WCO guests at our latest Forestry Club Meeting

Today the Forestry Club had a noon-time lunch meeting with pizza. Our guests were Wildlife Conservation Officers Amanda Powell and Travis Pugh. They talked about what it takes to become a WCO. Officer Powell graduated from the most recent class of WCO's and shared many insights about the training and work. Officer Pugh is a Penn State Mont Alto alumnus. He shared how he worked at several jobs before becoming a WCO.

America's First Forest: Carl Schenck and the Asheville Forest Experiment

This evening (11/5/15) the Forestry Club sponsored a preview showing of the new documentary film on the work of Carl Schenck at the Biltmore Forest.




It was a very enjoyable film!



Forestry Club President Coltton Groff introduces the film and our guest.




Forest History Society historian and executive producer Jamie Lewis sets the stage for the presentation.




We had a good turnout for the showing.

Trees for Tomorrow

On Saturday, October 10, members of the forestry club  participated in the Trees for Tomorrow planting sponsored by Senator Rich Alloway and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.

The day started off with breakfast at Chambersburg Area Middle School School South with a tree planting demonstration led by Mr. Houghton.



Then we went to Renfrew Park to plant trees.












Thanks to everyone who participated!

Collecting Willow Stems

Today members of the Forestry Club and Forest Technology Faculty volunteered in Shippensburg Township along Burd Run to cut and stack willow branches that will be used for the stick sculpture that will be built at Wilson College. Internationally acclaimed artist Patrick Dougherty will work with the Wilson College community and local volunteers to create a one-of-a-kind environmental sculpture on the Wilson campus over three weeks in October, with the completion of the project expected on Friday, Oct. 23. Click here for more information.

The students who worked on the project, either in the morning or afternoon, were Cameron Murphy, Swade Rotz, Tyler Amspacher, Austin Grove, Colton Groff, Liz Clark, Zach Clemens, and Ryan Varner.

Here are some pictures from the Tuesday afternoon work. 

Gathering willow branches by the creek

Zach Clemens, Ryan Varner, and Liz Clark

Finished load ready to be transported

This is one of Patrick Dougherty's previous sculptures. According to what he said this afternoon he doesn't yet know what the Wilson one will be.  It will depend on the materials, the workers, and the time available. We'll just have to wait.

Forestry Club Meeting Minutes from September 29, 2015

Tuesday October 6th the forestry club will cut sticks at Shippensburg
University. The sticks will then be used to create art at Willion College. The artist who is behind this is Patrick Dougherty. There are 2 times that the forestry club is signed up for 8:00 A.M. till 11:30. Transportation will not be provided for the 8-11:30 time. The second time is 1:00 till 4:30 transportation is provided. The afternoon dendrology class will be with the morning class that day. So any forester that are in the afternoon dendrology class can go.


Tree planting volunteers are needed for Saturday October, 10th from 7:30 till noon in Chambersburg.
Transportation will be provided.

Every day is Arbor Day will be on Sunday October 11th. Meet in Wiestling at 8 A.M. Breakfast will be served. Everyone will get a shirt and pair of grippy gloves. We will work until noon. Bring/ wear hardhat, safety glasses, hearing protection, pants, and closed toe shoes. This day will involve manual labor! People will be dragging and chipping brush. No staying out all night! Get a
good night’s sleep and come prepared to work and have a good SAFE time.

November 5th at 7:00 P.M. a 1 hour long forestry documentary called First in Forestry will be shown. It is about the life of Karl Schenck, who founded the Biltmore Forestry School. It will be playing here before the movie even comesout. The director of the movie will be here as well.


The next forestry club will be meeting on Tuesday October 13th. The time has CHANGED the new time is at 12:00.

Submitted by Austin Grove

Oak Road Cleanup 2014

This year we did the Oak Road cleanup during Finals Week. It was a good diversion. It seemed like there was less trash this year than in previous years. At least there were no beds or other furniture! Progress!

