Camp Michaux Visit

Today students in the Aerial Photo Interpretation class visited the site of Camp Michaux near Pine Grove State Park. This site was originally a farm, later a CCC camp, a POW camp, a church youth camp, and finally reverted to forests. We recorded waypoint with a GPS. These will be included in a GIS map. Then we will georeference digitized aerial photos to show how the site changed over time. That part is for a later lab. for today we followed the self-guided from the Cumberland County Historical Society.

Here are a few scenes from today.

 Foundation of a garage that has the inscribed name of a German prisoner on one pier.

 Historical marker

The emblem of the POW camp is inscribed on this stone.

 Checking out the emblem.

Posing at the old fountain, built by the CCC members.

Flagpole from the CCC days. It points to the North.

Walkway lined by spruce trees.

This stairway to nowhere was built by the CCC members. It was used by the church camp groups for photos. 

Surviving wall of the old barn.

Community Service Planting Trees

On April 18, 2015, forestry and other Mont Alto students planted trees at the Greene Township Park in partnership with several other community groups. The trees were provided as part of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay tree-planting effort. It was also part of Franklin County's Trees for Tomorrow effort.

Making Bitmore Sticks

Looking like a yard stick, the Biltmore stick is one of the original tools used for measuring tree diameters and heights. It was originally developed by Carl Schenck at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. (Click here for more information.) This spring freshman forest technology students at Penn State Mont Alto have made custom Biltmore sticks synchronized to their own arm lengths. This afternoon they checked them out on trees on campus.

It's a new year!

This evening we had the forestry picnic at the Mont Alto State Park where the new students and sophomores got to meet at the historic pavilion. This year we had pizza, instead of a cookout, to accommodate everyone's schedule as several students had a six o'clock class!

We had a quiz game with mixed teams of students from both years. Here is the winning team made up of Caleb, Ben, Austen, and Ben.

Visit to Redwood Country

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Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

A group of Penn State Mont Alto forestry students and faculty recently visited the redwood forests in Humboldt County, California. Seen here during a tour of Humboldt University's Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm, led by manager Gordon Schatz, are students Mitch Oswald and Zach Hetrick, faculty Craig Houghton, Beth Brantley and  Peter Linehan, and students Tyler Wakefield, and Nate Rosenberg. The students have each participated in forestry research projects funded by Schatz research fund grants.

During the visit from June 11 to 15 the group visited the Avenue of the Giants in  Humboldt Redwood State Park with its groves of amazing trees.

The tour also included parts of Redwood State Park, the Arcata Community Forest, and the Humboldt Lagoons State Park, among other places. Everyone learned a great deal about the life cycle and ecology of the amazing redwoods!

Thanks to Schatz family for funding student travel for this trip. Also, many thanks to Gordon and Karen Schatz for their time and excellent company! To see more pictures click here. See a map of the visit here.

Keystone Chapter SAF Fall Meeting

The Keystone Chapter of the Society of American Foresters was held (10/22) at Kings Gap State Park at the Cameron/Masland Mansion. What a beautiful day to be out in the forest!

For the technical part of the meeting Ellen Schultzabarger, Ecological Services Section Chief of the DCNR Bureau of Forestry described the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (formerly the PA Natural Diversity Inventory). Rich Schockey, Ecological Services Environmental Review Specialist discussed the importance of and the need to protect forested buffers for water conservation. The natural heritage program now has a convenient online tool to help find endangered species in most parts of the state to help planning for forestry and other operations. It will also help with the permitting process.

Penn State Mont Alto forest technician students Ethan Wall, Josiah Knopsnider, Phil Bietsch, Tim Benedict, and Severin Thierwechter attended the meeting and are seen here relaxing in the mansion's lounge. Thanks to SAF members for sponsoring the students.

During a brief business meeting the Keystone chapter elected new officers:

• Chair: Steve Wacker
• Vice Chair Dave Nelson
• Sec./Treas. Craig Houghton
• Executive Committee Members: Mike Kusko, Jr. (past chair), Scott Kurtzman, and Rachel Billingham
  

Mont Alto Students at the Society of American Foresters Convention

This year’s Society of American Foresters Convention was held at the Walt Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fl. Four Penn State Mont Alto students attended the convention and competed in the Quiz Bowl.

Alex Lamoreaux, Hunter Stauffer, Frank Grano, and Severin Thierwechter preparing for the first round.

A large, enthusiastic crowd watches the competition. Mont Alto beat West Virginia University in the first round and lost narrowly to Oregon State University in the second round.

View Full Album

Scenes around Coronado Springs. The Disney resorts do a good job of protecting the environment and incorporating wildlife. Check out Alex’s blog for pictures of birds and other wildlife. Also at the meeting we got a chance to visit with Mont Alto forestry alumni who are currently studying at University Park.

Starting the New Year

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Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

Forest technology students started the new year with a Forestry Weekend at King's Gap Environmental Center last Friday 8/28. In spite of the wet weather the students got an introduction to orienteering.

Other events included pizza at Arturo's, a forestry movie night, and the freshman/sophomore picnic at Mont Alto State Park.

Ned Smith Center Visit

Mont Alto forest technology students attended the Keystone SAF Chapter meeting at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in Millersburg on Tuesday, June 2. The Center, dedicated to the memory of wildlife artist Ned Smith, hosts many art exhibits in its gallery and has over 500 acres of land in a nature preserve with many hiking trails.

