July 1986

The rural city of Shelton is located in Mason County at the foot of Washington's Olympic Peninsula.  Bordered to the north by Hood Canal and the pristine Olympic Mountains, it is an area of great natural beauty.  It is also the hub of a unique industry based upon a variety of little known forest products.  Christmas trees represent the key product in this industry, both in income and in numbers of persons employed.  Other products derived from the evergreen forest are swordfern, salal, and huckleberry brush.  All of these natural products, and the methods developed to harvest them, have been cataloged under the term silviculture.  Through the vehicle of silviculture, the original board members of Exceptional Foresters, Inc., initiated a vocational training program for developmentally disabled men.  This is the story of their program.

Our thanks and appreciation to James H. Lindley without whom this history would not be possible.

• Chapter 1 -- In The Beginning

• Chapter 2 -- The First Foresters 

• Chapter 3 -- Growing Pains

• Chapter 4 -- Exceptional Manor

• Chapter 5 -- A New Focus

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Last Edited August 31, 2011