CASEE students competing in a forestry competition are pictured. They went on to win first place.
Students from Battle Ground Public Schools' Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education (CASEE) finished in first place at a Future Farmers of America (FFA) forestry career development event (CDE) competition.
The event was hosted by the Grays Harbor College (GHC) Forestry and Natural Resources program and featured students from across Washington.
Local students were a part of 14 teams, made up of 62 competitors, from 12 high schools.
The event was held at the GHC forest, located at the Satsop Business Park. This is the competition’s eighth year running.
The competition was held across two venues. During the indoor section, students were tasked with interpreting forestry maps, then they identified trees, tree disorders, chainsaws and other equipment. The indoor section of the competition was meant to test the student's individual level.
The students then headed outside for the team competitions. The district said that for the outdoor portion of the event, the participating schools competed as teams in compass and cruising practicums. Students used compasses to learn navigation techniques and measured trees by height and diameter at breast height, which is the standard practice of cruising timber.
Monitors for each station were student volunteers from the forest technology program at GHC. They also helped answer any questions from competing students
