Pennsylvania 4-H Forestry Field Day Results

Beautiful sunny weather graced this year’s 4-H Forestry Field Day held at Laurel Haven Conservation Education Center in Julian, PA on May 7, 2011. The event consisted of two tracks. The junior (non-competitive) track taught younger 4-H members basic skills relating to forestry; while the senior track was a competitive event where “4-H foresters” from across the state demonstrated their knowledge and forestry skills.
The top five winners in the senior track included Nichele Olson, Sam Mc Gaughran, Jesse Isenberg, and Garrett Richardson from Indiana County, and Darton Harwick from Tioga County. Four of these youth will represent Pennsylvania at the 2011 National 4-H Forestry Invitational held in late July at Jackson’s Mill 4-H Conference Center, Weston, WV. Participants in both the state and national program demonstrate their skills in tree measurement, tree identification, forest health (insect and disease identification), compass use, topographic map reading, and applied forestry principles.
The junior track enjoyed learning tree id skills, compass techniques, and reading forest history signs. They also enjoyed a demonstration by the Penn State Woodman’s Team!
Extension Forestry Educator David Jackson of Centre County, and Sanford Smith, Extension Specialist, in Penn State’s School of Forest Resources, organized this year’s event. Also assisting were 4-H volunteers Chad Barclay and Ashlee Earley. Barclay and Earley are past state 4-H Forestry winners. They are also currently a forestry student at Penn State and a forester for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry respectively. This year’s Forestry Field Day received strong sponsorship from Pine Creek Lumber, Mill Hall, PA (a division of Bingaman Lumber), Pennsylvania Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and Domtar (Paper Mill), Johnsonburg, PA
For more information, contact Smith at sss5@psu.edu or Jackson at drj11@psu.edu.

- Submitted by Dr. Sanford Smith, Extension Specialist, Natural Resources and Youth Education (sss5@psu.edu)