Harry A. Merlo, founder and long-time supporter of the World Forest Institute, is a legend within the forest products sector, and now a well known philanthropist to many youth oriented causes. 

Harry's mother, Clotilde Merlo, taught him his life's mantra: Chi non lavora, non deve mangiare.  Translation: If you don't work, you don't eat. With that simple admonition, Harry Merlo's mother set in motion the life of a boy who would grow into a hugely successful businessman, steward of the land, philanthropist, winemaker, sportsman and friend to many.

Harry's career would take him from a small logging town in Stirling City, California, to eventually becoming Chairman and CEO of Louisiana Pacific, a major building products company. It was under Harry's visionary leadership that Louisiana Pacific became a Fortune 500 company, propelled by its investment in Oriented Strand Board (OSB) production. At a time when old growth logging was beginning to wane, Harry saw the advantages in producing a product that used wood waste and small diameter logs. To this day Harry is known as the "father of OSB" not for its invention (it was invented much earlier), but for producing it at affordable prices which consumers and builders could embrace.

Long before others in the industry, Harry Merlo recognized that forestry is a global sector. He understood the importance of having access to information worldwide, and of developing a network of contacts abroad. He dreamed of a place where information on world forestry could be sourced and shared. When he created the World Forest Institute in 1989, he did so to serve the forest sector as a whole. 

The Merlo Foundation supports a wide variety of worthy causes, including programs for homeless street children and orphanages.

To learn more about Harry Merlo, pick up a copy of his autobiography Vintage Merlo: Reflections on a life well-lived. This book can be purchased in our Discovery Museum Forest Store.

Here are some of Harry's recent accomplishments:

• Harry is the recipient of the 2011 Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Philanthropist award. This is a regional award for the Oregon and SW Washington chapter. Read more about this here.
  

• Congratulations to Harry Merlo for winning the 2010 Oregon State Tree Farmer of the Year Award!

The 2010 Oregon Tree Farmer of the Year Awards Cermony video is courtesy of our friends at the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region and the Oregon Tree Farm System. Please enjoy!