A Day in the Forest, Near Roseburg Oregon

On May 13th thru 16th , 2008, kids got a chance to learn about trees and forests from a slightly more detailed point of view. They also got to spent time playing cross cut saw, pulp toss, choke setting (that looked more like two horse chariot races) and nature charades. I got to tag along with Mrs. Hayden's class in the morning and Mrs. Avis's class in the afternoon. Both were from Sutherlin West Intermediate School in Sutherlin, Oregon. .

In a short interview with John Punches, Extension Forester, organizer of the 47th annual event for the fifth graders of Douglas County, Oregon, pride was clearly evident on just how successful this event was. Douglas County Land Department hosted the event at the educational site located behind the Glide transfer station just off Highway 138 East.

The OSU Extension Service gathered volunteers and presenters from various timber and wildlife organizations including the Douglas County Parks, Douglas County Public Works, Wolf Creek Job Corps, Society of American Foresters, Douglas Small Woodlands Association, Douglas Timber Operators, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Douglas Forest Protective Association, NOAA Fisheries, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Seneca Jones Timber Company, Roseburg Resources, Lone Rock Timber, Resource Management Services, Douglas County Woodlands Assistance Program, Weyerhaeuser Hardwoods, C&D Lumber, and Talk About Trees. The effort put into this week long event had some amazing results I am sure will be remembered for years by those attending.

The area was divided into two sets of seven stations that represented a different phase of forestry management. There were fisheries, fire control and prevention, forest management, forest products, wildlife, tree species identification and archeology. Small pole structures housed each station; the one with archeology resembled the temporary houses built by the Umpqua Indians whose artifacts were being demonstrated. Children learned the difference between a bow and an atalatal (primitive spear thrower) and how a simple detachable point could save hours of time and frustration when it came to procuring food for survival. Camas lily harvested was explained with some pretty detailed instruction. Wild life pointed out the interdependence of life, why animals needed to be close to water and how attracting one species invited in others. Trees, mostly evergreens, filled the rest of the tour. I was impressed with the thinning of the trees to keep a natural looking setting. The amount of grass that was growing under the emerging timbers was amazing.

Over all 20 schools, 46 classes, and 1134 children from local schools participated. It would be nice to listen to memories in a few years to see if this day of fun had a lasting effect on future life choices for those in attendence. Looking forward to next year's event!