Forestry Club Meeting - March 19

At the Forestry Club meeting on March 19, future Forestry Club events were planned.  The following was discussed at the meeting:

- The Quincy Village Gardens are planned for 8:00 A.M. on Friday, April 11.  This will involve delivering planting mix for the raised bed that we will make.

- The Oak Road clean-up will occur during finals week.  Exact dates and times will be made at a later date.

- The stream planting along the commuter parking lot is hesitantly set for April 25 or 26 at 8:00 A.M.  A soils test and confirmation of funds must be done first.

- On Thursday, March 27, there will be speeches on Joseph Rothrock, the founder of the Pennsylvania Forest Academy.  It will be at 7:00 P.M. in the auditorium.  More information will be given the week of the speeches.

- On April 26, there will be a tree planting at Wilson College in Chambersburg.  This is an opportunity for the Penn State Mont Alto Forestry Club to have public exposure.  We may be doing fundraising at this event.

- An interesting subject was brought up by the professors.  On Forest Business Network website, one can sign up for emails concerning the forestry industry. 

Thanks for all who attended the meeting.  Thank you Coby for bringing the donuts.  The next meeting is scheduled for April 16 at 8:00 A.M. in Wiestling.

Aaron Lewis

Forestry Club Meeting - February 26, 2014

Even with the meeting starting at 8:00 A.M., the meeting was quite a success.  We talked about many things that the Forestry Club will do this semester.

-The vice-president position needed to be filled.  At this meeting, Alex Storm was nominated, and voted on as vice-president.

-We still need to do the annual Oak Road cleanup.  We decide to discuss this at the next meeting, after spring break.  There cannot be any snow to do the cleanup.

-We would like to plant trees by the stream that runs though campus.  We decided that they should be native plants.  Possible dates are Arbor Day (April 25) or Earth Day (April 22).  More details will be discussed at the next meeting.

-This for all students available after graduation.  TWEP and Pheasants Forever would like to have the Forestry Club have a demo day in Mercersburg.  We would use and teach people how to use basic measuring tools like d-tapes and Biltmore sticks.  This would be on Saturday, May 17.  More information will be available to all who are interested.

-The South Mountain Speaker series will have the Pennsylvania Forest Association speak in the auditorium on March 27, beginning at 7:00 P.M.  There will be several speakers, and the theme will be "Joseph Rothrock:  Past and Present Pennsylvania's Woods."  Please try to attend.

-Alex Storm, Ethan Mansfield, Coby Salmon, Ben Stephy, and Aaron Lewis attended the SAF meeting in Williamsport.  They each discussed some of the things that they learned from the speakers at the meeting.  This included emerald ash borer, hemlock wooly adelgid, and the effect of Marcellus shale drilling.

Thank you to all who came to the meeting.  The next meeting is scheduled for March 19 at 8:00 A.M. in Wiestling. 

-Aaron Lewis

Come to the Food Security Strategies for Smallholder Farmers in Southeast Asia Preentation

The Forestry Club is sponsoring a presentation by Jennie Diehl, a Mont Alto alum and horticulture student at Penn State on her recent trip to Thailand and Cambodia.

It will be on Saturday, February 15 at 11AM in the General Studies Auditorium.
In developing nations issues of food security and farming are very strongly linked to forestry and conservation.

Refreshments will be served after the presentation. Check out the flyer.

Previous Forestry Club Meeting

There are some upcoming events with Forestry Club in the next couple of months. 

• October 19 is Arboretum Cleanup Day.  Please bring gloves to help with this. 
• We will be hiking Pole Steeple Trail at Pine Grove Furnace on November 2.  Pine Grove Furnace is about a half hour bus ride away.  There could be camping that night, too.
• On November 7, the Keystone Chapter of the Society of American Foresters will be here in Mont Alto.  We are to meet with them at 7 in the auditorium for a presentation by Art Gober.
• The annual Oak Road cleanup by the Forestry Club will be on November 12.  We are to walk along the road and pick up the trash, so it is very important for you to bring gloves.

Please try to come to these events.

Aaron

Forestry Students at the Academic Festival 2013

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.

