Idaho forestry contest turns Farragut State Park into outdoor classroom

Farragut State Park briefly looked less like a North Idaho recreation area and more like a working forest on Thursday, as 225 fifth-through-12th-grade students moved station to station identifying bark, measuring trunks, judging tree health and reading maps in the 43rd Idaho State Forestry Contest.

The one-day competition, held in Athol and typically scheduled for the second Thursday in May, was co-sponsored by the Bonner Soil & Water Conservation District, the Idaho Department of Lands and the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation. It is designed to introduce students in grades 5 through 12 to basic forestry and resource management, but the event’s real value is more practical: it tests the same observation, memory and teamwork skills that matter in forestry, fire management, conservation and land stewardship jobs.

Students worked through soil and water quality stations, too, adding an environmental science component that goes beyond tree identification. That mix of field work and problem-solving is why the contest functions as a workforce pipeline as much as a school activity. In a region where the University of Idaho says more than 83% of Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai and Benewah counties are forested, the connection between classroom learning and local employment is hard to miss. The Idaho Forest Products Commission says more than 30,000 people work in Idaho’s forest sector.

Several North Idaho students stood out for their enthusiasm for the competition’s hands-on format, including Rathdrum homeschooler Gavin Engle and North Idaho STEM Charter Academy freshman Texas Fallquist. Both described liking the chance to identify species and feel more connected to nature, a small but important sign of how the contest can turn curiosity into career interest.

The event is free to enter, and the Bonner Soil & Water Conservation District says it awards cash prizes and University of Idaho College of Natural Resources scholarships. First-place individual prizes are $500 in the senior division and $250 in the junior division, with additional scholarships for top contestants and team members. Jennifer Russell said, “This year, we got the single largest donation we’ve ever gotten of $25,000 from the Bonner County Farm Bureau,” and about 150 volunteers helped run the stations.

Those volunteers, many of them industry professionals, keep the contest moving while also coaching and encouraging students. The Idaho Department of Lands says volunteers receive complimentary hot drinks, donuts, lunch and special promo gifts, plus the chance to work alongside colleagues from around the state.

The contest began in 1983 as a joint effort of the Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District, USDA Soil Conservation Service and the Idaho Department of Lands, first hosted on Ray and Fairy Delay’s property in Careywood. More than four decades later, it still turns a North Idaho park into a training ground for the next generation of land managers.