Elliott Forest: SWOCC Spring 2020 F 251 Class: Workshop #2

WORKSHOP #3: Last Call
Southwestern Oregon Community College [SWOCC]

Wayne Giesy, Jerry Phillips, and David Gould at Jerry Phillips Reserve, Elliott State Forest, July 8, 2017. Photo by Bob Zybach.

F 251 Recreation Resource Management
June 2, 2020

Tasha Livingstone, Instructor, Forestry/Natural Resources
Dr. Bob Zybach, Program Manager, www.ORWW.org
McKenzie Peters, Videography, NW Maps Co.

This is the third and final SWOCC spring term 2020 F251Workshop. It is intended, by design, to be a brief summary of this project, to offer encouragement and suggestions for participating students, and to provide basic links for completing assigned reports.

Group question: Should these reports be consolidated into a single report for Internet display; as an Appendix; or series of Appendices for the Recreation Draft Plan? Or some other format? This project will be reformatted and lightly edited, whatever your final design decision, as a PDF file on the ORWW Elliott Forest Recreation website during the summer -- where it will be permanently available to future students and others with an interest in the Elliott.

Here are the principal links that can be used or consulted as you -- and your coauthors -- complete your assignments. Please make certain you do your best as a contributing coauthor, too, on the reports you are asissting with:

2020 SWOCC F251 Workshop #3 Video (17:17):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyJHcbeDi5g

2020 SWOCC F251 "Distance Learning" Workshops and "Virtual" Field Trips:
www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/Recreation/2020_Roads/

YouTube ORWWmedia Channel "2020 SWOCC F251" Videos (5:25:28):
2020 SWOCC F251 Elliott Forest

US NPS Section 106 Tests of Significance:
www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/Recreation/2020_Roads/References/US_NPS_Evaluation.pdf

Oregon SHPO Linear Historical Resource Documentation:
www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/Recreation/2020_Roads/References/Oregon_SHPO_20131200.pdf

1962-2019 ORWW Elliott Forest Oral Histories Index:
www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/History/Oral/Oral_History_TOC-2019.pdf

1998 Caulked Boots and Cheese Sandwiches Table of Contents:
www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/History/Phillips/Phillips_1998-201.pdf

May 5 Workshop #2 Extra Credit Question (yet to be answered): What can be done in order to make the "virtual" field trips more interesting, entertaining, and/or educational? Is the current format too boring or complicated? Would longer or better quality videos be helpful? The current "social distancing" situation also exists for students in the future or long distances from the Elliott. Internet communications and digital video have greatly altered our social and educational landscape during the past ten and twenty years and now the current public health situation has created opportunities, interest, awareness, and the need to work with isolated students, teachers, and researchers -- whether through time, distance, or decree. These "virtual" field trips represent a first step toward future digitally-created "forest recreation" opportunities. How to improve?

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Hello everybody:

This has been an experience for all of us. The abrupt and unexpected coronavirus "social distancing" regulations made this year's SWOCC field trips problematic. "Distance learning" requirements pretty much forced us into unplanned "virtual" field trip alternatives for those of you that signed up for this class and for those of us that have volunteered our time.

Hopefully this has not been seen as a total loss of what should have been a series of fun field trips, culminating in a hike to the top of Golden Falls and doughnuts on the way back to campus -- rather than more homework and no ability to participate directly in these activities or to discuss locations personally with local experts as planned and as in previous years.

There are silver linings. We have created a number of permanent videos of local Elliott Forest experts Jerry Phillips, Lionel Youst, David Gould, and Roger Ott. These have been combined with their digitized written works, photographs, maps, oral histories, correspondence, journals, and personal collections to create the most comprehensive introduction and history of the Forest ever assembled. Further, these materials have all been made available online by ORWW at no cost to you or to future students, teachers, and researchers. Your reports will be added to these materials, helping to create an even more complete understanding of Oregon's first State Forest.

The first year of Elliott field trips for this class was in 2018, when we learned that students didn't particularly like to take a long drive in order to hear a series of speakers at each stop. But they did put in a lot of overtime in order to create the first draft recreation plan for the Elliott State Forest ever constructed, which has been online ever since, and which helped form the basis for your studies this year.

The 2019 field trips were shortened from six to five in order to reduce homework by adding a workshop, and students demonstrated they would rather take short hikes at different locations rather than listen to old people talk. These tours were a lot more enjoyable and, thanks to the 2018 students, there was a lot less homework in extending and refining their earlier work.

This year the focus has been on the Elliott's historic road and trail networks and, ironically, we have not been able to visit them together. Further, recommendations made by the 2018 and 2019 students were likely helpful in greatly improving the Forest's road surfaces and clearance recently -- but no vans to use them for this year's students!

Hopefully, there have been portions of these videos and other study materials that have been enjoyable and instructive. Hopefully, each of you will have an opportunity to visit the Elliott on your own sooner rather than later in order to experience your studies first hand. In any instance, I also hope we'll meet again, in person, some sunny day.

Best wishes, thanks, and good luck,

Bob