Forestry club participates in
conclave competition

Margy Fischer, Corner Post staff

Oct. 28, 2002 - MU Forestry Club members took their annual trip to the Midwestern Foresters' Conclave Oct. 11 and 12. The event was held at Michigan Tech in Alberta, Mich.

The conclave competition included timber sports on the collegiate level.

"A bunch of foresters get together and do old time forestry stuff," conclave participant Jon Motsinger said. "It's kind of like back to the stuff they used to do, but its more fun and more relaxed."

The club had three participants in all events, which included log rolling, speed chopping, sawing, pulp tossing, chain throwing and tobacco spitting. Academic events included dendrology (the identification of trees); wood identification (identifying lumber); and compass and traverse.

While Forestry Club members were in Michigan for the conclave, they saw both rain and snow.

The weather was not the only difference between Michigan and Missouri, however.

"Up there, they have totally different trees," Motsinger, who participated in the dendrology competition, said.

The club placed second overall in the competition.

"We always come behind Southern Illinois University," Forestry Club Vice President Sarah Hernke said.

Prior to the competition, team members practiced for weeks to sharpen their skills. They used the profits from their Christmas tree sales in December to pay for wood they practiced with and the saw they purchased.


Story originally posted 10/29/02

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