The Oregon Forest Industries Council (OFIC) is a trade association representing nearly 50 Oregon forest landowners and forest products manufacturers.
OFIC’s members combine sustainable forest management practices with the latest science and technology to continuously improve the environmental, social and economic value of healthy working forests. We protect and manage more than three million acres of Oregon forestlands, protect employment of over 60,000 Oregonians and make Oregon the nation’s leading producer of softwood lumber, plywood and engineered wood products.
OFIC promotes the industry’s leading role in delivering environmental and economic benefits while balancing the sustainable use of forest resources. We seek to ensure the multi-generational survival of healthy forests and successful communities through collaborative partnerships with policymakers, community leaders and advocacy organizations.
Our Staff
A team of advocates, legal experts, and forestry professionals dedicated to the protection of Oregon’s working forests.
Named President in 2021, Chris brings extensive legislative and wood products manufacturing experience to OFIC. Chris served as a Democrat for ten years in the Oregon State Legislature, holding committee leadership positions in both the House and Senate, and was known for his ability to work seamlessly with both political parties on intensely controversial environmental issues. Prior to his time in the Legislature, Chris spent several years working at his family owned and operated mill in Goshen and running a small forest products export/import company. He also ran his own government affairs firm and served as assistant vice president for strategic initiatives at the University of Oregon. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration, management and finance/marketing from Oregon State University.
Seth is a professional forester with over 25 years of experience. From harvest layout and design to silviculture, Seth has a vast array of expertise in both field forestry and forest policy. He has been OFIC’s director of forest policy since 2015. Prior to coming to OFIC, Seth served as the operations manager for the forest practices program at the Washington Department of Natural Resources. In addition to professional experience with both private landowners and state agencies, he also participated for many years as a wildland firefighter on an incident management team. Seth has a Bachelor of Science in forest management from Oregon State University and attended graduate school at Washington State University for public administration and natural resource policy.
Tyler brought more than ten years of experience in natural resource policy and government relations when he started at OFIC in 2020. Prior to joining OFIC, Tyler served as assistant general counsel for the Michigan Farm Bureau, worked as a staffer in the Washington, D.C. office of a western-states senator and worked in the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s office during law school. Tyler holds a Bachelor of Science in microbiology from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctor from the Michigan State University College of Law.
Sara is OFIC’s communications strategist, media relations manager, writer and photographer. She joined OFIC in 2015 with more than ten years of experience in media relations and natural resource communications. Prior to joining OFIC, Sara worked as a technology communications specialist for a major agricultural company, as a blogger and as an intern for the United Nations. Originally from the Midwest, Sara has a Bachelor of Science in journalism with a photojournalism emphasis and a minor in biology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Chad Washington joined OFIC in 2024 with nearly a decade of experience in forest planning, stewardship and sustainability. Prior to joining the team, Chad spent several years managing Sustainable Forestry Initiative® certification for an Oregon timberland company, as well as doing stewardship and community outreach on Oregon’s north coast. In those roles, Chad has a breadth of leadership experience including involvement with tribal, cooperative, advisory and economic development committees and serves as chair of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Private Forest Accord Mitigation Advisory Committee. Chad has a Bachelor of Science degree in forest operations management from Oregon State University and a Master of Science degree in natural resources with a focus on forest economics from the University of Idaho.
Jessica is OFIC’s office manager. Jessica has extensive experience with event planning and coordination and handles an array of responsibilities for OFIC including capably managing scheduling and providing support for all OFIC staff, and coordination and support for all Board of Director and committee meetings. She is our main source of membership support, handling all dues invoicing as well as maintaining our membership database. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and journalism with a minor in writing from Western Oregon University. She brings over a decade of administrative expertise to OFIC.
Mike serves as OFIC’s contract lobbyist and is responsible for representing OFIC’s members in front of the State Legislature and executive branch, as well as leading OFIC’s political action committee and serving as PAC treasurer. Mike is a seasoned attorney and lobbyist, beginning his role as contract lobbyist in 2023 with over fifteen years of experience at the Oregon Capitol representing private sector trade associations, businesses and local government. Prior to moving into an external role, Mike spent almost four years as OFIC’s general counsel and director of government affairs. Over the years, he has advocated on a variety of policy issues, including election law, transportation, land use, tax, employment and of course, forestry. Mike has a Juris Doctor from Willamette University, a Bachelor of Arts from Western Washington University and is a member of the Oregon State Bar.
Our Members
The stewards of Oregon’s working forests
Avery Interests
Bear Creek Timber Company
Evenson Logging Company
Evenson Timberland Agency
Frank Timber Resources, Inc.
Powers Ranch Co.
Sliver Butte Timber Companay
Western Helicopter Services Inc.
The Values of Our Industry
Environmental stewardship. Economic sustainability. Community support.
Science
We adhere to the most modern environmental laws in the world, which are informed by the latest field-tested and peer-reviewed science. Our industry works with fish and wildlife biologists, hydrologists, geologists and other scientific specialists to grow healthy forests, harvest in a manner that maximizes biological function, and nurture newly-planted trees to regenerate forests.
Our forests are managed under the Oregon Forest Practices Act, a law grounded in the principles of research and adaptive management. Since 1971, Oregon has made over forty legislative and administrative rule changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act in order to protect environmental values we all share. Read more here about recent changes to Oregon’s forest laws.
Innovation
Some of the most sophisticated technology in use today can be found in forestry and wood products manufacturing. These innovations are continuously improving local forest industry practices, eliciting greater value out of available timber, and creating renewable energy, building materials and consumer goods that reduce environmental impacts.
Given the importance of protecting Oregon’s forests, we have developed new equipment to allow harvests to occur with less machinery and smaller crews, thereby reducing impacts and protecting the environmental values of the forest.
Wood innovations such as biomass and mass timber building material are reducing carbon in energy generation and our built environment.
Sustainability
We manage forestland for multi-generational environmental, social and economic benefit, which ensures the highest water quality, plentiful wildlife habitat, opportunity for communities, and access to products consumers use everyday.
We replant more than three new trees for every one we harvest to ensure the regeneration of forestland for continued environmental and economic benefit. Most harvests occur only once every 40 years, meaning our forest management and business decisions are rooted in long-term thinking. Thanks to state policy that supports maintaining forestland, Oregon has the same amount of forestland now as we did 100 years ago.
Stewardship
We understand that private, working forests provide great benefit to Oregonians. The protection of these shared benefits is a central part of our management objectives. Studies by the state of Oregon conclude that private forestland creates higher water quality than any other land use in Oregon. In addition, our forests provide abundant habitat for a wide variety of species, which don’t distinguish between private and public forests. And Oregon’s forests help clean our air, storing more carbon dioxide than any other state in the nation.
