A new survey of 53 university forestry programs in the United States and Canada found that the College of Forestry at Oregon State University ranks No. 1 in the total number of professional publications and No. 1 in the number of citations to those publications.

The college also is perceived by academic colleagues as the leading forestry program in North America, despite controversy last year over some senior faculty members' attempts to keep a graduate student's research out of a leading journal, the survey said.

The study, published in the Journal of Forestry, examined a range of research, publication and citation criteria at 47 universities in the United States and six in Canada. It is one of the first peer-reviewed rankings of forestry programs in at least a decade, the Auburn University authors said.

OSU has one of the largest forestry education, research and Extension programs in the nation, and this year is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Its first degree programs were offered in 1906, and the college now how has more than 600 students, 15,000 acres of college forests, about 5,500 graduates and an annual budget of more than $20 million.

David Morman, director of forest resources planning for the Oregon Department of Forestry, wasn't surprised to hear OSU's College of Forestry received this distinction.

"It's certainly consistent with the top-notch performance and collaborations we've seen from them in the past," Morman said, adding that the state Department of Forestry, which is almost as old as the College of Forestry, relies "quite heavily" on research produced by OSU faculty.

Controversy has surrounded the college since January, when some professors tried to delay publication of a salvage-logging study led by graduate student Daniel Donato. The study was published in Science.

Some say the professors were trying to defend academic rigor and protect Donato and his co-authors from entering a flawed study into the scientific record. Others viewed it as bullying, censorship and a blow to academic freedom.

From Morman's perspective, the controversy didn't taint the college's reputation. He thinks the flap had more to do with clashes in values than arguments over the technical merits of either camp's research.

"Our history goes back much farther than whatever little storm brewed up last year," Morman said. "From our standpoint, it hasn't affected our relationship with them at all. Perhaps in the long run, the controversy will be healthy for the college, and hopefully they can continue to move forward positively."

Leslie Lehmann, executive director for the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, also thought the honor was deserved.

"In our experience, they have a very impressive teaching and research program. We're really proud to have them here in Oregon," Lehmann said.

According to the study, the top 10 forestry research programs in North America included OSU, Virginia Tech, the University of Georgia, University of Washington, University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, Auburn University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of British Columbia and University of Alberta.

Gazette-Times reporter Mary Ann Albright and OSU News Service writer David Stauth contributed to this report.