Forum

Oregon’s Timber Economy (9.13 Program at the WOW Hall)

Date: September 13, 2024

Time: Noon to 1:15 pm

Event Type: Live/Livestream
Members and Non-Members may attend our forums for free

Venue: WOW Hall
291 W 8th
Eugene, Oregon
97401

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Other Details:

We will meet at the WOW Hall, 291 E 8th. Learn more: https://wowhall.org/about-us/. Walk, ride a bike or take the bus. You may park on the street or in the parking lot of FOOD for Lane County's Dining Room, across 8th from the WOW Hall. A freewill donation acknowledging the Dining Room's generosity may be made at the meeting.

Ask a question of the speakers! cityclubofeugene@gmail.com

Topic:

Photo by Mark Logan, https://mark-logan.smugmug.com/browse

Since the introduction of rail lines in the 1870s and 1880s, the forested valleys of the western Cascades and the ponderosa pine stands of eastern Oregon have been national – and indeed global – centers of wood production. Oregon has been the largest softwood lumber producer in the U.S. since 1938. In fact, with 30.5 million acres of forestlands, nearly 50 percent of the total landmass of the state is forest.

From logging and manufacturing to research and design, the timber economy of the state employs an array of workers and creates a variety of impacts, both economic and environmental.

In City Club’s continued series on key economic sectors to our region, we’ll welcome experts to discuss the timber economy and its future.

We hope to see you there! Please note that our new location is the WOW Hall, 291 W 8th, Eugene.

Speakers

Name: Henry Fields
Title: Workforce Analyst and Economist
Organization: Oregon Employment Department
Website: https://www.oregon.gov/employ/Agency/Pages/About-Us.aspx
Biography:

Biographies are provided by the panelists and edited for length/proofreading

Henry Fields is a workforce analyst and economist with the Oregon Employment Department, where he makes economic data accessible to business leaders and decision makers across Lane and Douglas counties. Raised in Coos Bay, he graduated from the University of Oregon and Indiana University.


Name: Courtney Griesel
Title: Oregon Community Relations Manager
Organization: Sierra Pacific Industries
Website: https://www.spi-ind.com/Home/AboutUs
Biography:

 

Biographies are provided by the panelists and edited for length/proofreading

Courtney Griesel is the Oregon Community Relations Manager for Sierra Pacific Industries. Courtney began her career in public sector service, economic development, and non-profit global consulting, focusing on traded-sector industry support and growth, land and community development, and public private partnerships. 

In her role with Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest, family-owned, private forest management and wood products manufacturing companies in the US, her focus spans areas of community education, engagement, and partnerships, legislative engagement, workforce development, and regulatory and community policy development.

A graduate of the University of Oregon (B.S.) and Gonzaga University (Masters), she has been a resident of Lane County since 2000 and enjoys spending time traveling with her family, jogging, and playing the piano and guitar.


Name: Judith Sheine
Title: Professor of Architecture
Organization: University of Oregon
Website: https://archenvironment.uoregon.edu/directory/architecture-faculty/all/jesheine
Biography:

Biographies are provided by the panelists and edited for length/proofreading

Judith Sheine is a Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Oregon and is an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor. She is the Director of Design for the TallWood Design Institute, a collaboration between the University of Oregon’s College of Design and Oregon State University’s Colleges of Forestry and Engineering focused on the advancement of timber manufacturing and design.

Sheine is also an award-winning architect whose projects have been published internationally and she has been recognized as the leading authority on the work of R.M. Schindler; her publications on the architect include R.M. Schindler (Phaidon Press, 2001) and her most recent book, Schindler, Kings Road and Southern California Modernism (UC Press, 2012), co-authored with Robert Sweeney. 


Name: Sean Stevens
Title: Executive Director
Organization: Oregon Wild
Website: https://oregonwild.org/about/team/
Biography:

Biographies are provided by the panelists and edited for length/proofreading

Sean Stevens joined Oregon Wild in August 2007. Before becoming the Executive Director in May 2012, Sean served as the organization’s Director of Communications & Development, working with conservation and development staff to spread the good word about Oregon Wild and our work to keep the state a special place.

Sean is a lifelong Oregonian who grew up rafting and fishing with his grandparents along the Rogue River and camping in the Cascades with his parents and siblings. He can’t imagine a more rewarding job than working to protect the special places found in the state he loves and has always called home.


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