The program featured a presentation by retired biology teacher John Laskowski, the "Mothman". John is one of the foremost experts on moths and butterflies of Pennsylvania's forests. A fun part of the visit was a short hike across the center's bridge over the Wiconisco Creek to see a chainsaw sculpture of wildlife species carved from a white pine log. John also pointed the rare forest plant, minniebush (Menziesia pilosa), which grows by the banks of the creek.

Quiz Bowl at the Allegheny SAF Meeting

Penn State Mont Alto forestry students participated in the Quiz Bowl at the Allegheny SAF Winter meeting in State College on February 19.

Frank Grano, Eric Monger, and Mark Mizak

Watching the Quiz Bowl

Despite a valiant comeback Mont Alto lost to Allegheny College of Maryland, 50 to 85. Allegheny went on to win the event.

The theme of the meeting was Changing Forest Dimensions and included a wide variety of presentations about the changing nature of forestry in the Mid-Atlantic region. Follow this link to the Allegheny SAF web page.

Keystone Chapter SAF Meeting Looks Up to Fire Towers

Twenty-six members of the Keystone Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF), including eleven Penn State Mont Alto forestry students, met last Thursday evening at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Chambersburg.

Merl Waltz presented the History of Fire Towers in PA with a series of historical photos. The use of fire towers began at Mont Alto as the students were detailed to fight forest fires. At first they climbed prominent hills and even trees. Eventually makeshift towers were secured to tall trees. These eventually developed into manufactured steel towers placed strategically around the State. It became a source of community pride to have a functioning tower. Merle described the often tedious work of a fire tower observer and how the workers coped with the long hours and strenuous conditions.

Eventually fire towers gave way to aerial spotters. Today, with more people living in rural areas, the use of airplanes, and better communication (cell phones and radios) there is less need for towers. A few are still in use however. Others suffer from vandalism. Some may be preserved for their historical value.

Chapter chairman Mike Kusko (right) presents Ralph Heilig with his 50 year SAF Golden Membership Award.

Member Jason Hines describes his experiences at the recent SAF National Leadership Academy.

Keystone Chapter officers were elected at the meeting. From left to right: Merle Waltz (executive committee), Mike Kusko (Chairman), Scott Kurtzman (executive committee), and Craig Houghton (Secretary-Treasurer). Absent were Steve Wacker (vice-Chairman) and Rachel Billingham (Executive Committee).

Thanks to the Keystone Chapter members for generously sponsoring the students. It was greatly appreciated after a day of timber harvesting at summer camp!

Congratulations Class of 2008

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Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

(from left to right: Logan Droppa, Chance Yeckley, Ryan Thrush, Andrew Baker, Craig Houghton, Beth Brantley, Darren Krebs, John Westerfer, and Peter Linehan)

Yesterday's commencement at Penn State Mont Alto turned out to be the island of sunny weather between heavy rains. Congratulations to the Class of 2009!

(Andrew, Chance, and Darren)

Congratulations too to Tiffany Roddy and Matthew Reitzel, who couldn't attend the ceremony. Last but not lease, congratulations to Charles Hostetter who earned a B.A. in English. Charles studied one year in forest technology before deciding to follow his muse elsewhere. I'm sure his forestry classes will provide many stories for his studies in creative writing at the University of Maryland.

Congratulations Woodsmen's Team

On April 12th the Mont Alto Woodsmen's Team won the Mid-Atlantic meet at Haywood Community College in Clyde, NC. Here are the final team scores:

MONT ALTO 140
HAYWOOD CC 91
MONTGOMERY CC 48
PENN COLLEGE 26
ALLEGANY COLLEGE OF MD 18

This win showed a strong team effort by all involved. Also, congratulations to Chance Yeckley who came in second in the Stihl Collegiate Qualifying competition.

Mont Alto Academic Festival

Forestry students competed in the Mont Alto Academic Festival on April 16th. They cleaned up in the Science/Technology

• First Place: Chance Yeckley and Tiffany Roddy for "Meeting of the Pines Natural Area"
• Second Place: Kevin Braun and Eric Monger "The Distribution of American Chestnuts on Oak Road"
• Third Place: Logan Droppa for "Mapping Ornamental Trees: Korean Tetrainum and Amur Corktree"

Other forester presentations included:

• Matt Reitzel "Identifying and Mapping Fir Trees on Campus
• Andrew Baker " Practical Use of Geographic Information System (GIS) in Developing Forest Management Plans on Privately Owned Forest Land in Washington County, Pennsylvania"

Chance and Tiffany



Eric and Kevin


Logan


Andrew

Allegheny Society of American Foresters Meeting

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Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

Fifteen forest technology students from Penn State Mont Alto attended the Winter meeting of the Allegheny SAF in Carlisle on Thursday.

The quiz bowl team of Frank Grano, Chance Yeckley, and Eric Monger won the Quiz Bowl after an exciting match agains Penn State University Park.



John Schwartzer (Mont Alto alum and UP forestry senior) leads a student discussion on issues in forestry education.





Among the issues discussed at the meeting were bio-energy from forests in PA, carbon markets, wood pellet systems for heating school buildings, forestry education in the Allegheny region, and advances in biological controls of invasive plants. The students in the forest management practices class will be writing reports on the meeting for their blogs. I will add links in this space next week.