It may be a little odd for the MacForester to endorse an ad campaign that has "Unplug" as its principal message, but I was charmed by the Discover the Forest video produced by the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council. The spot opens with the typical American family at home, all plugged into their individual e-devices. The family is abruptly kidnapped by a collection of woodland animals who then dump the humans in the midst of idyllic forest. A beautiful nature experience ensues.
The ad must assume that most of us are not ready to unplug all at once, so it directs us to the Discover the Forest website. The site provides information for kids and parents on where to find a forest near you and what to do when you get there. There are the usual links to other sites, my favorite being Finding My Forest which is primarily a resource for teachers.
From there one can jump to ZipGuides, an online field guide to birds, butterflies, herps, mammals, trees and wildflowers localized by zip code. The guides are within the eNature website which was developed by the National Wildlife Federation, but is now run as a commercial enterprise.
So the advice of the MacForester is to watch the video for a quick chuckle, do a little online preparation and then head for the woods with friends and family in tow. It's better than having the forest creatures breaking into your house.
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