Following the recent passing of Omar Urioste on August 12th, the Forest Producers Society wishes to remember him with these words from Agricultural Forestry Engineer Rosario Linares Silveira, a member of the SPF Fiscal Commission.

I met Mr. Omar Urioste in the late 1980s. At that time, he was one of the few Uruguayans with experience in forestry. He planted trees on his property from a very young age alongside his father as windbreaks for the cattle, and, starting in 1975, he began planting trees with the aim of producing timber.

When Uruguay was just beginning to consider that forestry production could be a way to improve the yield of our lands, Mr. Omar Urioste already knew, through his work, the possibilities of forest sites and how the tree species he managed developed in those sites.

I was fortunate to work on research projects that he sponsored, putting his forests and his experience at their service; thus, valuable foreign technicians such as Evan D. Shield and Roderick Hansen visited him and shared with him instances of great importance for the forestry progress of Uruguay.

 I started working with him in the 1990s and continued to do so until this date, when with great regret we have to say goodbye to him.

He was one of the most generous people I’ve met throughout my professional career when it came to sharing his knowledge and experience. He was always willing to listen to new theories, and if they seemed logical to him, he would put them into practice, but never without first discussing them and convincing himself of their applicability.

As his Forestry Engineer for the past few years, he left my field visits entirely in my hands, but upon my return, the report had to be in writing, and after he had read it, I had to defend it at his desk. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I already miss our forestry meetings in his office, which were always filled with experiences and anecdotes about forestry, agricultural and livestock production, and the country’s political life.