Forestry contest 31 years old
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April 30, 2013 |
The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL), Bonner Soil
and Water Conservation District, and the U.S.
Forest Service will hold the 31st Annual Idaho
State Forestry Contest on May 9 from 8 a.m. to 2
p.m. at Delay Farms in Careywood, Idaho, located
between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint on the west
side of Highway 95 between mile markers 454 and
455.
Students from as far north as Bonners Ferry and
as far south as Weippe in Idaho plan to attend
and compete in the 2013 contest.
The Forestry Contest introduces hundreds of
students in grades 3 through 12 to basic
forestry and resource management skills on three
educational courses. More than 175 volunteers
from local businesses, agencies and
organizations donate their time to help run the
contest annually.
The three courses offered at the contest
include:
· A non-competitive Novice Course for elementary
school students with several hands-on activities
and a walk through the woods guided by a
professional forester
· The Rookie Course, an introductory competition
for 6th graders with five stations, including
Tree Identification, Compass and Pacing, Timber
Cruising, Log Scaling, and Silviculture.
· The Junior/Senior Division Contest, for
students in grades 7 through 12, which
challenges junior and senior high school
contestants on 10 areas of forestry and resource
management expertise
The Junior and Senior Division Top Individual
contest winners receive trophies and cash
prizes. The winning Junior and Senior teams take
home a full-sized crosscut saw trophy to display
until next year’s contest, and the winning
Rookie team receives an Idaho trophy made from
all nine commercial woods grown in the state.
This year’s honorary chairman is Greg Cossette,
a former teacher and Post Falls High School
contest coach.
Mr. Cossette taught high school forestry,
biology, and geology for 40 years, starting in
1970 at Lakeland High School in Rathdrum before
moving on to Post Falls High School (PFHS) in
1974. He began his 25 years as a successful
Forestry Contest coach at PFHS in 1984.
With Greg as their coach, PFHS won 13 team
championships, several runners-up awards, and
many Top-Individual awards. They maintained a
high academic standard for all contestants to
strive for, and won so often that beating the
“Post Falls dynasty” became a goal for many
other teams at the contest.
In 1994, the team traveled to Virginia to
compete in the National 4-H Forestry
Championships, where they placed 13th overall as
the Idaho representatives.
In 1996, Greg was chosen to be Forestry Teacher
of the Year by the Idaho Forest Products
Commission and Project Learning Tree, a
well-deserved honor. Since his retirement in
2010, Greg has continued to be involved in the
Forestry Contest by voluntarily helping forestry
students prepare for the contest and by working
at a testing station during the contest.
The Forestry Contest is made possible through
the support of many individuals and public and
private organizations, including:
· Larry Fryberg Memorial Fund
· Natural Resources Conservation Service
· Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission
· Idaho Assoc. of Soil Conservation Districts
· 14 Soil and Water Conservation Districts: Ada,
Balanced Rock Bear Lake, Benewah, Boundary,
Butte, Clark, Custer, Gooding, Latah, Madison,
South Bingham, Twin Falls, Weiser River
· Idaho District Employees Association
· Idaho Forest Owners Association
· Bonner County Farm Bureau
· Boundary County Farm Bureau
· Idaho Forest Group
· McFarland Cascade Pole & Lumber Co.
· Inland Forest Management, Inc.
· Co-op Country Store
· Coeur d’Alene Tractor
· Bonner County Sportsmen’s Association
· Northern Lights
· Xmas Hills – Mr. and Mrs. Al Farnsworth
· Senator Shawn Keough
· Kurt and Sandy Koetter
· Ruth McDivitt (David Ritz Memorial)
· Stewart Family Trust
· Stimson Lumber Company
· Idaho Tree Farm Committee
· Inland Empire Paper
· Idaho Forest Products Commission
Volunteers are still needed and anyone
interested in volunteering may contact Karen
Robinson, Idaho State Forestry Contest
Coordinator at
krobinson@idl.idaho.gov or (208) 263-5104.
More information about the 31st Annual Idaho
State Forestry Contest is available on the IDL
Web site at
http://www.idl.idaho.gov or on the Bonner
SWCD Web site at
http://www.northidahoswcds.org. |
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