Forestry Club Meeting

April 2, 2013

Even though the semester is coming to a close, we are still trying to stay active.

Wednesday, April 10th South Mountain Speakers are coming to talk about rhyolite present in the local area.
On Sunday, April 21st from 2-4 PM we will be doing a Earth Day clean-up on campus.

Forestry Club Secretary,
Ethan Mansfield

2012 Alum, Nate Shank, returns from Appalachian Trail Hike

Nate Shank is shown with one of his pairs of worn out hiking shoes from his recent Appalachian Trail hike. Soon after graduating last May, Nate started from Mount Katahdin on a southward hike of the trail. He described his trip while showing slides in the GS Auditorium last Tuesday (3/26). Not counting a few breaks, Nate finished the trip in four months, a great time. We really enjoyed his tales of the trail!

 

Shriner's Knob Tree Tube Removal

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!

Forestry Club Meeting February 26, 2013

The forestry club currently has many up coming events including:

-Tree tube removal with Mike Rothrock on March 15th at 1:00 PM. This will be taking place at a stand off Kettle Springs Road and another off Quarry Gap Road.
-The forestry will be partnering with environmental club the week of March 11-15th for campus cleanup.
-On March 19th @ 7:00 PM, Dr. Linehan will be talking about the establishment of Mont Alto and the iron furnaces.
-On March 23rd there is a trip to Washington D.C. botanical gardens with a cost of only $5.
-On March 26th @ a time TBA, Nate Shank will be giving a presentation here at Mont Alto.
-The club will be visiting South Mountain Museum in the upcoming future TBA.
-On April 10th @ 7:00PM there will be two state archaeologists coming to speak about the local rhyolite presence.
-The next meeting will be held on April 2 @ 5:00PM.

Forestry Club Secretary,
Ethan Mansfield

Volunteering at the Ecopark

Penn State Mont Alto Forestry students volunteered to clear dead and dying trees from the Franklin County Ecopark in Chambersburg. It was a great opportunity to practice chainsaw skills and make a difference in the community. This park gets a lot of use from the community and youth groups.

The park is located on the Conococheague Creek near I-81. 

View Volunteering at the Franklin County Ecopark in a larger map

Foresty Club Current Events

Today's discussion:

February 11th @ 7:00 PM there will be a Sawlet Owl talk if interest is shown.
February 14th @ 7:00 PM In Carlisle there is a Cumberland presentation on High-grading impacts and how to recover the forest.
Friday February 15th the Eco-Park clean-up will be taking place, help needed to clear brush and run chainsaws.
Thursday February 21st the Region SAF meeting will be held.

Forestry Club Secretary,
Ethan Mansfield

Forstry Club Meeting January 14 2013

Forstry Club Meeting January 14th 2013

 

Wednesday, January 16th is the club fair in the Mill.

Tosh and Maddie are planning a presentation on their trip to California; Date pending.

Friday, January 25th a tentative hike is planned to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail.

Saturday, January 26th with be Maple syrup harvest training at Strawberry Hill Farm.

Throughout February the Forestry Club will be sponsoring movie nights showing "Queen of Trees" and "Winged Migration".

Friday, February 8th will be the Eco-Park crop tree release. Members needed for a brush crew and chainsaw crew.

Friday, March 15th there will be a tree shelter removal taking place on the Michaux, time to be announced.

Thursday, February 21st the Allegheny SAF meeting will be taking place in Johnstown.

 

Forestry Club Secretary

Ethan Mansfield

Wild Wyoming Presentation

Stuart Garbett recounted his adventures in Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Teton National Forest in Wyoming. He got some excellent pictures of buffalo, grizzly bears, wolves, and coyotes during his hikes. He highly recommended for fellow students to look for jobs in out of the way places to be able to experience the outdoors. Thanks Stuart!

For some reason people still wanted to sit towards the back!

Here are two of Stuart's favorite pictures.

Oak Road Cleanup

 

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Oak Road cleanup today. It's amazing what people throw out. It's great to make the Michaux State Forest a cleaner, more natural place.