Teacher #1

"I have been on a Starker field trip four times. I found them very informative and a wonderful experience for the students. I feel they do a good job showing how trees can be harvested and replanted. I think Starker Forests has an excellent reputation for caring about the environment. They also do a great deal to benefit our schools. They not only provide a staff member to spend the day, they also provide the bus! I would recommend this field trip to any teacher or class."

Teacher #2

Question: Were these a valuable educational experience for your students?

Answer: "Absolutely. I've taken the tour three times. Each time, they have customized the tour to meet the educational needs of the students and the curriculum. Once, the foresters dealt with the transfer of energy and food chain: importance of the sun, nutrients in the soil, decomposers, herbivores and carnivores. Once, they focused on how the weather affects the growth of trees and the animals that live in the forest: rate of growth, deterrents to growth, competition, and disease. The tours are broken into stops along a route, and each stop reinforces some aspect of the biology of the trees, the biology of the animals, or the interdependence of all the living creatures in the forest."

Question: Do you have any concerns about the corporate propaganda in the presentations?

Answer: "Starker does not hide the fact they cut trees. In fact, they encourage a reading of Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax" to give perspective. They also encourage teachers and students to think about wood use. Trees are cut to fill a consumer demand. Starker is simply showing how they manage their trees and their land to meet consumer needs and maintain their natural resources."

Teacher #3

"Actually, I expected there to be some type of pro-logging type slant possible, but the group leader I was with, a very knowledgeable female forester was terrific and presented the material without a bias. She covered the environmental and scientific terms relating to forestry. She talked about conserving use of wood products as very important. Since the third grade studies Oregon's economy, I feel the educational value of this for third grade is high."

Teacher #4

"All in all, it seemed like just a walk in the woods with someone who pointed out parts of the forest,certain ecological interactions, and how we should appreciate having forests and trees."