Focus on Forests workshop

June 27-29, 2018

Who Should Attend?

• High school agriculture and environmental science teachers who are preparing students for the Forestry CDE, Envirothon, or careers in natural resource management.
• Pre-service students who plan on a teaching career in agriculture or environmental science.
• Participants must be at least 18 years of age.

What to Expect

• Get an overview of Texas’ forest industry by touring managed forests, an active timber harvest operation, forest product manufacturing facilities, and a seedling nursery
• Evening sessions, taught by professional foresters, will focus on measurement skills, tree and wood identification, silvicultural operations, and forest management methods
• Receive training in Project Learning Tree’s Focus on Forests secondary module with resources for teaching about forest health, fire, invasive species, and more
• 18 hours SBEC CPE credit and 18 hours TEEAC credit

Focus on Forests is a three-day high-energy program. The workshop begins mid-morning on Wednesday and ends on Friday afternoon, with evening programs extending until 8:30 PM. While some instruction will take place indoors, we will spend much of our time outside, including on-site field trips. We will climb steep flights of stairs on our mill tours and may have to walk over rough terrain in the woods. Participants are required to attend all sessions in order to receive continuing education credit. Please be prepared for this rigorous schedule!

Our home base will be the lovely Bugscuffle Inn, near Cushing, Texas. Although it is located in a country setting, it is equipped with televisions, cell phone service, a salt-water swimming pool, and a fitness center. There is no wi-fi available at the Inn, so should you need to use the internet during the week you will have to access it through your own service provider.

Meals will be provided from Wednesday lunch through Friday lunch. Lunch is typically sandwiches, salad or pizza, but may vary depending on our donors. Dinner usually consists of a main course containing meat, vegetable sides, and/or salad. If you have special dietary needs that you feel may not be met by our menu, please feel free to bring your own food as there is ample room for you to store and prepare it.

While the registration fee is only $125.00, the actual cost of food, lodging, transportation and curriculum materials is well above that. We appreciate our many sponsors who provide funding and services that help us keep registration fees down.