Clatsop County Students Learn About Careers In Natural Resources During Sixth Grade Forestry Days (Photo) - 10/01/25
Astoria, Ore.—More than 400 students received hands-on experience and got a firsthand look at possible career opportunities in natural resources as they rotated through 10 outdoor stations at the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Astoria office and demonstration forest Sept. 24–25 at the annual Clatsop County Sixth-Grade Forestry Days.
“Our goal is to get the students interested in possible careers in natural resources,” said Will Lawrence, reforestation forester with ODF’s Astoria District. “We want students to really connect with the outdoors.”
Sixth graders from Warrenton, Seaside, Anchor Christian Academy, Knappa, Jewell, Astoria, and Steadfast Homeschool Co-op, rotated through stations that included: tree planting, plant identification, wildland fire fighting, wood products, fisheries, recreation, wildlife rescue, restoration, fungi in the forest and tree measurements.
“Many of the stations tie in with our current lessons on watersheds,” said Martha Stephens a fifth and sixth grade teacher at the Jewell School District. “It also challenges them and exposes them to terms and concepts they haven’t heard before. For example, the wood products station was unique, we never really talked about or thought about all the everyday products that come from the forest. It was eye-opening for the students.”
The teachers also said it helped bring together many critical skills needed to succeed in school and future careers.
“Listening skills, observation skills, math skills, following directions are all important and needed to be used at the stations today,” said Kate Manship, special education teacher with the Seaside School District. “It’s difficult to bring all these important skills together in the classroom, but with these hands-on activities it does, and it is super beneficial.”
The all-volunteer group that organizes the event does so out of their passion for the outdoors and the careers it afforded them. Forestry Days has been a tradition since 1960 and even though the organizations sponsoring and organizing the event hope to someday recruit motivated and eager employees spurred on by this event, the focus remains on the student’s educational experience.
“It is so fun to see them get excited about learning and engage with the outdoors,” said Dan Stark, Oregon State University Forestry and Natural Resource Extension Forester. “They take what they learn here about watersheds, wood products, reforestation and the many different facets of working in a forest, and tell their parents and siblings about it. To me that is fantastic; we are not just reaching them but they in turn are making an impact on their family and community.”
The organizations working together on this event include: OSU Extension, Oregon Department of Forestry, Lewis & Clark National Historic Park, Oregon Women in Timber, North Coast Watershed Association, Wildlife Center of the North Coast, Clatsop County Fisheries, Oregon Parks and Recreation, Hampton Lumber and Lewis and Clark Timberland. Visit any of their websites for additional information on natural resources.
Although this event is just two days, the ODF Astoria Demonstration Forest is open year-round, and more information can be found in the Clatsop State Forest Guide.
For more information on many forestry related programs from recreation to timber harvesting to wildland firefighting visit the Oregon Department of Forestry’s main website.
