Forestry fest offers old-time logging competition

Submitted by Nancy Tarnai
Phone: 907-474-5042
09/23/08

Lumberjack types will compete in ax throwing, log rolling on land and on water, bowsaw and crosscut sawing, fire building and more at the 11th annual Farthest North Forest Sports Festival Saturday, Oct. 4 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Participants are welcome to join the event as individuals or as teams of four to six. Observers are also invited to this free event. Awards will be granted to individuals, teams and the "Bull of the Woods" and "Belle of the Woods."

The competition was started by faculty members and students at UAF’s Department of Forest Sciences as a way to commemorate old-fashioned forest festivals. While today’s professional foresters and natural resource managers use high-technology tools, the festival pays tribute to simpler times when traditional woods activities were the basis for work and play, survival and revival.

The morning events begin at 10 a.m. on the UAF campus at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm field across from the Georgeson Botanical Garden, and at 1 p.m. the games move to Ballaine Lake on Farmers Loop Road. A warming fire and hot drinks will be available at the lake. Participants are advised to dress warmly.

The festival is sponsored by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, the Department of Forest Sciences and the Resource Management Society.

CONTACT: John Fox at 907-474-7084 or john.fox@uaf.edu.