WISCONSIN—On April 20, the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory hosted an Earth Day event in Madison, Wisconsin. This event attracted almost 400 people and included tours of multiple areas of the lab as well as booths with information and hands-on activities.

The lab's theme for this year's Earth Day Celebration was sustainability, and the event featured activities to explore a sustainable future through wood and the products from our forests. Smokey Bear kicked off the celebration ahead of his 80th birthday in August and issued the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge to attendees.

Visitors toured various areas of the Forest Products Laboratory, including the Center for Wood Anatomy, the metal and woodworking shops, the engineering mechanics and remote sensing test floor, and the composite and nanocellulose labs. Booths were situated throughout the building to provide opportunities to discover wood identification and anatomy, nanocellulose, wood strength and termites.

Hands-on activities included woodworking projects, wood strength endurance, a scavenger hunt and a kid’s passport. Additionally, the lab passed out free Wisconsin native tree saplings in honor of Earth Day and Arbor Day.

Visitors also were treated to the Children’s Theater of Madison staged readings of three Earth Day-related plays, “The Adventures of Recycling Man,” “Ocean Friends” and “Tourists in the Wild.” 

Throughout the day, lab employees demonstrated the Forest Products Laboratory's mission of identifying and conducting innovative wood and fiber utilization research that contributes to conservation and productivity of the forest resource, thereby sustaining forests, the economy and quality of life.

Employees also promoted the Nature Connects Us initiative, which seeks to deepen individual connections to the natural world by recognizing that everyone has their own unique experience in nature. 

Throughout the event, the lab was able to offer an inside look as to how integral the Forest Products Laboratory is to emerging research related to forestry and forest products.