Message from Rick Blackwood, Board President

I am very excited to again have the opportunity to take part in the great work being done by fRI Research and its broad array of partners. When I first worked for what was then called the Foothills Model Forest, one of its great strengths was the very diverse group of industry, government, and academic entities that were committed to the vision of learning more in support of sustainable forest management. It is wonderful to see how that partnership has continued and grown over the years and how fRI Research has changed and adapted over time to continue to carry out important work to help answer pressing questions raised by our partners.

fRI Research is also blessed to have a very talented and dedicated group of staff and researchers who work tirelessly in the pursuit of knowledge to inform new or improved strategies for forest and resource management. I look forward to working with all of them and our partners going forward to continue the long tradition of excellence that has been established over fRI Research’s 32-year history.


Rick served as our first General Manager, from 1992 until 2000. He is our organization’s fifth Board President, taking over from Jesse Kirillo.