WELD – Forestry students from Foster Vocational Center spent Monday morning working on a community project at Webb Lake Beach Campground.

The 14 students felled and cut up dead and hazardous trees at campsites prior to the start of the camping season this Memorial Day weekend.

Bruce Farnham, park director, had invited the class to help with the spring clean up. Winter storms, he said, had left some of firs and other trees damaged or showing rot.

The students used the knowledge from their forestry class, team-taught by Dean Merrill and Ron Hodgdon, to quickly make quite a start on their work.

“I love it. The smell, the beauty, being outdoors,” said Kyle Gammon of Chesterville. “There’s some academics but it’s a hands-on class.”

For Gammon, a junior, it’s a craft he enjoys but doesn’t plan to pursue. “There’s no money in it,” he said. “My father, grandfather and uncle have all worked in the woods but the bigger operations just take over the smaller ones.”

Deftly wielding his chain saw on a large tree he had just brought down, senior Shane Morse of North Jay quickly agreed that the forestry course was “awesome. It’s the best thing in school,” he said. Morse has been working in the woods and will be running a skidder this summer. He plans to go on and work with his uncle, he said.

The 14 students working Monday included two girls, all juniors and seniors, Merrill said. The year-long course gives students a well-rounded and practical approach to forestry. Approximately one-third of the students continue in the wood industry after high school.

Their earlier work this school year included clearing trees for new tennis courts at Mt. Blue High School, cutting up firewood for people and working at Austin Tree Farm near the high school.

Classes also include guest speakers and visits to various operations.

“They’ve experienced different techniques by visiting Russell Flagg at The Forks, who features mechanical operations, and Darryl Hall, a local conventional logger. They’ve also visited the Sugar Shack at Maple Valley Farm and Wood Idea, a sawmill in Mercer,” Hodgdon said.

With a large bonfire for some of the wood debris, Farnham said they planned to treat the students to a lunch of hot dogs in appreciation for their work.