Hello Students!  Here are a few notes about technology for the 2025 El Dorado Forestry Challenge.

  • Every team will be provided one loaner laptop. If you bring your own, more than one laptop per team is allowed, but not necessary.
  • Ourlaptops have:
    • 2 USB-A port
    • 1 USB-C port
    • 1 HDMI port
    • 1 SD Card reader
    • Powerpoint, Excel, Word, and a Chromium based browser.
  • If you bring your own computer to use, make sure that it has at least 1 USB-A (the rectangular one) port.
  • You will receive a flash drive with focus topic related materials to use in your presentation.  You can also bring any background information about the focus topic that you think will help you in your presentation.

If you have any questions about technology at the El Dorado Forestry Challenge, please email Diane.  Thanks!

Download or print the Forestry Challenge Instruction Manual & Study Guide to use in conjunction with the following learning objectives

El Dorado Forestry Challenge Learning Objectives

Ecology, Botany, and Plant Identification

  1. Understand the fundamental life processes of plants including photosynthesis and transpiration.
  2. Know the basic parts of a tree and their functions.
  3. Understand basic ecological concepts including food webs, succession, competition, adaptation, and symbiosis.
  4. Understand concepts associated with forests, including stand composition, stand density, and crown classification.
  5. Be familiar with the four most common forest plant communities in California, and know their approximate ranges.
  6. Identify with common names the following tree species without a key, and know their approximate ranges in California:
  7. Identify specific species of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants through the use of a dichotomous identification key.  Be familiar with basic terminology related to leaf morphology.

Timber Cruising and Forest Products

  1. Know how to prepare for conducting forestry fieldwork, including clothing, safety gear, and environmental hazards.
  2. Be familiar with the process of Data Collection.
  3. Know how to pace a chain.
  4. Know how to use the following forestry tools: Biltmore Stick (diameter and height), clinometer,  diameter tape, angle gauge [angle gauge 2], densitometer, and increment borer. For information on purchasing your own set of tools, see our recommended tools list. All of these tools can be purchased from Forestry Suppliers, Inc.
  5. Interpret volume tables and site class tables using raw data.
  6. Determine forest species composition using a 1/10 acre square plot.
  7. Interpret maps, including but not limited to township/range/section, ownership, distances/scale, directional headings, and topography.
  8. Understand why and how forests are managed to produce timber, and what products are derived from timber.

2025 Featured Curriculum: Spotted Owls and Barred Owls

Watch these two videos, Is Killing Barred Owls the Answer, and Controversial Plan to Kill Thousands of Barred Owls, and be familiar with the following:
  1. The historical range of both species
  2. The listing of the spotted owl in the early 1990s
  3. The relative size and behavioral differences of the two species, including food sources
  4. Details of the proposal to reduce the barred owl population and reasons some oppose the plan

2025 Focus Topic: Fuelbreak Establishment after the Caldor Fire

  1. Be familiar with the Caldor Fire of 2021 and its impact on the Grizzly Flats community.
  2. Know the location and purpose of the Grizzly Flat Community Fuel Break (GFFB) project. (pages 1 and 2)
  3. Understand the establishment of plantations to create shaded fuelbreaks and their proximity to Leoni Meadows.
  4. Be familiar with the GFFB project actions with emphasis on reforestation. (pages 6, 7, and the top of 8)
  5. Understand the silvicultural prescription for the GFFB, with emphasis on the Planting part of Reforestation.

Additional General Resources