Forest Heritage Center and Museum

Visitors to the Center's museum will find historical documents, antique forestry tools, wood art, homestead memorabilia and a research library filled with books, periodicals and other materials pertaining to forestry.

The Center is also home to 14 dioramas (painted by Harry Rossoll of Atlanta, Georgia, the artist who created Smokey Bear) that cover Prehistoric Forests, Caddo Indians, Papermaking in the South, 1940's Lumbering, and Forest Appreciation. Each diorama is accompanied by a taped narration.  In June 2003 a new exhibit was unveiled at the Forest Heritage Center honoring the thousands of wildland firefighters that put their lives on the line each year. An 8-foot "hero-sized" bronze sculpture honors Jim Burnett, the first forest firefighter from Oklahoma to lose his life in the line of duty and all people who risk their lives fighting wildland fires each year.

Each year some 60 million cubic feet of lumber is harvested in McCurtain County, home of Beavers Bend Resort Park; the forest industry is without a doubt the area's largest business concern. For those wishing to learn more about forest or the forest industry, the staff of the Forest Heritage Center & Museum can arrange educational programs or tours for any age group by appointment. There are specific programs tailored for school classes.