Who's Teaching Our Children? (continued) Education about the environment is being assaulted on two fronts. First, multi-national corporations are designing and distributing "environmental" curricula that are professionally produced, easy to use, often free and are totally biased toward industry perspectives. Second, some of the most prominent right-wing think tanks in America are mounting a well-funded attack on genuine environmental education. Their objective is simple: protect industries that despoil the planet and defuse any potentially damaging influence of citizen awareness. The spectrum of curricula is breathtaking and their shamelessness is overt. The American Nuclear Society provides "Let's color and Do Activities With The Atoms Family." Materials I received from Exxon portray the Prince William Sound cleanup as a victory of technology, glossing over the cause of the disaster: the Exxon Valdez. But the most brazen campaign of miseducation is carried out by the timber industry. Big timber spends millions on its thinly veiled national PR campaigns, touting them as educational programs (which, of course, they generously "donate" to public schools). They offer hikes, presentations, workshops for teachers and even camps for kids. They distribute books, posters, videos, lesson plans and other materials. Through the looking glass of big timber, they are the stewards - even saviors - of the forest, old growth forests become decadent "biological deserts" that need to be clearcut to survive and forests require management (by industry, of course), to thrive. Old growth forests are "void of wildlife" (so says the retired president of Willamette Industries). A timber company in my own community offers a hike in a small section of their forest. One activity resonates strongly with the kids, and can shrewdly confuse the most earnest educator. The activity begins when the largest child in the group plays the "big tree". The other children stand close to the "big tree" and crowd it. "Choose three words that describe how you, the little trees, feel when you have more space to stretch out your branches," the guide asks. "Where can trees grow best: where they are all crowded together or where they are more spread out?" Then all the "little trees" scatter out, providing more space. An accompanying workbook asks, "What is the 'C' word?" I think they mean "clearcut." I say it's "con job." One logging industry website (www.forestinfo.org/ecolinks/education.htm) outlines big timber's cynical strategy: By the school year 2003/2004 forty percent of the U.S. public school teachers will retire or otherwise leave the profession. If business wants the support of the public, it has to help the public understand and participate in public education. Often, the very organizations that preach the gospel of environmental education are actually industry shills. They have "earthy" names but clandestine roots. The American Forest Foundation has a list of co-sponsors, cooperators and partners that includes some of the most egregious despoilers of our forests: Sierra Pacific, friend of clearcuts in California, and Pacific Lumber, pillagers of the redwoods, not to mention MacMillian Bloedel, Willamette Industries and Boise Cascade. But the real story is found in one of AFF's "core programs," called Project Learning Tree. I first encountered PLT in the summer of 1995. Asked to lead a tour of PLT-award winning teachers through Opal Creek in the Willamette National Forest, I arrived early at our meeting place by the clear waters of the Santiam River. Opal Creek, perhaps the most pristine intact low elevation forest in the Pacific Northwest, with its giant ancient trees, provided the backdrop on this sun filled day. Ironically, Opal Creek has been preserved thanks to the efforts of the very activists that organizations like PLT oppose. I knew nothing about PLT, but the chance to hike and discuss old growth ecosystems with teachers from across the world was exciting. Kathy McGlauflin, vice president of PLT, accompanied us on our sojourn. We walked two miles along some of Opal Creek's most spectacular scenery. Much to my surprise, Ms. McGlauflin spoke more like a timber booster than an environmental education expert. In response to every point I made about the destruction of our national forests, Ms. McGlauflin would reveal her true colors. It seemed inconceivable that a representative of this organization could be so misinformed and plain wrong with critical data. I explained that native forests have been overcut and replanted, creating one-species tree farms instead of forest ecosystems. She said this was based on my personal opinion, not facts. Most memorable was her claim that "apple orchards could be considered forest ecosystems." I later found out that PLT is an industry front group, backed by timber dollars. The organization's website and printed materials look like something produced by an environmental group. They boast a "network of 3,000 grassroots volunteers and over 100 state coordinators." But this grassroots veneer is a shrewd greenwash. And, unfortunately, it's working. Formed in 1970 when "the forest products industry recognized the need for a balanced program for the nation's schools," PLT works to promote paper products, logging and industrial "management" of our nation's forests. PLT offers "environmental" education to students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. It claims to have reached more than 500,000 educators and 25 million students. PLT's "educational" materials are damning enough. But, as the saying goes, if you want the truth, follow the money. The industries that bankroll PLT include some of the nation's most corrupt logging companies. Surreptitious public relations campaigns, deceptive advertising and undue media influence have been around as long as corporations themselves - even longer. But the battle today (much like the battle against Big Tobacco) is for the hearts and minds of our children, their health, their collective futures. page 2 of 3 back more