As illustrated in the table and graph that follow, the FRL budget for the 1996-98 Biennium was heavily supported through outside grants and contracts.  These are generally awarded to individual faculty members through competitive selection. The success of FRL scientists in obtaining such outside funds makes possible a great deal of important research that could not be carried out otherwise.  Their success also leads to the FRL being consistently rated first among all universities in the nation in terms of federal and private funds received to support research in forestry and forest products.

A closer analysis of the portion of the FRL budget supported by outside grants and contracts shows where these funds originated.  About 45% of this funding comes from federal agencies.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides about half of the federal funding, followed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Science Foundation. These "big three" federal agencies are followed by the National Aeronautic and Space Agency (NASA), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition to contributing to the FRL through the Oregon Forest Products Harvest Tax, industry provides 7% of the FRL's annual budget directly, mainly through membership in the research cooperatives. Through the membership of its natural resources agencies in the research cooperatives, the State of Oregon contributes an additional 6% of the budget.  The remaining 18% of the budget comes from other universities (through subcontracts to OSU), private foundations, and sales of goods and services.

Expenditures for collaborative research illustrate the significant impact of these activities on the annual FRL budget.   In Fiscal Year 1997-98, about $4.5 million, approximately one-third of all grant and contract expenditures, were directly attributable to the research cooperatives, the COPE Program, and OSU-federal agency cooperative research agreements.

The proportion of the FRL budget that goes to collaborative research can be expected to increase in the future.  As conducting research requires increasingly sophisticated facilities and equipment, and as the services of highly skilled scientific personnel become more expensive, collaborative research ventures will become an even more attractive means of maximizing productivity while reducing costs.