Dr. Thomas Maness, Dean of the College of Forestry at OSU (Profile)

The new dean of OSU’s College of Forestry, Thomas Maness, recently attended a small luncheon with Oregon Small Woodland Association members and his sincerity and dedication for bringing his vision to life was welcomed by the local small woodland owners.

Maness began his presentation to BCOSWA members by sharing his history.  He was raised on a family farm in Missouri where he learned the ins and outs of farming.  It was there he gained the connection to the land, but quickly realized he did not want to be a farmer.  Wanting to find a way to sustain his connection to the land, Maness decided to go into forestry.

Through Maness' education and life experiences, he developed a deep felt philosophy and with his new position, he is looking forward to setting it into action.  As he reached out to the small woodland owners, his excitement and commitment to his goals and vision were evident by how he spoke to those attending.

Maness eloquently summed his vision by saying, “my interest is in developing innovative forest policies and practices to balance the production of traditional forest products with society's expanding need for ecosystem services, energy and climate mitigation.”

Comfortably Maness joked with members of the audience about how life has brought him full circle, back to Oregon.  Maness offered his thanks to fellow speaker and friend, John Mann, in calling to tell him about the open faculty position at OSU, sending him once again along same path as Mann.

Maness openly shared pieces of his life with the audience.  He spoke of his hero, his grandfather and how he was taught many important life lessons.  One of the most important lessons he learned from his grandfather was how important the land is to everyone. 
“Everything that we derive in our lives comes from the land and to have a deep respect for the land and to put back into the land and more,” says Thomas Maness. 

He expressed his concern about how most of the public has lost its connection to the land by living in urban areas.  Reuniting the urban public with its roots in the rural communities, who work the land, and bring the understanding that all depend on the land is one of his goals.  To do this, he seeks to bring information to the public eye to help reconnect them with the land that they depend on. 

As dean, he looks forward to maintaining OSU’s College of Forestry’s reputation as one of the top, world-class schools.  And he wishes to more than just educate the students but also reach out to the local community, the state, the nation and the world to find a solution that will bring all aspects of a “healthy landscapes.”  Mannes wants to get his students and the public to start thinking about the land, and how it influences and impacts their life.

After listening to Thomas Maness’ conversation with BCOSWA’s Chapter, it appears that this energy and excitement he has for his job and the opportunities to bring new positive changes to the college and community, is catching.  As he began to share pieces of his life, Thomas looked comfortable and at home as he smiled friendly, expressing his future plans for the College of Forestry with the group of small woodland owners.

Oregon State is looking forward to Maness’ new appointment and his myriad of experiences that he has garnered from his education and work in industry, government and academia.  In an OSU press release, Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president expresses the college’s excitement in welcoming Maness to the new position and bringing Maness’ vision to the college.  

“He is a broad thinker and understands sustainable, long-term management of forests and the resulting implications for forestry education, research and outreach,” said Sabah Randhawa.  “His vision and experience will help us further advance the college and its contributions to the university’s signature area of advancing the science of sustainable earth ecosystems,”

Besides speaking with groups like BCOSWA, Maness hopes to accomplish one of his goals by using the college forest lands as a tool to bring community education and knowledge to the public.  At the meeting, he spoke of the Cameron Tract that belongs to the College as this tool to help inform the public and show them how forest stewardship can meet most or all the intrinsic needs of the individual; economic, aesthetic, recreational, and conservation to name but a few of the values that the land needs to provide to each one of us.  When he finished his talk, he asked for questions and fielded them with a refreshing honesty that spoke of his willingness to accept and work with the local small woodland owners.

At a glance:
Who: Tomas Maness, Dean of the College of Forestry
Where: BCOSWA annual meeting, Beazell Memorial Fores
tWhen: January, 2013
Education: B.S. of Forestry, West Virginia University – 1979
M.S. in Forest Operations, Virginia Tech – 1981
Ph.D.  in Forest Economics – University of Washington – 1989
Work Experience:Industry- Weyerhaeuser
Government – U.S. Forest Service
Academia – University of British Columbia - professor
Oregon State University – professor, head of the Department of Forest Engineering and Resources and Management, Dean of the College of Forestry
Interests: hiking, exploring the desert
http://deansoffice.forestry.oregonstate.edu/about-dean-maness*picture courtesy of OSU website