Cradle of Forestry, North Carolina

An overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway points attention deep down into the valley below, to a place called the Cradle of Forestry. Here are the rebuilt structures of Carl A. Schenck's Biltmore Forest School, which operated from 1898 to 1913, and the Forest Discovery Center, a new and state-of-the-art visitor center operated by the National Forest Service and the Cradle of Forestry Interpretive Association. Inside, dioramas, panels, and computer screens tell the story of forest management. Interpretive forms are varied and entertaining, including several scenes with life-sized forest service mannequins engaged in various tasks in the field, evoking the "stuffed animals in their natural habitat" natural history museum diorama.