Hello Students!  Here are a few notes about technology for the 2025 Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz 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

Santa Cruz 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], 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. Interpret maps, including but not limited to township/range/section, ownership, distances/scale, directional headings, and topography.
  7. 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: Post Fire Forest Health Assessment in Butano State Park

  1. Understand some basic information about Butano State Park
  2. Be familiar with the CZU Lightning Complex Fire of 2020 and where it burned
  3. Know about the Butano State Park Forest Health Project, undertaken to help forests at Butano State Park recover from wildfire
  4. Be familiar with some actions taken to recover from wildfire, with focus on assessing tree damage (pages 5 and 6)
  5. Be familiar with mastication and prescribed fire (pamphlet and video) as methods to reduce fuel both before and after a wildfire

 Learning Resources