Here’s the press release from the Forest Service Southern Research Station:
Pisgah Forest, NC— On Tuesday, May 6, the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) and the Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association will unveil the Climate Change in the Southern Appalachians and Wildland Fire in the South exhibits in the Cradle of Forestry Discovery Center. These free interactive displays show Forest Service scientists working on how climate change may impact the forest ecosystem. Visitors can also learn how they can lessen some of these impacts.
“Working with the Forest Service as a sponsor is cool and collaborative,” Carlton Murrey, Executive Director, Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association said. “The contemporary Climate Change and Wildland Fire exhibits bring into focus new and current research on these important issues and lay the groundwork for other exciting collaborative exhibit opportunities within the Cradle.”
The Cradle of Forestry first started in the 1800s when George W. Vanderbilt purchased 125,000 acres of land near Asheville, NC, for his Biltmore Estate. Vanderbilt became the first private landowner in the United States to hire a forester. German-born Dr. Carl Schenck became the chief forester for Vanderbilt. Dr. Schenck founded the Biltmore Forest School in 1898, the first school of its kind in the United States. Today the site of this first forestry school is called the “Cradle of Forestry in America.” Visitors can tour the one-room schoolhouse, general store, cabins, blacksmith shop, and a garden in order to get a glimpse of the lives of the first American forestry students and the families who called it home.
“I am so glad that we were given the opportunity to showcase our science in these exhibit and location that means so much to forestry,” said Rob Doudrick, SRS Station Director. “This site represents a connection to the birthplace of forestry in the United States at the Biltmore estate. “Our hope is that children who visit will get excited about the ways science touches their lives, and that they will want to pursue a career like the scientists highlighted within the exhibit.”
Other sponsors include: Tennessee Valley Authority Ag & Forestry Fund, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, The Glass Foundation, Duke Energy Foundation, Altamont Environmental, James & James Environmental, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Biltmore Estate, and the Natural Inquirer: A middle school science education journal.
Headquartered in Asheville, NC, the Southern Research Station is comprised of more than 120 scientists who conduct natural resource research in 20 locations across 13 southern states (Virginia to Texas). The Station’s mission is “…to create the science and technology needed to sustain and enhance southern forest ecosystems and the benefits they provide.” Learn more about the Southern Research Station at: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/.
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