Forest Products Week celebrated with local students

SEELEY LAKE - Students from the Seeley Lake Elementary eighth grade class accompanied Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Service Forester Brad French Oct. 12 on their first field trip in over a year. The intent of the field trip was to expose the students to forestry and the economic value of Seeley Lake's timber industry.

The day consisted of three forestry-based stops. The first stop gave the students an opportunity to view an active logging site on the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks managed Blackfoot-Clearwater Game Range. The rest of the day consisted of lunch at Girard grove and a tour of the Pyramid Mountain Lumber sawmill.

On the Game Range, students were able to watch Bull Creek Forestry's mechanized thinning of an overstocked Douglas fir and ponderosa pine forest to benefit winter wildlife forage and reduce wildfire risk. Bull Creek Forestry owner Leelyn Cahoon explained to the students how the highly advanced Cut-to-Length harvester operated and they even had the opportunity to sit in the cab of the machine. Fire history, desired tree species composition and tree identification subjects were shared with the students as well.

"Some of these students may choose to work in a natural resources career or in a labor industry that depends on forests, roads and mills like this," French said. "It's my hope that by exposing them to the concept of sound forest management, they will understand more about tree health, forest health, wildfire risk and the importance of managing forests for multiple uses."

The golden fall colors of the western larches provided a wonderful backdrop for lunch and a tour of Girard grove, including seeing "Gus," the world-record western larch. The 1,000-year-old giant took five students to span the circumference of the tree and they learned about historical fire regimes and forest conditions that helped to grow the trees to the size they are today.

The last stop was a tour of the Pyramid Mountain Lumber sawmill. Controller Wendy Dalrymple and Plant Manager Todd Johnson led tours of the entire mill. This gave students the opportunity to see how the harvested trees are transformed into ready-to-use lumber. Several of the students have relatives who work there and they got a kick out of seeing them on the job. Johnson ended the tour noting how much the mill depends on sustainable timber sources from the State of Montana and other sources and explained how state timber sale proceeds and revenue directly benefit Montana's public schools, the "trust beneficiaries."

"I really like showing young minds what goes on in the woods behind the locked gates and inside the mills," French said. "When I was young, I knew I wanted to work in natural resources but I had no idea of how the forest machines and mills worked to actually produce lumber. By letting the students witness exactly why and how trees are selected, harvested, trucked and milled, they will be able to understand more about our working forests and the careers and economy that they support."

Eighth grade teacher Chantel Thornsberry said she enjoyed the field trip and is interested in continuing this experience with future classes.

"Educating the public and younger populations about the benefits of promoting healthy, working forests is important to the DNRC's mission to help ensure that Montana's land and water resources provide benefits for present and future generations," French said. He hopes that the students will always remember what they experienced on the field trip and will become future proponents of forestry and forest management.