Tenth-graders at Roseau High School got a first-hand look at the timber business and forest management Wednesday as part of a daylong session in the school's forest north of Salol, Minn.
According to Aaron Nelson, who teaches 10th-grade geography in Roseau, Wednesday's field trip included the opportunity for students to "cruise" the woods for a timber sale. The process included using portable Global Positioning System units to identify an area for harvest, setting up tree plots, determining the number of acres within the plot and estimating the amount of wood the timber sale will produce.
The timber sale fits into the management plan the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has developed for the forest, Nelson said.
Once a logging crew cuts the timber, the wood will be milled into lumber for industrial arts students to use in constructing outhouses and other shelters in the 315-acre forest, Nelson said.
Wednesday's day in the woods was broken into four sessions. Besides the timber cruising, Randy Prachar and Amber Ellering of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources led sessions on woodland ecology, and DNR forester Steve Johnson talked about forest management.
Keith Sandland, who runs a lumber mill near Roseau, set up a portable sawmill and showed students how to select trees for particular sizes of lumber.
According to Nelson, Wednesday's field trip marked the first time since 2000 that students had used the forest for a large-scale learning project. He said 105 sophomores participated in Wednesday's excursion, a joint effort between geography, biology, math, English and physical education classes.
Roseau High School last winter won a $2,500 grant from Toyota, and money from the award will help fund other student projects in the forest. Nelson said the goal is to make the forest an outdoor classroom for students all the way from first grade to 12th grade.Grand Forks Herald
