Area students cruise to forestry contest honors

CAREYWOOD — Cody Majeski was as still as stone while he peered through the clinometer, looking at the top of a tree to determine its height.

The Farmin-Stidwell Elementary sixth-grader was working with group members to measure trees in the rookie "timber cruising" area of the 35th annual Idaho State Forestry Contest Thursday. He said the timber cruising is what he is best at in the four categories the rookies go through.

"The only thing I am pretty bad at is tree (identification)," Cody said. 

Even in the junior/senior division of the contest, students had trouble with the tree and plant identification, not only because there are so many species, but they are required to know the scientific names as well.

"That one was pretty hard for me," said Madison Kirking, a junior at Post Falls High School. "I knew some of them, but not all of them."

Kirking, who grew up in Post Falls, said she spent a lot of time in the woods and enjoyed the log scaling and tool identification categories the most. It was her first time at the contest, but said she plans to do it again next year.

Back in the rookie division, while Cody measured the height of the tree, another member of the group, Taylor Burrows, a second-grader at Selle Valley Carden School, measured the diameter of a tree with a tape measure.

Dana Wood, a substitute and volunteer at Selle Valley, said it was the second year students from the school competed in the rookie division of the contest. This year, she said, 17 students from Selle Valley joined the more than 550 students from across the state who participated in the contest.

Generally, Wood said, the rookie division is reserved for fifth- and sixth-graders, but the Selle Valley students ranged from second to fifth grade.

"They are at the age of novice group, but they have been studying and working towards it and they want to compete," Wood said.

Contest coordinator Karen Robinson was surprised to see the young students signed up as well.

"It's really cool," Robinson said. "They came as novices last year, so why do the same thing again? Anybody younger can test up, but you can't test down."

Middle school students compete in the junior division and seniors are ninth grade and up, generally.

And the kids did great when it came time for awards. In the rookie division awards, Selle Valley student Taylor Ailport took first place in the individual category, and Selle Valley's "Team 1" — Teagan Gann, Trent Peck, Taylor Ailport and Levi Wood — took first in the team category.

All of the classes in the rookie and the junior/senior divisions are split up into groups, so each group typically consists of students from several different schools. The novice division is an educational, non-competitive course with activities and a walk through the woods with a professional forester.

In the junior/senior division, students get serious. While the rookie division has four stations, students in the junior/senior division are required to complete tests in 10 categories of expertise.

Along with the hundreds of youth who attended the contest, Robinson said more than 200 volunteers signed up as well.

Every year since its inception, the contest has been held at the Delay Tree Farm in Careywood,  owned by brothers Gene and Ray Delay since the deaths of their parents, Ray and Fairy Delay.

Ray Delay said the contest has "evolved into a thing all of its own."

"We enjoy it very much," Ray Delay said. "Every year it seems like it gets a little bit bigger than the year before."

"And a little bit better," added Gene Delay.

The brothers said their parents were "very happy" to have the contest held on their property, providing an opportunity for youngsters to learn about forestation, forestry, forest management, and the tools they need to do it. And after 35 years, they said the contest is beginning to see a second generation of youth.

Bill Love founded the contest along with Ray and Fairy Delay.

Love said it started in 1982 with about 35 kids. Back then, it was known simply as the "Forestry Contest," but has grown into the Idaho State Forestry Contest as more and more kids sign up each year.

"We thought we were doing great with 35," Love said. "It has grown — this is the 35th anniversary and look at how many kids are here."

He said the competition is important, but he truly enjoys working with the novice groups, giving them basic instruction on forestry and trees, and in some cases, they are hearing it for the first time.

"The main thing is just seeing the kids out in the woods," he said. "Not every kid will turn out to be a forester ... there's not that many jobs in forestry ... but it gives them exposure to some basic forestry skills and things like using a map and compass, tree identification. It enhances your love for the forest."

All in all, the kids enjoyed the day, even with a thunderstorm looming in the distance and mosquitoes buzzing around the woods and participants.

"I would rather be doing this than be in class," said Dillion Plaster, a sixth-grader at Farmin-Stidwell.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.