Every community needs an educational forest...a place where people come to learn, study, appreciate, recreate and work. Find out how one local group took the challenge and built an impressive coalition that's helping improve understanding about natural resource management.

"The Hopkins Memorial Tree Farm--a model in community forestry" will outline the development of a unique 120-acre educational forest. Owned and managed by an all-volunteer non-profit organization, named Forests Forever, Inc., the tree farm hosts a wide vaiety of visitors including family forest owners, loggers and natural resource managers, students and their teachers, and the public. During the past ten years, more than 7500 have visited the farm to learn, study, observe, work and enjoy. The hallmark of Forests Forever and the Hopkins Memorial Tree Farm is their "learn by doing" approach to teaching--actually gettting the particiapants involved in practices, programs and activities that get things done on the ground. This presentation will showcase how the non-profit organization works, describe where the funds come from to support the programs, identify who participates as learners, volunteers and supporters...and motivate you to consider building a similar community-based educational forest in your area.