By JAMES RONALD SKAINS

The year 2001 Louisiana Teachers Tour was hosted by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry, The Louisiana Forestry Association, and the Society of American Foresters. The Tour was designated to give selected teachers an intensive look at forestry practices in the field, and provide them with first-hand knowledge in order to educate their students and fellow teachers back home.

Alan Small of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and Cindy Ybos, an educator associated with Project Learning Tree, were the facilitators of the year 2001 tour. Small pointed out that the purpose of the tour is "to educate our educators about the forest industry in Louisiana. We are using Project Learning Tree as the bridge for the educators to take this knowledge back to the classroom."

Project Learning Tree is a nationwide environmental education program using the forest as a window to introduce students to the forest industry, providing a link between the use on an everyday basis and the natural resources that provide those common everyday used products.

The 36 teachers from around the state representing grades 3-12 making the mid-June forest oriented tour were selected by a sponsor who pays for the cost of their participation in the four day tour that covered much of north central Louisiana.

Sponsors of the year 2001 Tour included Roy O. Martin Lumber Company of Alexandria; Gaienne Lumber Company of Opelousas, International Paper Company, Louisiana Building Material Dealers Association, Elder Wood Preserving of Mansura, Gaylord Container of Bogulousa, Boise Cascade Corporation of DeRidder, Southern Forest Heritage Museum of Long Leaf, Kisatchie National Forest headquartered in Pineville, and the Louisiana Office of Forestry Indian Creek Recreation Area.

Marlene Weston, an environmental education teacher from Opelousas had this to say after the completion of the tour; "I honestly thought that foresters were less environmentally conscience than they really are. I thought that they were destroying the water quality, putting chemicals in our streams, and polluting the air with their pulp mills. I now have a more balanced perception of the profession. The Tour has truly moderated my views about forestry."

The teachers were very interactive with the natural resource professionals who spoke to them to them on the many stops on the Tour. Most of the teachers begin the Tour with a lack of knowledge about the forest community, pollution, and management of natural resources.

Some of the stops on the tour and topics covered with the touring teachers were: Roy O, Martin's Hardwood Mill; Fire and Animal Management at the Indian Creek La. Office of Forestry; Papermaking at the International Paper Company's paper mill; Hardwood Silviculture presented by the La. Office of Forestry; Pine Physiology/Silviculture by the USDA Forest Service; Harvesting by Boise Cascade; Private Land Ownership by Joel Braud, a private land owner located north of Natchitoches; Wood Products by Boise Cascade and Elder Wood Preserving in Mansura, and Recreation by the USDA Forest Service at Kisatchie Bayou and Long Leaf Vista.

Melissa Miranda of New Orleans said that before the tour she thought forestry was just a bunch of trees, nice to look at, and sometimes to be cut down. Miranda noted in her conversation, "I'm very impressed with the concept of sustainable forestry. Under this concept, the forests are not just for us, but for our kids and future generations hundreds of years from now. I'm also glad to finally understand what a wilderness area really is. Before, I thought that all National Forest were wilderness areas.''

Alan Small, one of the Tour facilitators had this to say about the 36 teachers from around the state of Louisiana who made the June tour: "The teachers basically came to us with a With a lack of knowledge of the forest industry. They were really impressed with our compliance with voluntary industry guidelines and the Sustainable Forestry initiatives. I think that this group of teachers now trust the natural resource professionals to manage our forest in an ecologically beneficial manner."

Small also noted, "Before the tour was over, the teachers after asking innumerable questions about environmental issues such as how to handle pollution and waste products begin to ask us about economic issues relating to the forest industry. They asked about the number of people employed statewide in the forest industry, the pay, and the effect on the Louisiana economy. It was a very good tour."