Competitions, industry accreditation seminars and displays of the latest in timber management equipment were the most obvious components of the 77th Annual Oregon Logging Conference held Feb. 19-21, at the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene. Less visible were the more than 800 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students who spent the better part of a day learning about the timber industry.
Women in Timber members, in cooperation with Oregon Forest Resources Institute, Project Learning Tree and Society of Oregon Foresters and other industry groups, have sponsored the student education program since 1991. Industry members consider educating the young people critical to the future of Oregon’s forests.
Mary Loftin, a retired teacher who volunteers as a Lane County facilitator for Talk About Trees, talked about the role she played in Friday’s program. About 100 children arrived at a time and went to a classroom for a 30-minute overview of the forest industry, Loftin said.
“We want them to understand the importance of forest stewardship and what part it plays in meeting their own social, environmental and economic needs,” she said. “We talk about the importance of science and teamwork, wildlife and clean water and show them a short video before they go into a couple of small group sessions.” They also got a guided tour of the grounds so they could watch demonstrations and see the equipment up close.
K.C. VanNatta, a logger and tree farmer from Columbia County who has attended the conferences since the early 1970s, believes the future of the industry relies on educating young people. “The next generation will be right at home with today’s eco-friendly computer-operated equipment the size of a cell phone that can now tell us where our equipment is located and what it is doing, the diameter measurement of a tree we are about to harvest and the weight of the logs as we load them on the truck,” VanNatta said. “While us old guys have had to struggle to learn how to use the new technology, these already computer-savvy kids will find it to be a piece of cake.”
From Capital Press: https://www.capitalpress.com/Timber/20150224/logging-conference-opens-doors-to-students