Sense of Place continues its 16th season on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, with After Gifford Pinchot: Ancient Forests, Timber Wars, and a Century of Change.
The event will take place at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., and the show begins at 7:00 p.m. A livestream option is available to all ticket holders.
The evening will feature writer and longtime forest advocate Rand Schenck, who will explore how the ideals of Gifford Pinchot, the founding chief of the U.S. Forest Service were shaped, and often misunderstood during the past century of forest management. When Pinchot first visited the Cascades in the 1890s, he was awed by the immense old-growth forests. He saw forests as a “social good,” meant to be stewarded for future generations. Yet of the ancient forests that once covered nearly 70 percent of the area, less than 5 percent remain today.
Through Schenck’s stories, the audience will travel from the early days of stewardship to the height of the Timber Wars and into today’s efforts to restore old growth in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The presentation will probe how society’s shifting values have reshaped forests and explore what the future may hold.
“Rand brings both historical knowledge and personal connection to these forests, inviting us to consider what it means to care for the land across generations,” said Sarah Fox, host of Sense of Place.
About the Speaker:
As a boy, Rand Schenck hiked and backpacked in the same mountains and woods where Gifford Pinchot first worked as a forester and developed a lifelong love of the outdoors. Schenck holds a BA in History from the University of Colorado, as well as an MA in Recreation Administration and a Masters of Social Work, both from University of North Carolina. Now retired, his most recent employment was as an executive coach and an organizational development specialist and consultant. Additionally, Schenck served in various leadership roles for 15-years with the Sierra Club and for 25-years he has owned a small 1920s cabin surrounded by a “backyard” of 1.3 million acres of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.Event Details:
After Gifford Pinchot: Ancient Forests, Timber Wars, and a Century of Change with Rand Schenck
Doors at 6:00 p.m., show from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. PDT.
(If the event is sold out, unclaimed seats will be released to the waitlist at 6:45 p.m.)Columbia Center for the Arts, 215 Cascade Ave., Hood River, OR 97031
Tickets: Available online at senseofplacegorge.org. Advanced purchase is encouraged.
Sense of Place (SOP) features presenters with a unique knowledge of the Columbia River Gorge and who consider the natural and cultural history that has shaped this place. The presenters can include scientists, tribal members, authors, farmers, and many others from throughout the Pacific Northwest. The information and stories shared at these talks deepen our understanding of the Gorge and strengthen our connection to the landscape and to each other.