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.
Barbara and the Livelihood of the Tillamook State Forest
Event: Tillamook ForestInterviewer: Meredith
Whom did you interview?
The person I met was Barbara C. a worker at the banana slug table in the lobby of the Tillamook Park Center. She had lived in the Tillamook area since the late 1980s and had wanted to work in the state park forever. She now volunteers in her free time and is at the age of retirement.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?Her SDGs were very interesting. She has seen the Tillamook forest go through a lot of positive growth and change so her insight into the forest is very strong. She believes in having designated wild spaces but also allowing humans to use the land, so within the middle of human and wild places. She believes that Tillamook should stay a designated wilderness area, recreation, and accessible to most people. When talking about the burn and the new disease going through trees in the forest right now she wanted small steps, acknowledging that it will take time for the forest to heal and adapt. She respects old technology but thinks that new technology is an innovative way to progress. This compares to me as I agree in smaller steps however I’m much more animal-based placing, whereas Barbara has a human place within her values.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?Larger MCJD lessons from this interaction are that overall with Barbara and other Tillamook state park workers, many of them have different outlooks. Each had a different outlook on progressing through the future while having the same goal of a healthier forest. Everyone took in the idea care of for the forest and the people, they all just thought there were different ways to satisfy each side.