Faculty

James R. Boyle
Professor Emeritus
Department of Forest Resources
Peavy Hall 273
Corvallis, OR 97331-5703
(541) 737-4036

BS in Forestry, 1962, Iowa State University-
MF in Forest Ecology, 1963, Yale School of Forestry
PhD in Forest Soils and Ecology, 1967, Yale University

Current interests: Synthesizing and integrating information about: potentially sustainable forestry; forest soil ecology; biogeochemistry; forest ecology; sustained forest productivity; planted forests; tree-soil interactions; nutrients and biota in forest soils, and... some terms for forest soils folks.

Books Co-Edited:

Planted Forests, Contributions to the Quest for Sustainable Societies. 1999.

Forest Soils and Ecosystem Sustainability. 2001.

Excerpt from "Cumulative Effects of Forest Practices..." by Beschta et al.: "Effects on Soils"
Entire document at: http://www.forestry.oregonstate.edu/cof/fr/facultypages/cumulativeeffectsofforestpractices.pdf

Aldo Leopold: The Land Ethic. Presentation for Intro' to Forestry class (FOR 111) (pdf: 3.86 MB)

References for Forest Soils folks:

Some terms for forest soils folks.

Table of Contents of North American Forest Soils Conferences Volumes 1-9 (1958, '63, '68, '73, '78, '83, '88, '93, '98)

1st NAFSC 1958 Book - *WAIT* 827 MB-HUGE file; right-click link and copy to your computer; direct download could take "forever"! (even the copying took more than 5 minutes on my 5-year old computer. jrb).

Courses:

FOR 341, Forest Ecology. Spring 2004.
FOR 365, Issues in Natural Resources Conservation. Last offering by JRB, Winter Term 2002.

Personal Statement:

Born in Iowa and nurtured in the loess bluffs, gardens, woodlands and farmlands of southwest Iowa, the lakes and forests of canoe country Minnesota and Ontario, and mountains of the west. Studied forestry at Iowa State University and the Yale School of Forestry, and a year as a Fulbright Scholar at the Forest Research Institute of Finland. 1966-'68 in the Army.  1968-1973: Assistant Professor of Soil Science and Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 1973-1981: Associate Professor and Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; taught forest hydrology, soil science, soils and land use, and summer courses "Soils and Ecosystems" and "Soils and Forest Biogeochemistry" at the U. of M. Biological Station at Douglas Lake.1980-'81: visiting research forester with Crown Zellerbach's Forestry Research Division in Wilsonville, Oregon. 1981-'89:  Professor of Forestry and Head,  Forest Management Department,  College of Forestry at Oregon State. In 1989 resumed full-time professorial duties, teaching forest ecology, issues in natural resources conservation, and continuing education programs in forest ecology and forest soils. Over the years researched mineral weathering in tree root zones, impacts of whole-tree harvesting on soils, and soil properties that influence long-term forest productivity.  Fortunate to have visited forests and dug in soils from central Finland and arctic Sweden to northern China, the islands of New Zealand, Amazonia, Chile and California. Member of Society of American Foresters;  member and Fellow, Soil Science Society of America. Enthusiastic mountain biker, runner/walker back country skier and traveler.

Lecture abstract from the lecture series "Ideas Matter: The Ethical Legacy of Aldo Leopold", Department of Philosophy Oregon State U. 1998.

"Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic: Challenges for Foresters Today and in the 21st Century"
Aldo Leopold's essay "The Land Ethic" was published in an early form in the Journal of Forestry more than fifty years ago. This essay, along with Leopold's shorter ones have provided a literary tapestry and intellectual challenge for foresters. It's my impression and opinion, however, that relatively few foresters have seriously considered these writings to be potential parts of their education relevant to managing forests. From my viewpoint, forestry education and culture in general have been so focussed on utilitarian views of forests that there has been little or no emphasis on conceiving of humans as "members of the community of the land". Nor have there thorough considerations of the concept of forest "land" as a set of holistic systems that include human communities. Foresters are, by and large, a pragmatic group with sound ideas, education and training in being good land stewards by growing and harvesting trees, avoiding massive soil erosion and maintaining good habitats for hunting and fishing. Multiple use, the mantra of forestry of the sixties, has been deemed sufficient. We have not thoroughly challenged each other to go philosophically beyond utilitarianism, in spite of a land ethic canon recently added to the professinal code of ethics. Today, Leopold's "Land Ethic", Garrett Hardin's ideas about "cultural carrying capacity", concepts of "ecosystem services", considerations of "ecological footprints" of human communities, discussions of potential sustainability of forests and forestry, in addition to basic sciences of forest ecology and forest productivity - (and, ideas from deep ecology!)- provide a rich basis for considering human interactions with forests. And, for considering how professional foresters can best serve society.

Selected publications:

• Boyle, James R., Robert F. Powers, editors, 2001. Forest Soils and Ecosystem Sustainability.
• Boyle, J.R., J.K. Winjum, K. Kavanagh, and E.C. Jensen, editors. 1999. Planted Forests: Contributions to the Quest for Sustainable Societies. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht .
• Boyle, J.R. 1998. Planted forests: views and viewpoints. New Forests. 17(1/3):5-9
• Boyle, James R. et al. 1998. Cumulative Effects of Forest Practices: An Example Framework For Evaluation from Oregon, U.S.A. Biomass and Bioenergy 13 (4,5):223-245.
• Powers, R.F. A.E. Tiarks, and J.R. Boyle. 1997. Assessing soil quality: Practicable standards for sustainable forest productivity in the United States. Special Publication of Soil Science Society of America. Madison, WI. No. 53, pp. 53-80.
• Boyle, J.R. 1992. Creating new visions of sustainable forestry. Forest Perspectives. 2(1)20-21.
• Miller, R.E., J.R. Boyle et al. 1992. Fertilizers and other means to maintain long-term productivity of western forests. In: Forest Fertilization: Sustaining and Improving Nutrition and Growth of Western Forests. Inst. of Forest Resources Contrib. 73. Coll. of Forest Resources, Univ. Washington, Seattle; H.N. Chappell, G.F. Weetnam and R.E. Miller, eds.
• Shaw, C.H., H. Lundqvist, A. Moldenke and J. Boyle. 1991. The relationships of soil fauna to long-term forest productivity in temperate and boreal ecosystems: Processes and research strategies. Pages 39-77 in: Long-term Field Trials to Assess Environmental Impacts of Harvesting. Forest Research Institute of New Zealand Bull. No. 161. June 1991.
• Fried, J.S., J.R. Boyle, J.C. Tappeiner II and K. Cromack Jr. 1990. Effects of bigleaf maple on soils in Douglas-fir forests. Can. J. For. Res. 20(3):259-266.
• Perry, D. H., R. Meurisse, B. Thomas, R. Miller, J. Boyle, J. Means, C. R. Perry & R. F. Powers. 1989. Maintaining the Long-Term Productivity of Pacific Northwest Forest Ecosystems. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.
  

Back to the top