was introduced in an effort to
have the lowest impact on the
soil and water quality in the
logging process.
“A group of all professional
foresters came to Berea, and
that was the first time the con-
vention has been in Kentucky
and for Berea to be a part of
that is really a big deal for the
college,” he said. “It is impor-
tant for putting us on the map
in the profession as on par
with the Cradle of Forestry, be-
cause if you are in the forestry
field, you know what that is.”
And while the forestry center
brings in people from all over,
the horse logging allows the
trees of Berea to be exported
just as far for other projects.
Most notably for ship restora-
tions for sea vessels including
the Mayflower and The West-
ern Flyer, made famous in the
book “The Log of the Sea of
Cortez,” by John Steinbeck.
Another convention that
Patterson thinks will boost
Berea’s reputation for forestry
highlights the Mayflower’s
restoration at a convention in
Rhode Island, only an hour
away from the ship’s location,
and on its 400th anniversary
of setting sail.
“We will play a prominent
role in that conventions, so it
is like Berea College gets to be
at the forefront of those two
years in a row not only come
and see what we are doing
in Berea, but what we did in
helping restore the Mayflow-
er,” he said.“It’s really seren-
dipitous how all these things
are fitting together now.”
Patterson said the outreach
center does serve the commu-
nity and that, as a forester, it
is his vision to have a commu-
nity forest.
He said the United States
has a terrific record for be-
ing world leader for national
forests and national parks, but
that the U.S. hasn’t been doing
it in the context of the commu-
nity model.
“Those models have always
been corporate model or gov-
ernment mode,l and the regu-
lar people even that live where
those things are happening
don’t get much say, they don’t
get much input,” he explained.
“And so things have been on a
track where, say, these forests
are for timber and these for-
ests just for hikes. Well what
we are trying to do here is you
can come and hike and see
things that are happening in a
working forest that’s sustain-
able.”
Director of the BCFOC,
Wendy Warren, agreed.
“We can all be caretakers,”
she said. “The forest takes care
of us with everything we need
to survive, so we should be
taking care of it.”
“That’s where Wendy comes
in with her crew at the out-
reach center: teaching us all to
be caretakers,” Patterson said.
In the future, Patterson
and Warren discussed plan-
ning stages for a horse barn
to be built on Short Line Pike,
becoming the center for the
forest’s horse logging program,
“completing the big picture.”
“People will come into town
and see the artisan center,
campus then the horse farm,
which connects agriculture to
forestry, and then the forest,
so visitors coming in would be
exposed to all of those things,”
he said. “It will be a great
introduction to the forests here
in Berea.”
The Berea College Forestry
Outreach Center is located at
2047 Big Hill Road in Berea
and is open Sunday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. For more information
about the center, visit https://
forestryoutreach.berea.edu/ or
call 859-756-3315.
To get involved through vol-
unteering or donation, contact
Wendy Warren at wendy_war-
[email protected].
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