Oregon State University celebrated the College of Forestry's 100th anniversary, Friday, November 3, 2006.
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Forestry is ever changing. In 1906, when the Oregon Agricultural College created a Department of Forestry, working in the woods meant packing horses, carrying six-foot-long crosscut saws, driving a team of oxen, or manning the throttle on steam locomotives.

Source: Salem Public Library, Salem, OR.

The trees that loggers sent out of the woods were building a nation, but replacing those forests was a hit or miss proposition.

The science of forestry — understanding how forests work and what it takes to manage them for sustainable production and diversity — was in its infancy.

Since those early days, OSU forest scientists have worked with colleagues across the world to better understand forest ecosystems, improve reforestation techniques, protect water and air quality, sustain fish and wildlife habitats, create and manufacture new wood-based products, and improve virtually every aspect of forest management and conservation.

Today, forest scientists are using satellites, electronic sensors, and canopy cranes to see the forests in new ways. They are engineering wood products with new adhesives and fiber-reinforced plastics to create long-lasting, disaster-resistant building materials. Advances in fields from renewable, bio-based energy production to medicine are being made with better understanding of wood characteristics and chemistry. Forest managers and products manufacturers are using computers, scanners, GPS tools, and automated machines to harvest trees, grow new forests, and transport and manufacture products, all with greater efficiency, less environmental impact, and globally competitive productivity.