More Community Highlights

Hesitantly, an Oregon sixth grader reaches out to touch the cool, rough scales of a salmon. At another table, his friend identifies native plants while other classmates giggle over the antics of aquatic insects.

Learning is fun at the Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery, just seven miles from Georgia-Pacific's Wauna, Oregon, tissue mill on the Columbia River. But it's hard to concentrate while dodging raindrops, and the Pacific Northwest's rainy weather often put a damper on outdoor learning.

Not anymore. A $30,000 investment from GP's Wauna mill helped the hatchery cover the outdoor classroom area with a log pavilion. Before, teachers hustled to sign up for classes in the drier months of May, September and October. Now, learning can go on year round.

Gnat Creek is a unique combination. Owned by the Oregon Department of Forestry, it is a working tree farm. In addition, the Department of Fish and Wildlife operates a hatchery on the property, raising chinook salmon for release into the Pacific Ocean. The combination allows students to get a good look at the sustainability of both forestry and fish management.

The Georgia-Pacific Bucket Brigade recognizes the contributions of fire departments in communities with
Georgia-Pacific facilities. The program supports fire fighters with product and cash donations for programming and purchasing necessary equipment as well as safety education materials for use in local schools.

In 2007, Vernonia, Ore., was severely damaged during a 500-year flood. Now the city is being flooded again – this time with donations from Georgia-Pacific and other local businesses and organizations.

Georgia-Pacific donated $50,000 to the Vernonia Education Foundation to help purchase timber products to build the Vernonia School District's K-12 campus. In addition to the K-12 Campus, the school campus will host the Vernonia Rural Sustainability Center, which will offer research, classroom and meeting space for college, community college and private sector research and job training initiatives connected to the development of forest sustainability and environmental stewardship best practices.

"This contribution signifies GP's commitment to the economic and social sustainability of the communities where our employees live and work and where their children are educated," said Curley Dossman, president – Georgia-Pacific Foundation.

The donation was made possible by five GP facilities in Oregon and southwest Washington state.