Tours, Field Trips, Events & More
At Starker Forests, we love to share our knowledge about forests and forest management with the public. Throughout the year, we host and participate in dozens of forest education events throughout Western Oregon.
We have a variety of forest education activities such as:
- Public Forest Tours – Professional foresters-led tours to Starker forestlands and the Starker Forestry Trail (summer months only).
- Elementary School Field Trips – Interactive field trips for area schools at our interpretive trail near Blodgett.
- Outdoor Schools – Our foresters teach forestry lessons as part of the curriculum for multiple area outdoor school programs.
- Starker Forests Tree Planting Day – An annual event for Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and 4-H Club members to expose youth to the experience of tree planting.
- Winter Wildlife Field Days – Community partner in a month-long nature adventure with pop-up field stations in the Corvallis area. Lead host: Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
- Leadership Corvallis – Host forest tours for Natural Resources Day.
- Girl Scouts and Scouts BSA – Forestry education opportunities for scouting events.
- Get Outdoors Day – Community partner in annual spring event at Peavy Arboretum.
- High school career fairs.
- Forest management education presentations to community businesses and nonprofits.
Do you have a group that would like a forest tour? Give us a call at 541-929-2477 to plan your trip to the woods.
Starker Forestry Field Trips for Elementary School Students
Starker Forests invites elementary teachers to bring their students to Starker Forests for a field trip to learn about forests and forestry in Western Oregon. Our field trips are in the forest, free of charge, and reimbursement for bus costs can be requested HERE from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute.
Classes visiting Starker Forests are invited to spend the day (usually ruled by bus schedules) with us at our education and interpretive trail near Blodgett. Field trips occur during the spring and fall each year. Our on-site picnic shelter offers seating and cover to enjoy lunch or snacks.
Professional forester guides will immerse students in the forest by leading them around a 1/4-mile interpretive trail. If time allows, students will go on a hike in the forest to make observations about their diverse surroundings.
Teachers can opt for a standard, grade-based forestry curriculum that aligns with Oregon education standards or we will work with each teacher to design a custom field trip to align with current classroom lesson topics. Many of the topics we cover on the field trip can be reinforced in the classroom with activities from OFRI, Project Learning Tree and BEETLES.
The Starker Forestry Trail is located near Blodgett, Oregon, approximately 13 miles west of Philomath.
To schedule a tour or find out more, call our office at 541-929-2477 or email recreation@starkerforests.com
Our Goals for Your Field Trip
Immersion
We offer students the chance to immerse themselves in the forest to experience hands-on opportunities to explore, observe, discover and learn.
Safe Fun
Students will have fun and be safe.
Forest Succession
Students will learn about the predictable change of a forest over time. This includes looking at different aged forests, plant competition and tree and plant identification.
Environmental Protection
Modern forest management in working forests protects and enhances wildlife habitat and water quality. Students will learn about the wildlife that call our forests home.
Wood Products
Trees are amazing. From high-tech cellulose based products like tablet medicines and textiles to 2 x 4s and plywood, our forests produce high-quality wood products to meet society’s soaring demand.
Quiet Time
Students will have the opportunity to silently observe the forest, activate the senses, and quietly reflect.
History
During the field trip we will talk about the history of settlement in the Oregon Coast Range and how Native Americans found everything they needed from the land and streams and forests in our area.
Lesson Materials
The forest offers many opportunities to study history, math, science and more. Several organizations work to help educators teach about forests and forestry.
We recommend checking out the many resources available from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) for teachers who are interested in teaching topics about forestry and natural resources.
Project Learning Tree – A program that offers high-quality instructional materials for grades PreK-12.
BEETLES – Infusing outdoor science programs with research-based approaches and tools to improve science teaching and learning.
Careers in Forestry
Do you want to know how forestry works? It’s probably more complicated than you think, and it takes a whole team of people working together to make sure the trees grow big and healthy. But what about clean water? What about wildlife habitat? There are people out there monitoring those great things as well. Forestry is not only about loggers and park rangers, it takes gardeners, scientists, tree planters, engineers, data managers and, yes, foresters to make it all work. This video is a great introduction for students to forest careers.