Millar Western forest harvesting education event
We had an excellent time at the Huestis Demonstration Forest last week, working – and learning – with high school students from Whitecourt, Fox Creek, Swan Hills and Edson. Millar Western, contractor KMAC and equipment supplier Brandt were conducting a two-day timber harvesting demonstration – the first such event held at the Huestis forest in more than 30 years. Some 140 students, teachers and parents came out for the demo, co-hosted by Alberta Environment & Parks, Alberta Agriculture & Forestry, Inside Education, Blue Ridge Lumber, Alberta Newsprint Company, Work Wild, Whitecourt Trailblazers, Woodlands County and Town of Whitecourt. Rotating through three stations — timber felling, skidding and processing stations – students spoke with operators, climbed into the cab for a close-up view of equipment, and learned about sustainable forest management from foresters.
The Huestis Demonstration Forest is a forest education site located 12 km northwest of Whitecourt, on Highway 32, within the Millar Western FMA area. Site development and programming is supported by a partnership of regional stakeholders. Every year, from May through October, the Huestis Demonstration Forest Partnership offers a variety of education opportunities, including curriculum-linked forest field-trips for Grade 4-12 classes. This fall’s harvesting program provided a rare opportunity to showcase logging practices at a location easily accessible to schools and the public. Next at the Huestis, we will feature our reforestation and management activities: in the years ahead, the students who took part in this week’s demo will be able to say they were there when logging was conducted, and point to the healthy forest growing up on the block they saw harvested!
