PORTLAND, Ore. — November 13, 2018 — Hampton Lumber, a third-generation, family-owned forestland owner and wood products manufacturer, is excited to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its North Coast Community Outreach Program. The effort is led by Community Outreach and Stewardship Coordinator, Jed Arnold, who joined Hampton last fall to enhance the company’s communications and engagement efforts. As a result of Arnold’s role, Hampton has developed stronger ties to neighboring communities, identified and implemented new communication methods, and opened the door to new research and habitat enhancement strategies.
In this role, Arnold works closely with Hampton’s communications and forestry staff as well as local agencies, academic institutions, non-profits, businesses and individuals on opportunities related to Hampton’s working forestlands. He also serves as a local resource for those interested in modern forestry.
“We’ve managed forestland on the North Coast for decades but as populations grow in many forest-dependent communities, there’s a lot of new interest in timberland management,” said Steve Zika, CEO at Hampton. “We want to invite people to learn more about our industry and create new opportunities for dialogue and partnership–Jed’s work is a critical part of that effort”.
For Hampton, the North Coast outreach program is also an opportunity to build local partnerships around some of the company’s top environmental priorities — protecting water quality, enhancing habitat, and keeping working forests viable and resilient.
One particularly innovative effort that Arnold has championed in his time with Hampton is The Pollinator Project — a 38-acre pilot habitat enhancement initiative for native bees. The initiative aims to create and assess food and nesting conditions on recent timber harvest sites. The project is a collaborative effort with experts at the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and Oregon State University’s (OSU) Pollinator Health Program, who are at the forefront of this field of research.
“The chance to be deeply involved in groundbreaking efforts like the Pollinator Project is one of the reasons I’m excited to have joined the Hampton team,” said Arnold. “We hope to create a blueprint for how this type of habitat enhancement can work on timberlands and share it with others in the industry.”
North Coast residents can expect more information on upcoming tours and community events with Hampton Lumber in early 2019.
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