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| Oregon Facts for School Reports - Industry |
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| Industry |
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Manufacturing and Other Industries
Manufacturing accounts for approximately 18 percent of the gross state product, while service industries contribute the remaining 82 percent. Oregon's largest manufacturing industries include forest products, high technology, food processing and metals. Services, agriculture, tourism and international trade are other important sectors of Oregon's economy.
Industries that are growing quickly in Oregon include plastics, biotechnology, software and film and video production.
The Timber Industry
Wood processing is one of Oregon's most important manufacturing activities. Almost half of the state is forested, making Oregon one of the leading suppliers of wood and wood products worldwide Band the nation's leading producer of lumber and plywood. The majority of the trees processed are Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce and Ponderosa Pine. Oregonians try to harvest with care so that the forests' other great benefits such as watershed protection, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation and shade may be preserved.
Oregon's total land area is 61.4 million acres. Almost half of this, 27.5 million acres, is forested.Oregon's forests are divided into two major geographic regions: eastern Oregon and western Oregon, which are separated by the Cascade Range. Douglas-fir and western hemlock are the primary conifer species in western Oregon. In eastern Oregon, ponderosa pine and lodge pole pine are the primary conifers. Several species of true fir and larch also grow east of the Cascades. In parts of the Cascade Range and in the high desert of eastern Oregon, the forests includes alpine fir, mountain hemlock and western juniper are the species found in this region.
Important Issues:
- Sixty-one percent of Oregon's forests is publicly owned.
- Almost 57 percent of Oregon's forests is federal land.
- Fifty-nine percent of the state's forest land, or 16.2 million acres, is capable of producing timber for commercial harvest .
- 18 percent, or 4.9 million acres, contains less-suitable commercial forest.
Agriculture and Seafood
Agriculture also is one of Oregon's most important industries. "Drive a nail in the land and it comes up green," the pioneers boasted. On the coast we produce lilies, cheese and cranberries, and from the sea oysters, mussels, clams, salmon, halibut, cod, snapper, bass, crabs, shrimp and scallops are harvested.
Farmers in the inland valleys grow hay, grain, grass seed, vegetables, nuts (Oregon is the nation's largest producer of hazelnuts), berries, Christmas trees, wine grapes, flower bulbs, pears, plums, cherries and apples. Poultry, cows, sheep and pigs also are raised. The High Country, with its drier climate, has cattle, sheep, wheat, alfalfa, barley, onions, corn, potatoes, sugar beets and melons. Ninety-five percent of the bounty grown is produced on family-owned, rather than corporate farms.
Producers purchase more than $3 billion of inputs, including seed, feed, supplies and services from local companies. A big portion of this business is conducted in rural and urban parts of the state. Approximately 140,000 Oregon jobs are tied to the industry, and about 60,000 of these are located on farms.
Roughly 80 percent of Oregon's agricultural production goes out of the state, with half marketed overseas. More than 60 percent of exports moving through the Port of Portland are agricultural products.
Products
Oregon leads the nation in the production of Christmas trees, grass seed, hazelnuts, peppermint, raspberries, blackberries, loganberries and other berry crops. It also is a major producer of hops, strawberries, prunes, plums, onions, cauliflower, pears and nursery products.
Agricultural Regions
The state has several distinct agricultural regions:
- The Willamette Valley is the most diverse. Specialty crops include vegetables, berries, hazelnuts, hops and nursery products.
- Tree fruits, potatoes and livestock dominate in southern Oregon.
- Fisheries and dairy farms are abundant in the coastal region.
- The Columbia Basin is noted for its large dryland wheat farms.
- Hood River and Wasco counties are famous for cherries, apples and pears.
- Surrounding counties in northeastern Oregon produce a number of irrigated field crops in addition to wheat and livestock.
- Malheur County in eastern Oregon produces seed crops, onions, potatoes, sugar beets and other specialty crops. Excellent growing conditions and cooperative efforts with Idaho enhance the area's production and processing capabilities.
- Livestock and hay production dominate in Harney and Lake counties in southeastern Oregon.
- Jefferson County and other central Oregon areas grow a wide range of crops, including seeds, peppermint and grains. Livestock and hay are the predominant commodities in the area.
