1) Forester Jason Miranda explains how logs are scaled to a group of school teachers on a recent tour at Cannonsville Lumber in Deposit. Before sawing begins, each log is recorded based on species and the amount of lumber it will produce during the milling. Click on the photo of TFF log scaling.jpg for a high-resolution file.

2) Teachers pose with Janet Nightingale (middle-left) and Terry Leonard (middle-right) of Cannonsville Lumber. The teachers were the lucky winners of a raffle of hand-made wood products from Elaine Schaefer. Click on the photo or TFF raffle winners.jpg for a high-resolution file.

3) Fred Hathaway shows teachers how white pine and western red cedar cabin logs are inspected for defects at the Beaver Mountain Log Home factory in Deposit.

Click on the photo or TFF bvrmtn.jpg for a high-resolution file.

Lee Freeman of TFF said that this was the organization's second year bringing a group to the Catskills due to tremendous opportunity to showcase the social, economic, and ecological aspects of sustainable forestry taking place here. "These businesses and landowners really roll out the red carpet for us," Freeman said.

Over the three days, the teachers -- mostly 3rd- through 8th-grade science and social studies teachers -- visited the Frost Valley YMCA Model Forest, the Fly Fishing Museum, a working tree farm and an active logging operation. The final day concluded with a visit to three Deposit manufacturing facilities including Beaver Mountain Log Homes, Cannonsville Lumber and Norbord.

Terry Leonard, General Manager at Cannonsville Lumber, stressed the importance of educating children and adults about the lumber business. The sawmill -- locally owned by brothers Larry and Adolf Schaefer -- is now in its eleventh year of operation and regularly hosts tours. "There are a lot of misconceptions out there. It's not just about producing boards. For us, woods are tended to like a crop." Leonard explains, "With proper care, new trees will replace the old and a new crop will be born to benefit the next generation."

The Temperate Forest Foundation's method of bringing large groups of teachers right into the mills and forests has proven to be extremely effective. Since 1994, the Foundation's tours have helped hundreds of teachers put a human face on the forest products industry allowing them to present their students with an informed perspective of the management of forests. The group is planning to visit the Catskills again next summer with a new crop of teachers.

For more information on the Temperate Forest Foundation, visit www.forestinfo.org.

The mission of the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) is to support the economic viability of agriculture and forestry through the protection of water quality and the promotion of land conservation in the New York City Watershed region. The WAC is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization funded by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, US Forest Service's Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry, and other federal, foundation and private sources. For more information on the WAC, log on to www.nycwatershed.org. The Watershed Agricultural Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider.

# # # # #