Teams from Ponderosa and San Lorenzo Valley high schools placed in the top six of the 2011 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge in Boulder Creek last month.
SLV sent eight students while Ponderosa, an alternative high school in Ben Lomond, sent six to compete in the annual event – which challenges teams to create a land-use plan for a parcel of forestland along Highway 9.
SLV’s students divided into two teams – finishing third and fifth places out of 11 teams from six schools in Northern California.
“Documenting trees has never been so much fun,” said SLV freshman Skylor Hager.
The four-day competition was Oct. 26 through 29 at Redwood Christian Park in Boulder Creek.
Organizers asked the teams to create a land-use plan for a property owned by a trust and adjacent to two timber production parcels under the same ownership. The 9½ -acre parcel is zoned for special use, and students were asked to consider whether a timber production designation made more or less sense than special-use.
The students looked at the environmental and economic impacts of whichever designation they chose. The program included a day visiting the site to collect field data, as well as field training from forestry professionals and a field test to assess their forestry knowledge and data-collecting skills. Teams also judged on prepared slide presentations.
“This experience has given my students an opportunity to see their backyard in a whole new light,’ said Ponderosa adviser Desiree Miller. “I look forward to further developing the relationships with local foresters back in the classroom.”
Participants from Ponderosa were Miller, Nathan Hansel, Kyle Baxter, Toney Sebits, Daniel Knecht, Nichole Jones and Kelsey Wollert, with advisers Rich Richmond. From SLV, participants were Bryan Dombroske, Ben Hofvendahl, Kyra Dao, Sam Wylie, Ben Slaughter, Hager, Marika Swanberg and Ian Rathmann and adviser Jane Orbuch.
Big Creek Lumber Co. and Redwood Empire helped put on the event.
