World Forestry Center — Attraction in Portland

I was hoping this was going to be about forest ecology and conservation but instead it was all propaganda for the logging industry in the form of educational exhibits geared towards children. For example: an arcade-game-like-simulator of a logging harvester machine (that was broken), a display equating timber plantations to old-growth forests, and an exhibit on the different types of forest management techniques such as clearcutting - a perfectly reasonable practice, if you are to believe the description in the exhibit. Finally, I knew the place had to be bank-rolled by the logging industry when I went upstairs and found a bougie library of maybe 100 or more multi-paragraph biographies of logging company CEOs. Listen, I'm not saying the timber industry is evil, it's not. But this building is presenting biased information on behalf of an industry that is at odds with the natural world - a world which is on the brink of a mass extinction event due to human activities. And logging ranks pretty high up on that list...

Look. They've got a strong bias. I've never seen a presentation of clear-cutting as an unabashedly positive thing, and it's pretty amusing. See attached photo. It's hilarious.

Some of what they have is totally greenwashed, or OFRI publications (the taxpayer funded organization that recently got in trouble for being timber company propaganda) and if you take kids here, you might have a chat with them afterwards about what parts might need a grain of salt. But hey, that's good practice at any museum. Biases abound.

Overall, it's a pretty solid little museum, and some of the sustainability points they make are valid — heck, I love working with wood, and I've run a sawmill before. I get it. It's just amusing to see presentation of all the forest species (even if in the form of...stuffed animals) and virtually zero acknowledgement that some forestry practices can negatively impact these species.

Also, a lot about burn ecology, and zero mention of native American use of controlled burns, which...

I was sent to pick up a rider at the forestry center. I was a bit early and needed to use the restroom fairly urgently. Now I saw the sign on the door that says no public restroom, but I figured since I was coming there anyway and really needed it, maybe they'd make an exception. The gentleman behind the desk was already speaking to someone else, so I waited. now neither gentleman was wearing a mask during their chat. After I asked to use the restroom, the guy behind the desk told me "Restrooms are for PAYING customers only! " (emphasis was his) and placed his mask on before I could reply further. Not only, could he not make a compassionate exception for someone in need, he had to offend me by putting his mask on when he clearly didnt need it for the other person. I Have been a paying customer here many times in the past But, will not think kindly of the center for...