company. It was built in 1923 by the Lima Locomotive Works and delivered to Lima's Seattle dealer, Hofius Steel and Equipment Company of Seattle, Washington. It was later sold to the Independence Logging Company of Independence, Washington, and then it was later sold to the Mount Emily Lumber Company of La Grande, Oregon. When it was retired in 1955, it was donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Three years later, in 1958, it was donated to the Oregon Historical Society of Portland, Oregon. The engine was operational at Cass Scenic Railroad and the City of Prineville Railroad for many years. It was announced in 2022 that the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation would be the new owners of No. 1.