Program date: Sept. 13, 2024
Air date: Sept. 16, 2024
From the City Club of Eugene:
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.
Speakers:
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.
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.
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.
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.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, Sept. 16, at 7:00 p.m., on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, visit CityClubOfEugene.org.