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The Environmental Remote Sensing Applications laboratory (ERSAL) was established in 1972 with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The initial purpose of the Laboratory was to engage in pilot projects and research to forward the application of remote sensing technology. The ERSAL staff collaborated with state and county governments, municipalities, and federal agencies in Oregon on a variety of resource and human environment problems, with a strong emphasis on land use planning. The Laboratory was initially under the oversight of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and became a unit of the College of Forestry in 1988. C.E. Poulton was the first Director, from 1972 until 1974; Barry J. Schrump became Director in 1974, a position he held until 1988.