Eleven students from Palisades Charter High School participated recently in the 2021 San Bernardino Forestry Challenge, one group of a total of 64 high school students from 10 schools from the Southern California area.
The event was November 10 to 13 at Hume SoCal near Green Valley Lake, California. Palisades teams placed first, second, and fifth overall with scores of 203.0, 201.8, and 194.0 respectively out of a possible 250 points.
One of the highlights for the students this year was the opportunity to conduct a forest inventory of the 21.5-acre Camp Hinckley in Running Springs.
Students proposed a reforestation plan in the wake of the Slide Fire of 2007 that includes fuel treatment and tree planting and identified funding sources to cover the anticipated cost of the project. During the Challenge, teams of students also completed a field test to assess their technical forestry knowledge and data collecting skills.
“This was a wonderful and challenging experience for the kids,” said Palisades Charter High School teacher Steve Engelmann. Andrew Wu, a senior at Palisades Charter High School, summed it up as follows: “A unique and eye-opening experience that changed how I view the forest.”
