The Clemons Tree Farm: Cultivating Responsibility in Reforestation

Kaylee Kim & Taylor Walsh Senior Group Website

Having grown up in the beautiful, forested Pacific Northwest and just a short distance from the Weyerhaeuser headquarters, our group quickly realized this years National History Day project had surrounded us all along. We seized the opportunity to learn about the beginnings of reforestation and discovered the Clemons Tree Farm in Montesano, Washington. The 120,000 acre farm marked a turning point for timber in the 1940s, as the public view of trees evolved from cut and run to reforestation. Out of the Clemons Tree Farm grew the American Tree Farm System, along with advancements in high yield forestry allowing foresters to grow trees faster and stronger straight into the future. When we first started our research, we initially gathered too much information and needed to pare down. We had begun collecting materials on reforestation in general, and found there were so many angles, we decided to consult an expert to pinpoint a historical turning point that was still relevant today. We looked to Weyerhaeusers history in the book Traditions Through the Trees and talked to author Joni Sensel, who pointed us to the evolution of high yield forestry, borne from the Clemons Tree Farm. As we dug deeper we discovered before the farm existed, timber had never been viewed as a renewable resource. We then interviewed Megan Moholt, a Weyerhaeuser archivist who aided our search for photographs and important documents. We also contacted historians and professors, researched forest regulations in Olympia, and visited the Clemons Tree Farm where we interviewed forester John Todd. Mr. Todd drove us all over the 240,000 acres that make up Clemons Tree Farm today. He showed us logging sites and explained the reforestation process that begins each February when millions of seedlings are planted. Our first priority in creating this project was accessibility for the reader, as well as an interactive and aesthetically pleasing experience to maximize our projects reach. In using technology to create a website, each of us brought different strengths to the project with one more focused on research having gone to National History Days national competition with her exhibit, and the other more versed in technological applications having attended nationals in the website category the last two years. We decided to enhance a Weebly template with a custom background using photos taken at the Clemons Tree Farm and created a flash animation for the home page. Other key elements include the custom dendrochronological interactive HTML coded timeline, as well as a custom JavaScript map on the Branching Out page to show the progression of the American Tree Farm System. With the 1941 founding of the Clemons Tree Farm, Rights and Responsibilities in history and the environment were defined. The publics inherent right to timber

and cut and run mentality before the 1940s gave way to a responsibility to the environment and a commitment to future generations with the idea that timber could actually be grown like a crop; even if it did take more than half a lifetime to harvest.