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Special Forestry Project

         One of the things required for my forestry class were team projects. In addition to extensive and boring reading, laborious note-taking and Saturday field trips, we had self-directed projects. My team started out as 4 people who seemed reasonably interested. I felt like the idiot in the group. It narrowed down to just me and an ex-Marine when it came time to get started.

         Our particular project involved studying a particular plot of wooded land south of town. We had permission to be there. We were studying the effects of drought and forest fire on the woods in that area, We followed instructions for gaging the height of trees, taking soil samples, and counting rings in a section of tree taken with a special tool. We recorded wildlife and flora that we spied.

         My ex-Marine knew how to read a compass, so we didn't get lost. He also kept a machete (from Vietnam) under the seat of his pickup truck. He used it to clear away brush for us. I couldn't have made it through the project without him. He had some knowledge of the forest, as well as survival skills. I acted mostly as recording secretary. I wrote up our findings. Despite his skills and expertise, he didn't want to face the class, so I had to do the oral presentation. I felt like a fraud. I didn't think we were really answering the questions. I have no problem with public speaking, however, and delivered our findings.

         Surprise to me! We got an A on the project! Both of our names went on the paper. The professor liked it so much, he filed it with the Department of Forestry in our state. There are people who do that all the time for a living, and it's no big deal. But for me and this machete Marine, it was quite a feat. {A good  forester knows that not all fire is not bad for a forest, as long as it is a controlled fire.) It was great, not just to learn and get a good grade, but to know we had produced something useful. Maybe some landowners, some timber owners, would find it helpful.