Picture Left: Informational tour with Senator Deb Patterson (L to R: Derrick Wheeler, Senator Patterson, Nicole Possert, Doug Decker, Maya Foty). Image: Restore Oregon; Picture Right: Information tour with Representative Tom Andersen (L to R: Nicole Possert, Derrick Wheeler, Representative Andersen, Doug Decker, Maya Foty)
Elected Official Educational Tours of the State Forester’s Office
In December, Restore Oregon, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and Architectural Resources Group collaborated to provide State elected officials Senator Deb Patterson and Representative Tom Anderson with an educational tour of the State Forester’s Office, which Oregonian dubbed a “Symphony of Oregon Woods” back in 1939. This still-functioning headquarters office in Salem faces decades of deferred maintenance and needs significant financial investment to make it ready for its next century of use.
Picture Left: Restore Oregon Board Member Doug Decker (also a retired State Forester!) gives an overview of the gorgeous wood and art inside the State Forester’s Office building. Photo courtesy of Senator Deb Patterson.
Both Representative Anderson and Senator Patterson were delighted to see and learn (and expressed their appreciation and support for the investment needed) about the critical operational upgrades needed that can be attained with a historic rehabilitation project in a climate friendly and sustainable manner. ODF’s facilities team has scoped the project with Architectural Resource Group.
Senator Patterson’s electronic newsletter covered the visit with the headline “A Treasure in Our Midst” broadening the awareness about this Oregon treasure in her district. If you’d like to learn more, please also read Doug Decker’s story from last year.
Picture Left: Contemporary image of the State Forester’s Office Building (photo credit: Ray Gress, courtesy Oregon Dept of Forestry); Picture Right: Historic image of the State Forester’s Office building (photo courtesy of Oregon Dept of Forestry)
Restore Oregon has a long history of saving and advocating for Oregon’s WPA-era resources. Starting with our early work (as the Historic Preservation League of Oregon) to save Crater Lake Lodge to our work with the Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau to preserve another amazing park lodge in Southern Oregon that has been part of our Most Endangered Places program since 2013.
In 2020-2021, Restore Oregon partnered with the State Historic Preservation Office/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to hire Sara Munro, a New Deal historian, to conduct the first comprehensive statewide study of Oregon’s Works Progress Administration and Public Works Administration resources built between 1933- 943. This study, known as a Multiple Property Documentation Form or MPDF, is a document that provides definitions and historical contexts for a group of properties and used to streamline future National Register nominations.
Part of our awareness raising efforts to advocate for this resource includes gathering wider support and building positive momentum. You can read just a few of these letters of support from:
Restore Oregon
American Institute of Architects
Sarah Munro, historian who wrote the Multiple Property Documentation Form for Public Works Administration and Works Progress Administration resources in Oregon as a consultant to Restore Oregon
