Here are student summaries of survey observations with visitors to the Tillamook Forest Center, adapted for the public Rain Festival event. Click on any title for details, then return to see all titles.
Embracing Wild Spaces While Navigating Change
Event: Tillamook ForestInterviewer: Nanea
Whom did you interview?
Today at the Tillamook Forest Center, I had the privilege of talking with a passionate volunteer who’s been connected to the forest for decades. Having moved to the Tillamook area in 1988, she’s watched the landscape evolve in ways both beautiful and concerning. She began volunteering in 2012 after waiting years for an opportunity at the center, drawn by her love for the forest and its preservation. Despite the center’s remote location and limited sense of community, her dedication to the forest remains unwavering.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?In speaking with this volunteer, I saw strong alignment between her values and my own EcoType, Earth action. She believes in preserving wilderness areas while also supporting responsible, multifunctional use of forests, ideas that echo Earth Action’s focus on “Stable Ecosystems” and “Wild Aesthetics.” Like me, she emphasized the need for systemic change, advocating for responsible loggin and forest stewardship, which ties into Earth Action’s principles of “Radical Change” and “Planned Economies.” Her belief in public ownership of natural spaces also reflects the theme of “Biocentric Ethics” and a sense of collective responsibility for the preservation and sharing of ‘wild’ areas. Overall, I believe we would share an EcoType centered on dismantling harmful systems and protecting ecosystems through both conservation and sustainable human interaction.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?The key takeaway from this interaction is that caring for forests, like caring for the environment more broadly, can take many forms. It’s not about one philosophy of approach being better than another but about recognizing that different people care in various ways, driven by their values, experiences, and needs. “Many care, Just Differently” is an essential lesson demonstrated in this interaction. Whether it’s through stewardship, recreation, or conservation, everyone has a role in preserving our natural world.