The teachers' tours put educators in the driver's seat, as this participant found out while learning about mechanized harvesting equipment.
Forests of Maine Teachers' Tour offers
in-depth look at issues in woods, mills
By Andrew Kekacs
This summer, the Forests of Maine Teachers' Tour will mark the start of its second decade of bringing educators into field to learn about forest ecology, sustainable forest management, wildlife, outdoor recreation and wood-products manufacturing.
The program has been a resounding success, hosting hundreds of teachers during the last 10 years and giving them a firsthand look at a resource that has sustained the Maine economy for almost four centuries.
"Many [participants] have said in their evaluations, 'I thought this was a dying industry, but that couldn't be further from the truth,'" said Sherry Huber, executive director of Maine TREE Foundation, which sponsors the tours.
Over the course of four days in July, teachers and others who are "educators" -- ranging from librarians and parents who home-school to Scout leaders and members of conservation commissions -- will get an in-depth look at the challenges of managing woodlands in the nation's most heavily forested state. They'll learn about the multiple values produced by well-managed forests -- from lumber and pulpwood to clean water, wildlife and a place for outdoor recreation.
The tours do not shy away from tough issues about the forest. In meetings with loggers and foresters, mill owners and scientists, the teachers have a chance to discuss such topics as clear cutting, herbicides, diseases and insects, regulations and endangered species.
The point is not to change the way people think, but to increase their understanding of the decisions made in the forest. "I still don't like clear cutting," said one participant. "But now I understand why they do it."
Two tours will be offered this year: Tuesday, July 15, through Friday, July 18, and Tuesday, July 29, through Friday, Aug. 1.
The first will be based at Camp Wapiti, a sporting camp on Shin Pond, and visit locations in the Aroostook County/Baxter State Park area. The second, out of The Birches on Moosehead Lake, will tour central and western Maine.
The first afternoon will feature a Project Learning Tree workshop that focuses on the emergence of new products made from trees. With the price of oil at $100 per barrel, and the continued supply uncertain, researchers are turning their attention to wood as a source for many products currently made from petroleum.
Scientists at the University of Maine and elsewhere are developing processes that transform trees into feedstock for bio-fuels, pharmaceuticals and other bio-products. Educators will discuss ways to stimulate students to take the math and science courses that will be needed to find interesting, well-paying jobs in the field.
"Teachers should understand that this plant we call a tree is complex and has a huge potential for us," said Huber. "There is a robust long-term future for our forests."
Teachers discuss forest management at an active harvest site during one of the 2007 teachers' tours.
The following three days of the tours will be divided between visits to the woods and to manufacturing facilities. Educators will have a chance to talk with loggers, foresters and mill workers, and see harvesting equipment and production machinery in operation.
"It's not a casual business," said Huber. "The harvests that they see might have been planned 10 years ago."
The emphasis will be on the complexity and sensitivity of forest management decisions, and on the continuing technological revolution in manufacturing. Time will also be devoted to a discussion of how to use Project Learning Tree materials to achieve Maine Learning Results. The final morning of the tour will give teachers a chance to demonstrate ways they will use the new information in their classrooms.
Peter Gagnon, who has taught automotive technology at the Bath Regional Vocational Center for 14 years, has attended two of the teachers' tours.
"I found out about several forest industry-based jobs that my auto tech students could transfer their skills into," said Gagnon. "From the trucks and machinery in the woods to the equipment in the mills ... there numerous opportunities for a student with mechanical skills to gain employment."
Added Gagnon: "I was able to show my students there are different options available to them. I was also able to show traditional academic teachers that career and technical education can apply to many different areas."
Gagnon was struck by the technological advancement in "traditional" woods industries.
"[It was an] interesting opportunity to see the new technology of turning wood into fuel for vehicle use," he said. "If this technology is further developed, there will be tremendous opportunities for students in this area. I also instruct my students in the differences between a renewable, sustainable resource versus a finite amount of fossil fuel."
Would Gagnon suggest the program to other educators? "I would definitely recommend that teachers in all instructional areas participate in this experience," he said. "...There is real value to the subject matter. I have shared my experiences with the science department at Morse High School [in Bath], and two of their teachers attended a Project Learning Tree training with me at Maine Audubon. It has allowed us to look at a common subject from two different perspectives."
Each four-day tour typically has 20-30 participants. Tours are offered at a nominal cost of $75, which includes all transportation, lodging and meals. For more information, call (207) 621-9872 or e-mail mtf@gwi.net.