Roger and Fernne Rosenblatt

This is the story of our first forestry and natural resources field day, conducted with the eighth grade class of Omak Middle School in April 2000. Sixty energetic and enthusiastic kids spent the day on our tree farm learning what makes it tick. The students left with a new perception of how forests work, and a new appreciation for forestry as an enjoyable and intellectually stimulating activity that they can master as a vocation or an avocation. Here's how we put the day together.

The Setting: The Rosenblatt Stewardship Forest

Our tree farm is in Okanogan County in Washington state, about 15 miles east of the county seat of Okanogan. The 450 acres is a mixed conifer forest dominated by ponderosa pine, with some Douglas-fir and western larch. The Little Loup Loup creek spends about three-quarters of a mile of its short course on our property, and lies in a deep canyon with a potentially rich riparian corridor.

The property is a patchwork of stands in various stages of regeneration and stem exclusion. The largest stand had all merchantable timber removed three years ago (before we purchased it). The creek-and associated riparian area-has for years been the reluctant host to a hundred head of cattle from the adjacent Washington State Department of Natural Resources' open range during our hot and dry summers, and is definitely the worse for wear.

Since 1997 we have been working with the Okanogan County Conservation District and the Department of Natural Resources Stewardship Program to reforest the property, build fence, restore the riparian area and create a healthy working forest. Grants from both the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program and the Stewardship Program have helped us in this effort. Last year, we donated a conservation easement for the entire property to the Methow Conservancy, which prevents future subdivision and conversion of the property. Our goal is to keep our land intact for our four boys and their descendants, maintain the property as a working forest, and maximize wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

The School: The Importance of a Committed Teacher

The most important element of the school-NIPF partnership that emerged was finding the right science teacher, someone interested in experiential learning and willing to put in the planning time. We contacted a number of teachers in the area's schools, and were fortunate in forging a close working relationship with Cathy Darly, the middle school science teacher in Omak. Cathy previously had her students visit a Forest Service watershed just to the east of us, and was looking for another place that would serve as a natural laboratory.

The Omak school system faces the challenges shared by many of its rural counterparts: large class sizes, dependence on levies, a diverse and often under-privileged student body, and over-worked teachers and administrative staff. The middle school is fortunate to have a strong and committed principal and reasonably good parent participation-both of which proved critical in making this field day a success.

The Field Day

The "day" actually started about three weeks before the event, as Cathy and Fernne constructed a hands-on set of experiences based on the interests of the professionals who volunteered, and the major silvicultural and restoration activities that were ongoing in our forest. The weekend was chosen to coincide with our annual reforestation efforts just after the winter's snow melt. Key professionals from across the county were recruited to handle the eight modules that were the backbone of the field day. Students rotated through the modules, with each student participating in three different modules during the day. These modules were:

o Forest ecology: A local forester and a local logger introduced the kids to the major tree species and their growth habitats, discussed forest pathogens like mistletoe, and illustrated the challenges of managing dry-side forests in the context of fire suppression.

o Water Quality: The conservation district water-quality expert performed fancy chemical experiments on random water samples in the field.

o Fish: Two fisheries professionals from the Colville Tribe brought along their fish-zapper, a very impressive piece of semi-portable electronic machinery that immobilizes fish so they can be counted and identified.

o Aquatic invertebrates: Staff from the Tonasket Ranger District collected samples and used field microscopes to identify and count micro-aquatic invertebrates and explained how they can be used to determine the health of the creek.

o Streamflow: Roger and a local teacher showed the kids how to measure streamflow using the float method. The kids had a ball seeing how fast the pop bottle sped down the stream, though they got their biggest kick when Roger tripped and fell into the creek.

o Journalism: One group of students was responsible for taking pictures with a digital camera, interviewing the participants and writing an article that was published in a local newspaper.

o Wildlife: The wildlife biologist from DNR's Stewardship Program showed the students how to identify and quantify plants and forest structures, and illustrated the relationship between the plant and tree community, and the diversity and abundance of forest wildlife.

o Reforestation: Some of the hardier students-and they grow eighth graders in large sizes these days- helped plant ponderosa pines in the upland areas.

o Bank stabilization: Almost all the students discussed riparian ecology and participated in planting 550 dogwood and willow whips in the creek for bank stabilization in the areas that had previously been trampled by cattle.

What Made it Work:

1. The kids-and the adults-had a ball. The students wrote us glowing notes after the event that convinced us that they learned a lot, and had fun doing so. The article in the local newspaper was spectacular.

2. Strong school leadership-the school principal escaped from behind his desk and was an enthusiastic participant.

3. Strong parental and community support. We had about 20 adults on site, parents and grandparents of students, volunteers from the Colville Indian Tribe, Forest Service, Conservation District, Pacific Watershed Institute and Methow Conservancy, and local neighbors. Not only did these folks know a lot, but they were also a solid connection to the local community.

4. Great weather, good food and a porta-potty. Although the porta-potty first got delivered to the wrong field, it eventually wandered back to our property-and made everyone feel a lot more comfortable. The weather cooperated, and Fernne provided sandwiches for all the adult volunteers, and had enough left over to feed the handful of kids who forgot to bring lunch.

5. A great insurance company. We worried about liability, that curse of NIPF ownership. Even though the school probably covered liability, we called our carrier and explained what we were doing. We were quite relieved when they told us not to worry-they would cover our liability within our existing umbrella policy.

Conclusion

The field day was lot of a work, but well worth the effort. We connected with our local community in a new and much more intense way. Not only did the students learn a lot about forestry, forest ecology and environmental restoration, but they also learned that science was connected to their real lives. The tools that they acquired will be meaningful if they become doctors, nurses, teachers or natural resource professionals.

We also gained new insights into our own property. Who would have believed that the creek was full of strange aquatic invertebrates that looked like visitors from a distant planet? Or that our goal of restoring fish to the creek depends upon having ample numbers of these critters?

We revisited the planting the kids did during the field day on July 4, and the two-year-old pine saplings all survived and were putting on impressive terminal growth. And the dogwood and willow whips had exploded with new branches and leaves. Our hope is that the kids that participated in the field day will have also spurted forward in their intellectual growth, and carry some of that experience with them into their future lives. We certainly hope to repeat this experience in years ahead, and would be glad to share the materials we developed with any other family forest owners that would like to try this in their own communities.

Roger Rosenblatt is a family doctor who teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and is also a graduate student in Silviculture at the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington. Fernne is a family mediator with experience in rural community development and group facilitation. Together the Rosenblatts have assembled a stewardship forest in Okanogan County, where they spend as much time as they can working to improve the ecological health and productivity of their forest. They can be reached at (206) 329-1259 or via email at rosenb@u.washington.edu.

This article appeared in the Northwest Woodlands Magazine, Fall 2000- Published quarterly by the World Forestry Center as a benefit of membership in the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, Washington Farm Forestry Association, Idaho Forest Owners Association and Montana Forest Owners Association.