July 5, 2022 3:20 a.m.
Umpqua Community College transfer student Justin Helgren, from Elkton, has received the Oregon State University Forestry Program Harold Bowerman Leadership Award.
A UCC release said this year marks three years in a row that UCC students have been recognized in the OSU annual forestry award program. Last year, Ashley Backen was the Outstanding Forestry Student of the Year, preceded by Wade Christiansen in 2021.
Helgren was selected to receive the award by a committee comprised of a representative from each department in the OSU forestry program. The criteria for the selected student include demonstrated leadership, outstanding contributions, and participation in student club activities and collegiate programs.
Helgren said, “What I’m most excited about in the field of forestry is the sustainability of this valuable resource. Safe and effective forestry practices allow us to reduce our carbon footprint and promote a healthier and cleaner planet”.
Mark Buckbee, chair of the UCC Forestry Program Advisory Committee, said “Many of our local students from UCC have gone on to OSU, the number one forestry program in the nation, according to the Center for World University Rankings”. Buckbee said, “The frosting on the cake is that after they graduate, most of them return to Douglas County or western Oregon to take one of the in-demand forestry jobs”.
The release said while still a student at UCC, Helgren worked for the log scaling bureau and started his own small logging business. He then worked for Sierra Pacific Industries in Anderson, California as a forestry technician before transferring to complete his bachelor’s degree in forestry at Oregon State University. Helgren has also worked for Weyerhaeuser in Oregon, served as president of the Student Chapter of the Society of American Foresters, and is active in both the Student Chapter of SAF and the Forestry Club.
Helgren has returned home to Douglas County to work as a forest engineer for Roseburg Forest Products. He says, “It is a tremendous opportunity to be able to come home and work for a company that cares so deeply about the community of Douglas County and couldn’t have picked a better place to work”.