Tourism and Recreation
Tourism is one of Oregon's primary industries because of the state's abundance and diversity of scenic wonders. The state boasts one of the most beautiful and best protected sea coasts in the world, pastoral inland valleys and the sage-scented engulfing big skies of Eastern Oregon. There are many things to do in Oregon, both indoors and out. Oregonians enjoy cosmopolitan museums, performing arts and shopping, as well as hiking, swimming, skiing, boating, hunting, fishing, rock-hounding, windsurfing (the Columbia Gorge is known as the windsurfing capital of the world), bicycling, nature walks in the mountains or on the coast, rock-climbing and wildlife viewing.
Wholesale and retail trade is Oregon's most valuable service industry, employing more Oregonians than any other industry. Portland, a major West coast port, leads the Northwest in international trade of wheat and forest products.Community services such as government, hospitals, finance and real estate all contribute greatly to Oregon's economic stability.
Transportation and utilities also play major roles in the service industry sector. The total highway network in Oregon covers more than 123,000 miles. Air transportation is an important part of Oregon's service industry, as it provides an essential link between the United States and Asia. The state hosts approximately 400 public and private airports as well as 16 commercial-passenger airlines.
Mining, high technology, food processing, fertilizer production and creation of electronic components also predominate in the state, creating a good balance for Oregon's economy.
Tourism Resources
The clean, pristine natural environment is Oregon's greatest draw. Visitors enjoy recreating, sightseeing and relaxing in the state's mountains, meadows, rivers, deserts and oceans. Oregon geological history has created mountains such as the Steens and Hart mountains in southeast Oregon; the various "exotic terrains" that are the foundations of Hells Canyon and the Wallowa and Blue mountains in the northeastern part of the state and the Klamath mountains in southwest Oregon; volcanic features such as Fort Rock and Smith Rock in the High Lava Plains near Bend; the Columbia River basalt flows that solidified into cliffs over which Multnomah and other waterfalls flow in the Columbia River Gorge; the spectacular High Cascade volcanoes such as Mount Hood and Crater Lake; the sediment-filled basin known as the fertile Willamette Valley; and the volcanic island chain that forms the Coast Range.Oregon also boasts an increasing number of man-made attractions.
Since 1992, several major new attractions have opened, including the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center at Flagstaff Hill near Baker City, the new Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, the Museum at Warm Springs in central Oregon, the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City, the Columbia River Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum in The Dalles, the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton, Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario and others.
State Government-Operated Attractions
The Parks and Recreation Department manages the department manages the Pacific Ocean shoreline as a 362-mile-long recreation area, a scenic waterway system of nineteen rivers and one lake, and the 200-mile-long Willamette River Greenway.The coastal zone features 296 miles of coast line and fourteen major bays with direct access to the Pacific Ocean, along with twenty-one major estuaries with 133,000 acres of tide lands. Inland waters provide fifty major navigable rivers, more than 10,000 river miles of navigable streams, with 6,619 lakes and reservoirs.
Federal Government-Operated Attractions
Two National Recreation Areas, one National Scenic Area and one National Volcanic Monument
provide exceptional opportunities. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area boasts some of the most beautiful coastline and best beach-oriented recreation on the west coast. The famous Snake River and ruggedly beautiful Hells Canyon National Recreation Area are found in the far northeast corner of the state. Minutes from Portland, the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is home to fabulous waterfalls and the Historic Columbia River Highway. Newberry National Volcanic Monument protects the wealth of geological wonders found within the five-mile-wide caldera of the Newberry Volcano. Forest Service interpretive centers at Cape Perpetua on the central Oregon coast, Lava Lands south of Bend, Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, and the Wallowa Valley Visitors Center in Enterprise help forest visitors better understand complex social and environmental processes affecting the landscape.
National Parks
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Crater Lake National Park
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Oregon Caves National Monument, the John Day
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Fossil Beds National Monument Fort Clatsop National Memorial.
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A total of fifty-eight BLM recreation areas in Oregon provide 1,379 campsites and 708 picnic spots surrounded by fishing, hiking, swimming and other recreational pursuits.
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