What Factors Influence the Use/Nonuse of School Forests by Wisconsin School Districts that Own One

Abstract

This project examined the factors that influence the use/nonuse of school forests by Wisconsin school districts that own one. In the past 74 years, 342 schools have received parcels of land to be utilized as a school forest. These forests total approximately 24,907 acres of land in Wisconsin. Some schools have done an excellent job developing their school forest. But, due to various limiting factors some of this land has been left unused for many years by other school districts. This land is a valuable resource that is not being used properly. Strategies need to be determined as to how this property can be better used for educational purposes. There are four subproblems within this project. The first was to identify the Wisconsin school districts that own school forests. This was done by combining information from the University of Wisconsin - Extension; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry; and the Wisconsin Forest Resources Education Alliance. The second was to create a tool to measure the school usage of their school forests. A survey was created to accomplish this task. The survey included topics such as whether or not the district has a school forest coordinator, distance to site, facilities at the site, usage, who presents the programs, and a ranking of factors that hinder the use of the school forest. The third was to conduct the survey of the school districts regarding their forests use/nonuse and to compile the data. The surveys were mailed in early May 2001 to 170 school district administrators (response rate = 76%, n=130). In general, most school forests are 1) within 10 miles of the school, 2) lack facilities such as shelters, restrooms and drinking water, and 3) are used less than 10% of the school days. The fourth subproblem was to identify recommendations that will aid schools to better utilize their school forests. Contacting the nonuse school districts and passing on to them information concerning how they can develop and utilize their forests will, accomplish this task. Work is also being done by an ad hoc committee to create a state wide school forest system, including a coordinator.