tic that are later used to build
benches or buildings in under-
privileged communities.
“While we may not have
the staffing for the programs
ourselves, we have the space...
We love for people to come out
here and pitch their ideas to
us,” naturalist Abrams said.
“We may ask you to take the
lead on it, but we are always
open to it.”
Kennet Manley, another
college student worker, said
be it a community member
or worker in the center, the
“bridge to the forest” serves as
an open forum for ideas, trying
to work on the strengths that
each individual has.
Manley, who is a falconer,
or someone who is trained to
hunt with a falcon, uses his
niche hobby to teach others in
the community how to do so
through the presence of the
outreach center.
“It’s not about the woods, the
trees, the hiking trails, a lot of
it really is that people really
open up when they come out
Clint Patterson, a Berea College forester, stands in front of
the outreach center.
here,” center worker Chase
Denny said. “Berea is a very
diverse place in terms of the
college and the community,
and there are situations where
people don’t really have that
place where they belong, and
this place is an easy place for
you to belong.”
Berea College of Forestry
While the center has been ac-
cessed by people from all over
the globe, Clint Patterson, a
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forester with the Berea College
of Forestry uses the BCFOC to
share his knowledge of Berea
forests’ extensive history, dat-
ing back to 1897.
The Berea College forests
that now total 9,000 acres
first began in 1897 when Silas
Mason bought the first 200 of
those acres to start teaching
forestry classes focusing on
multiple use management of
the forest’s water, education,
recreation and timber.
Mason taught three forestry
classes in 1898, the first year
that Carl Schneck started the
forest school at Biltmore Col-
lege, which is credited as the
first forestry school earning
it the title “the cradle of for-
estry.”
“Very few people know about
Berea College when you are
in forestry circles, they don’t
know that Berea College was a
big player in the conservation
of forestry,” Patterson said.
It’s his goal to put Berea
on the map in terms of being
known as a historic forest.
Patterson thinks this can be
done by being highlighted in
forestry conventions.
The first convention was
held in November 2019 upon
the arrival of 60 professional
foresters from the Society of
American Foresters National
Convention who came to see a
horse logging demonstration.
The horse logging operation,
which uses animal power in
the process for cutting timber,
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Madison Magazine
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