Climbing the BIG TREE!

The Arboriculture class climbed the 134' yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) today helped by Cumberland Valley Tree Service arborists and Mont Alto grads, Dave Poe and Jeremy Redding. All rope work - no bucket truck here! Nice Job!

Tree Care Industry Expo

Forest Technology students Jason Owings, Tosh Rung, Zach Dubbs, and Tyler Hoffman participated in Student Career Days at the Tree Care Industry Expo in Baltimore, MD on November 9. They spent the morning competing in the speed climb, work climb, throw bag, an equipment safety test and arboriculture written exam, against students from 17 other Universities, Technical Colleges, and High  Schools.  In the afternoon we went to the Trade Show to see equipment, technical tree care demonstrations, and to mingle with tree care employers.

Advanced Tree Climbing with Aaron Feather from Cumberland Valley Tree

On October 17 Aaron Feather visited our Arboriculture class to work on new knots and advanced climbing techniques. Here he is setting up as the sophomore class looks on. Later, Aaron raced Mr. Houghton in a foot-locking contest. Even with a handicap, Mr. H. looked pretty slow and Aaron looked really fast! I will be investing in the 'Raptor' for next time! Many thanks to Aaron and Cumberland Valley Tree.

New Sawmill for Mont Alto

The Forest Technology program at Penn State Mont Alto has acquired a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill. We don't yet have a home for it on campus. It is still at the dealer at Shade Gap. Recently, forest technician students visited the sawmill and got a chance to run it as seen here.

 

A new metal building will be built at Mont Alto. Following engineering and architectural planning the mill should be in place before the start of the Fall 2013 semester. Enjoy the video. 

Tree Tube Removal

P1120546, a photo by P_Linehan on Flickr.

Tree tubes are frequently used to protect seedlings from deer browsing. Many types of tubes should decompose after a few years when the tree grows out of the reach of the deer. In this case on the Michaux State Forest the tubes did not degrade, even after ten plus years, often causing severe damage to the tree. In this case where the tree grew right into the tube, there is a thick layer of moss, indicating that water was retained.

This past Friday, forest technology students from Mont Alto volunteered to help remove failed tubes on the Michaux State Forest. It's very labor intensive to remove what should have fallen away by itself.

Volunteering at the PFA Meeting

Last Saturday's meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association was helped by the efforts of Penn State Mont Alto forestry faculty and forest technology students. Among the programs that day were the following presentations:

• Making a map with GPS and Google Earth by Dr. Peter Linehan, assisted by Adam Wentzel, Nick Wingerter, and Hunter Stauffer (alumnus).
• Arboretum walking tour by Dr. Beth Brantley, assisted by Kelly Ketterman, Shane Strommer, and Andy Teets.
• Penn State Mont Alto history walking tour by Mr. Craig Houghton, assited by Dustin Wirt, Mark Long, and Justin Vinglas.

It seemed like all the participants enjoyed the presentations!

Dedication of the Maurice Goddard Marker

On Saturday, September 17, a historical marker was dedicated at Penn State Mont Alto during the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, the marker was placed outside the Goddard Cottage on campus.

 

Several speakers discussed the legacy of Dr. Goddard on forest conservation and public recreation in Pennsylvania. In the audience were several Mont Alto Forest Technology students who were volunteering at the meeting.

Click here for more information on the Goddard Legacy Project.

A New Year at Mont Alto

New and returning forestry students gathered at Mont Alto for the start-of-the-year picnic today. Students got to know each other in the scavenger hunt. We also planned for the first Forestry Club meeting next week. See more pictures below.

New Honor Society Inductees

Congratulations to Tyler Wakefield and Nate Rosenberg who have been inducted into the CEFTS Forest Technology Honor Society. Membership in the Honor Society is based on a student's academic achievement in forestry courses taken for the Associate degree.

Tyler and Nate were awarded their certificates during the graduation picnic at Mont Alto State Park. Because of the forecast thunderstorms we had pizza, instead of our usual cookout. Thankfully, we have the pavilion, and finished just before the rains hit!

Mid-Atlantic Qualifier

On the second, drier, day of the Woodsmen's Weekend at Mont Alto, the Mid-Atlantic Qualifier for the Stihl Timbersports Series was fought. This time both professional and collegiate athletes competed. It was a great time for the students to get pointers from the pros. The crowd really enjoyed the event.





The collegiate results were:

1.  Daniel Jones, Haywood CC.
2.  Tim Benedict, Penn State, University Park
3.  Seth Morris, Penn State Mont Alto.

Tyler Wakefield did a great job rounding out the field! It was great to see Mont Alto alum, and current pro, Tom Oliver competing.

Mid-Atlantic Woodsmen's Meet

It happened again! When Penn State Mont Alto lasted hosted the meet in 2005 it rained all day. This past Saturday (April 16), it rained even harder with stronger winds and thunder. Yet, the meet went off without a hitch, or injury! And everyone had a great time!

Congratulations to everyone who participated! The final standings were:

1. Haywood Community College
2. Penn State Mont Alto
3. Montgomery Community College
4. Allegheny College of Maryland
5. Pennsylvania College of Technology

Academic Festival Pictures

Kelly Ketterman demonstrated time laps photography of germinating plants.


