PORTLAND — The Oregon Forest Resources Institute has hired Jim Paul as its executive director, bringing new leadership to the recently embattled organization.

Paul is a former director of the Oregon Department of State Lands and longtime employee of the state Department of Forestry, where he worked as a hydrologist and later managed two of the agency’s three operational divisions.

Most recently, Paul was the assistant director of the Administrative Services Division at the Oregon Department of Corrections. 

“Forestry really is where my passion is,” Paul said in an interview with the Capital Press. “I felt this urge to come back where I started.” 

OFRI was created in 1991 to support Oregon’s forest products industry through public outreach and landowner education. It is governed by a 13-member board of directors and funded by a portion of the state’s Forest Products Harvest Tax.

Paul will officially join on Sept. 15, replacing Mike Cloughesy, who is retiring as acting executive director.

“I think it’s an opportunity to help educate and advocate for all of the positives that this sector does for the state,” Paul said. “Forests make up almost half of our state. We want to have healthy, viable, sustainable forestlands that not only grow forest products, but (do) so much more.” 

The hire comes at a time of transformation for OFRI, which was the subject of a lengthy state audit last year. Auditors determined that while OFRI presented itself as an objective, educational entity, it was not transparent about its statutory mandate to support the timber industry. 

“OFRI meets its mandate by working closely with industry stakeholders and sharing forestry information with the public that is favorable to the forest products industry,” the audit states. “At times, that information presents a biased view of forestry.” 

The audit, which came after an investigation by the Oregonian, Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica, recommended several reforms — including expanding oversight, adding non-industry representatives to the board and clarifying a prohibition against OFRI from influencing legislation.

Auditors pointed to instances in the past 20 years where testimony provided by OFRI “showed clear support for legislation that benefitted the agency.”

OFRI also made some misleading statements about Oregon’s forestry laws by oversimplifying the “positive aspects of forestry” without detailing adverse environmental impacts, according to the audit. 

Then-OFRI Executive Director Erin Isselmann issued a statement in response to the audit, saying they would work to adopt changes in operations recommended in the report. 

In May, Cloughesy wrote that OFRI was writing a new policy for staff and board members “to avoid engaging in statutorily prohibited activities,” which should be developed and adopted by January 2023.

An updated strategic plan was also being targeting for completion by June 30, 2023, Cloughesy added.

Paul said he has familiarized himself with the audit, and OFRI is in the process of responding to the state’s recommendations.

“That will be part of my initial work, and high on my list of priorities to make sure I get up to speed on understanding the report in its entirety to understanding all the agency has done to date,” he said.  

Before coming to OFRI, Paul earned his master’s degree in hydrology from the University of Washington College of Forest Resources.

He joined ODF in 1996 and spent over a decade as a hydrologist working with landowners across the state to improve fish passage and later as division chief for private forests and state forests. 

Paul was the director of the Department of State Lands from 2016 to 2018, overseeing more than 1.5 million acres for the Common School Fund — including the Elliott State Forest. 

Jerry Anderson, OFRI board chairman, said that over during his career, Paul “has gained extensive forestry and natural resources leadership experience in the public sector.” 

“The board believes his forestry knowledge combined with experience working for other state agencies makes him uniquely qualified to lead OFRI’s forest and forestry education programs for the public, landowners and K-12 teachers and students,” Anderson said.