Forestry contest 31 years old
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.