Visit to Fort Indiantown Gap

Yesterday, May 15th, the forest technology summer camp students joined in with the Keystone SAF chapter meeting for a tour of forestry Operations at Fort Indiantown Gap.

Visiting an oak harvest site where several herbicide treatments were applied to improve regeneration success.

 

 

 

 

Then we visited a prescribed burning site. This field has to be kept open for military operations. It's a great opportunity to perfect safe burning techniques for this area.

 

The fire is started with these "dragon eggs" that are dropped from a helicopter.

Mont Alto alums J.D. Lambrinos and Daren Krebs show how the fires are lit.

The open habitat keeps clear the viewshed for the hawk-watching spot on the hill in the distance.

Thanks to the forestry and wildlife biology staff at Fort Indiantown Gap for an excellent tour!

Check out this map of our visit.

View KeystoneSAF visit to Fort Indiantown Gap in a larger map

Graduation today.

The Class of 2013, Forest Technology students.

Logging boots for any occasion!

End of the Year Picnic 2013

After the Forest Management Practices final we had a picnic/cookout at Mont Alto State Park.

Jason Owings and Tosh Rung were elected to the CEFTS Honor Society based on their superior academic performance.

Group Photo. See you at graduation.

Emergency Response Training

For the last few years the forestry students have worked with the nursing students at Mont Alto to simulate emergency response to a logging accident. Using the medical training dummy, istan, the students can go train through the whole experience from a downed logger to first aid and transport, to an ER triage, and to transport on Penn State's Life Lion helicopter.


Here is a link to the article in the Chambersburg Public Opinion. This experience makes a great finale to the first aid training required for forest technology students before the forest  harvesting courses of summer camp.

Foresters Do Art, Too!

 

 

 

Forestry Students Participate in the 2013 Academic Festival

Maddie Erickson and Alex Seeley mapped deer exclosures in state forests. 

Jarrid Willette and Justin Vinglas studied the natural resources and developed a management plan for Jarrid's family's property.

Tosh Rung did two projects: soil mapping of an arboretum grove on campus and analyzing hemlock woolly adelgid  treatments in Caledonia State Park.

Joshua Brenneman reported on the history of tree specimens in the campus arboretum.

Volunteering to Remove Tree Tubes

The Penn State Mont Alto Forestry Club helped removed tree tubes at a planting site (Shriner's Knob) in the Michaux State Forest. At this site the tubes were more dispersed than the site we visited last year. The views form the top of this hill were fantastic. It would be great to come back on a more sunny day!

Timberbeast 2013

The Penn State Mont Alto Woodsmen Team had a great day at the 2013 Timberbeast hosted by Virginia Tech Forestry Club – First Place! Nine teams competed (VA Tech & Alumni, NC State, U Tenn., PSU, WVU, Warren Wilson, and Haywood CC) in 15 events including academic events (wildlife ID, wood ID, photogrammetry, dendrology and  DBH estimation) and physical events (orienteering, water boil, team log roll, pulpwood toss for distance, bolt split, bowsaw, crosscut, speed chop, and chain saw). The team travels next to Haywood Community College in Clyde, NC on April 13-14 to the Mid-Atlantic Woodsmen’s Meet.