| In 1972 the College of
Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences (renamed the
College of Natural
Resources in 2000) at the University of Idaho started a program that is
unique for a “professional” forestry school. A hands-on logging training
program for natural resource professionals was created using the 8200 acre
Experimental Forest (EF) as an outdoor classroom. |
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During the summer months,
selected College of Natural Resource individuals work on the student logging
crew, helping to accomplish the EF annual timber harvest. They are trained
to be natural resource professionals with an understanding of what it takes
to harvest timber. |
| The crew operations take
them through the process of felling, bucking (manufacturing the tree into
logs), skidding and forwarding (moving the tree or log from the woods to a
truck road), skid trail layout, and equipment maintenance. |
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Training is a big part of
the operation; from safe and effective chain saw use to log scaling and
quality log manufacturing. Student logging crew members are paid an hourly
wage while they are learning. |
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“We, at
the Experimental Forest, want to teach you chain saw, logging and forest
management skills through our hands-on training program. We call it, An
Education Beyond The Books”. |
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The
Experimental Forest staff provides the highest level technical and safety
training available for equipment operation and task performance.
Productivity and safety are not mutually exclusive events; they are,
instead, a common event to be practiced each and every workday. |
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The
extensive student logging crew program gives employees an appreciation and
understanding of the complexity of each logging task and its relationship to
the multiple tasks necessary for logging project completion under natural
forest conditions. “We routinely discuss the effects our operations have on
the environment bringing into focus the interdependencies existing in nature
and the subsequent need for thoughtful land management decisions.” |
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2006
Timber Cruising Crew Job Announcement
2006 Forest Tech Crew Announcement
(both
positions are now closed)
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