The Forestry Challenge had a busy fall season, with five events starting in late September and ending in mid-November. A total of 538 students and 113 teachers from 71 schools attended the four-day fall events, with a total of 632 attendees for the entire year.
A total of 228 individuals volunteered over 3,000 hours at the events, with 26 individuals volunteering at two or more events. The total volunteer in-kind value was $148,646. Cash donations from 36 companies, agencies, organizations, and individuals totaled $69,700. Funding from the US Forest Service and CalFire Climate Investment and Workforce Development grants rounded out the income for the year. Sponsor support is used to support expenses that are not covered in our highly structured government grants.
Johanna Call, a passionate supporter of the Challenge who has been volunteering at the Shasta event since 2011, and who single-handedly was able to engage and involve her daughter’s high school, was named Volunteer of the Year, while Wendy Hagan from Granada Hills Charter, who has brought students to multiple events of the challenge for 5 years and has been an outspoken supporter and promoter of not only our events but also forestry as a career, was given the Tom Eustis Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence.
Congratulations to the “200 Club” teams that scored over 200/250 points:
*The two teams indicated with an Asterisk(*) were competing in their second event of the season, and are counted separately, but we do want to include them on this list to acknowledge their achievement.
| Rank | Score | School | From (County) | Event |
| 1 | 222.7 | Oceanside High School Team 27 | Oceanside (San Diego) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 2 | 221.7* | Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center Team 6* | Visalia (Tulare) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 3 | 221.2* | Granada Hills Charter Team 24* | Granada Hills (Los Angeles) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 4 | 215.5 | Mira Loma High School Team 20 | Arden-Arcade (Sacramento) | El Dorado |
| 5 | 215.3 | Palisades Charter Team 11 | Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles) | San Bernardino 1 |
| 6 | 215.0 | El Dorado High School Team 11 | Placerville (El Dorado) | El Dorado |
| 7 | 214.7 | Ross School Team 22 | Ross (Marin) | Shasta |
| 8 | 214.2 | Mira Loma High School Team 21 | Arden-Arcade (Sacramento) | El Dorado |
| 9 | 214.0 | Foresthill High School Team 12 | Foresthill (Placer) | Santa Cruz |
| 10 | 213.3 | Mariposa County High School Team 20 | Mariposa (Mariposa) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 11 | 212.0 | Oxford Academy Team 9 | Cypress (Orange) | San Bernardino 1 |
| 12 | 211.0 | Granada Hills Charter Team 19 | Granada Hills (Los Angeles) | Santa Cruz |
| 13 | 210.8 | Palisades Charter Team 10 | Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles) | San Bernardino 1 |
| 14 | 210.5 | Woodside High School | Woodside (San Mateo) | Santa Cruz |
| 15 | 210.2 | Granada Hills Charter Team 25 | Granada Hills (Los Angeles) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 16 | 207.8 | Golden Sierra High School Team 10 | Garden Valley (El Dorado) | El Dorado |
| 17 | 206.2 | John F. Kennedy GL&EAM Team 1 | Granada Hills (Los Angeles) | San Bernardino 1 |
| 18 | 205.7 | Oceanside High School Team 26 | Oceanside (San Diego) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 19 | 205.3 | Mariposa County High School Team 19 | Mariposa (Mariposa) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 20 | 205.0 | Nevada Union High School Team 12 | Grass Valley (Nevada) | Shasta |
| 21 | 203.5 | Golden Sierra High School Team 11 | Garden Valley (El Dorado) | El Dorado |
| 22 | 203.2 | Adolfo Camarillo High School Team 1 | Camarillo (Ventura) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 23 | 203.2 | John W. North High School Team 13 | Riverside (Riverside) | San Bernardino 2 |
| 24 | 202.0 | Benicia High School Team 2 | Benicia (Solano) | Santa Cruz |
| 25 | 200.5 | Adolfo Camarillo High School Team 2 | Camarillo (Ventura) | San Bernardino 2 |
The 32 top scoring teams have been invited to the 2023-2024 Forestry Challenge Championship, to be held at Camp Sylvester in Tuolumne County in April 2024. Additional teams will be invited in scoring order as space allows.
Photos from all events can be found on our Flickr account.