The Lookout - News of the Tillamook Forest Center

Winter 2020 | Volume 14, Number 1

Inspiring people to connect with the Tillamook State Forest.

Director

Fran McReynolds

Interpretation & Education Coordinator

Denise Berkshire

Lead Educator

Luke Wahl

Visitor Services Coordinator

Jen Warren

Visitor Services Assistants

Megan Fair

Bailey Monteblanco

Facilities Maintenance Coordinator

Christian Hargrove

Facilities Assistant

Teresa Anderson

Michael Ely

Seasonal Educators

Cam Amabile

Sara Fischer

Executive Director, Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust

Shawn Morford

Winter Closure

The center is closed

to the public through

March 3, 2020.

Spring hours:

Wednesday - Sunday,

10 am - 4 pm

Beginning Wednesday,

March 4, 2020.

Thank you, Fran, and congratulations on your retirement!

Yes the headline is true, Fran will be retiring in March of 2020. Since the center opened in 2006, it has evolved its programming, grown its support base and connected hundreds of thousands of visitors to the forest. Fran has been a key part of this effort over the last five years. We will miss her genuine and objective approach to all aspects of her work, which have made her so effective as the Tillamook Forest Center Director.

During Fran’s tenure, there were many notable accomplishments such as refining our marketing and outreach strategies, celebrating the 10 year Anniversary for the center (including our first “Root Ball”) and most recently the construction of the new Forest Education Pavilion. Fran was also the primary catalyst that brought the Trees to Sea Scenic Byway process to fruition in the Hwy 6 corridor. Relationship building was a key part of making this project successful and Fran does this very well. Over the years, Fran has led the center through many challenging situations always with an emphasis on minimizing impacts to the staff and the visitor experience.

On behalf of the Department of Forestry, congratulations Fran on your upcoming retirement and thank you for your tireless efforts to promote the mission of the Tillamook Forest Center and the professionalism with which you and your staff represent the Department. Your presence will be missed.

From the Director

Finding myself in the forest

Many of you have experienced that feeling of awe that sweeps over a person visiting the Tillamook Forest Center--walking into the exhibit hall, climbing the lookout tower for a bird’s-eye view of the forest, or seeing the beautiful green waters of the Wilson River from the bridge or the River View trail. That feeling is still with me every day, 5 years after I first opened the doors into the adventure of working here.

Inside of these doors, I have had the privilege of working with and learning from dedicated and talented teams here at the TFC and the larger Oregon Department of Forestry, along with the Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust, and a great variety of partners and community members. Together, we have built upon the efforts of those whose vision and perseverance brought us to where we are today.

I have mixed feelings about retirement—I wil l miss working with my ODF family. At the same time, I am excited about having more time to devote to my own family and a huge palate of other interests. I imagine that post-ODF life will be busy. As TFC volunteer Jim Reeher recently told me, “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.”

I am grateful to all of you who have enriched my life. Thank you for your part in helping me to find myself in the forest.

Remember the Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust and the Tillamook Forest Center in your annual giving

Honor a loved one, give a unique gift, or demonstrate your love of forests and rivers with a year-end contribution to the Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust in support of education and recreation on state forests. You can choose to support the Tillamook Forest Center or the new State Forest Recreation Fund, or both!

Tillamook Forest Center (TFC) has three ways to commemorate your gift on art installations:

An inscribed tree medallion in the TFC plaza ($75 gift)
An engraved stone on the slate tree in the TFC lobby ($150-$350)
Add a metal fish to the new Fish Run sculpture adjacent to the Wilson River ($250-$1,000)

For a TFC donation form, or to make an online donation, click here .

State Forest Recreation Fund is a new fund established to support outdoor recreation enhancements on Oregon’s state forests. Your gift of any amount will help enable the ability to meet the rapidly growing demand for both motorized and non-motorized recreation use on state forests and improve opportunities and access.

To make a Recreation Fund donation, click here.

Behind the scenes of winter closure

Sometimes you have to make a mess to fix something. Winter closure allows TFC staff to work on projects without impacting visitors.

Another set of helping hands

As the year comes to a close, we are blessed with another set of helping hands. After retiring from NW Natural as a service technician, David Luna was seeking a place to share his customer service skills and love for the outdoors. He landed at the TFC as a facility assistant volunteer just as the winter projects are in full force! Besides volunteering, David enjoys music, art lessons, and being socially active with his friends and family. We are grateful to have him join the team and lend a helping hand.