Scott Grimm and Derek Furry established permanent sampling plots in the Waynesboro Watershed.


Zach Hetrick and Seth Morris mapped past patterns of land use in the Waynesboro Watershed with historic aerial photos.


Mitch Oswald studied soil conditions to see if Coast Redwoods from California could survive in southern PA.


Jenny Diehl shares insights on living sustainably in Jamaica.


Tyler Wakefield describes his work on saving the eastern hemlock.

Academic Festival Winners

Congratulations to the poster prize winners at the Academic Festival on April 13.

Posters

First Place

Tyler Wakefield

Hope for the Eastern Hemlock?

Second Place

Scott Grimm & Derek Furry

Establishing GIS-based permanent forest inventory plots on the Waynesboro Watershed

Third Place

Zachary Hetrick & Seth Morris

Comparing Past Land use to Current Forest Cover Types

Click here to see all the abstracts from the festival.

Felling a gum tree; Woodsmen practice

Felling a gum tree

Originally uploaded by Powerhouse Museum Collection.

Are these guys practicing for the Mid-Atlantic Woodsmen's Meet? This wood may be a little big.

Practicing for the Mid-Atlantic Woodsmen's Meet

Our team is practicing hard! We hope to see you there April 16 and 17 at Penn State Mont Alto.

10th Annual Mid-Atlantic Woodsmen's Meet

You're Invited!!
April 16 and 17 at Penn State Mont Alto 

Mid-Atlantic Woodsmen’s Meet
and
STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Collegiate and Professional Series Mid-Atlantic Qualifier
(Click here for details.)

ORDER OF EVENTS
April 16, 2011

• 7:00 Breakfast for competitors. Team station setup / archery practice
• 8:00 Dendrology and Archery
• 9:00  Welcome & Opening Ceremony
• 9:10  Team pulp toss, single buck, dot split, pulp toss, and belayed speed climb
• 9:10  Team log roll
• 9:30  Pole fell
• 10:30 Bolt split
• 11:00 Water boil
• 11:30  Horizontal speed chop (female)
• 12:00 Lunch
• 1:00 Axe throw, pole climb
• 2:00 Dot split finals
• 2:15 Cross cut saw events
• 3:00 Horizontal speed chop
• 3:30 Chain Saw
• 4:30 Woodsmen's grand finale relay
• 5:00 Competition field clean up
• 5:30 Banquet/awards ceremony for competitors

 

Penn State Mont Alto Foresters at the Allegheny SAF conference

The Allegheny Society of American Foresters winter meeting, organized by the Plateau Chapter, was held in Clarion, PA on Feb. 16-18. Six Penn State Mont Alto forestry students attended the conference.

Mont Alto was victorious at the quiz bowl, defeating Allegany College of Maryland and West Virginia University! Congratulations to team members Derek Furry, Shane Strommer, and Mike Trisket for their winning performance.

Among the great presentations at the conference were silvicultural remediation for degraded hardwood sites, managing for liability issues, improving foresters' involvement with the public, and examples of outdoor recreation.

The other Mont Alto participants were Andy Gundlach, Mitch Oswald, and Zach Hetrick, and faculty members Craig Houghton and Peter Linehan. It was great to visit with Mont Alto alumni now at University Park or working in the field. 

Thanks to all the SAF members who sponsored students and the Plateau Chapter for a great meeting! 

Testing GPS Precision

Students in the forest surveying class tested the precision of Garmin 60 GPS receivers today. Nine teams two students recorded 25 sets of coordinates at five different points. Two points were in forested areas and three were in the open. Each team copied their data to a spreadsheet. After the data for each point is combined we will do statistical analysis of the results. More to come.

The Life of Maurice Goddard

Forest technology students and faculty gathered in the Weistling Student Center yesterday evening to watch the Maurice Goddard documentary on WITF TV. The documentary gave a fascinating portrait of Goddard, who, in a long career at Penn State and for the Commonwealth of PA, was the acknowledged architect of much of the State's forest and parks conservation policy. He worked tirelessly to expand the number of state parks so that everyone in Pennsylvania would be within 25 miles of a state park. Instrumental in securing funding for conservation projects, he led efforts in flood prevention and control.

Goddard began his career as an instructor at Penn State Mont Alto after graduating from the University of Maine, in 1935. Eventually, he became the director of Mont Alto before leading the entire School of Forest Resources.

Goddard served as a staff officer in WWII and brought that sense of military discipline to the life of the forestry school. One interviewee, Jim Nelson, told the story of how Goddard made ties mandatory for meals. No tie and no food. Nelson told how the students, after a day of hard field work, would put on a clip-on bow tie before entering the dining hall. At the time meals were served in Weistling Hall, which is where we were watching the film.

The show was an inspirational reminder of the importance of public service for all foresters at any point in their career. Click here to see the trailer.

SAF Quiz Bowl in Albuquerque

The Penn State Mont Alto Forestry Club Quiz Bowl team reached the semi-final round in competition on October 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the National Society of American Foresters convention! 32 teams competed; Mont Alto beat the U of Georgia, Shasta, and Michigan Tech, and lost to Green River CC, the eventual winner. Mike Trisket was excellent as captain, along with Tyler Wakefield, Mitch Oswald and Zach Hetrick.