Interactive Forest Experience, Dec. 23

The Oregon Department of Forestry, in partnership with Oregon State University, announced the launch of an “interactive forest experience”, called ExploreOregonForests.org. The project offers a unique opportunity to explore Oregon’s forests with the click of a mouse button. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition, the educational website is part of a collaborative effort to highlight the richness and diversity of Oregon’s forests and engage us in steps to conserve and protect these natural resources. Site features include: -Trail guides; -Recreation destination information; -Printable maps; -Mini lessons for educators; -An outdoor geo-caching treasure hunt; -Featured video tours; -And much more. Visitors will learn about the many benefits Oregon’s forests provide. To help visitors experience the unique array of forests and plan their next trip, ExploreOregonForests.org showcases four tours of diverse Oregon locations. Forest Park: This tour gives visitors a deeper look at Portland’s iconic urban forest, illustrating how the park battles the incursion of invasive species and how forest-lovers can positively impact the health of the beloved wooded escape. OSU Research Forests: The second tour dives into the world of Oregon’s working forests, which add $12 billion annually to the state’s economy and supports over 58,000 jobs in recreation, paper production and more. One of these forests, McDonald-Dunn Forest in Corvallis, is owned and maintained by Oregon State University and hosts between 40 — 80 active research projects at any given time. ExploreOregonForests.org allows learners to interact with McDonald-Dunn in 360 degrees. Ashland: This segment illustrates the importance of community engagement with surrounding forests, especially in fire-prone environments. Visitors discover what makes a community more resilient to wildfires. Oregon Coast: The experience concludes with a geocache tour of five Oregon heritage trees located along the Oregon coast. At each site, visitors can collect one-of-a-kind wooden ExploreOregonForests.org coins. Geocaching or not, visitors will learn what makes these trees culturally or historically significant to be worthy of being designated as an Oregon heritage tree. For more information, go to ExploreOregonForests.org  The Travel Oregon site has information on three additional tours: Heritage Trees, Working Forests and Forest Park. Learn more about these tours here: http://traveloregon.com/author/reneezipp/