Early deadline nears for Women in Ag Conference

Nov. 5 is the early registration deadline for the Women in Agriculture Conference.

Alaska's women farmers will join other farmers from Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington Nov. 18 for the sixth annual videoconference event. It will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 40 locations, including sites at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, in Palmer and in Delta Junction.

"We can do it!" is the theme. Washington State University, which is coordinating the conference, says it is for women farmers and anyone who works with women farmers. Agriculture students and FFA and 4-H members are also invited. Organizers describe it as an "engaging, interactive day full of inspiration, learning and networking with other women farmers."

Guest speakers will include Alexis Taylor, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and Anne Schwartz, the owner of Blue Heron Farm in western Washington. Speakers will challenge participants to strengthen their leadership skills, become leaders in their communities, get more involved with longtime farmers and mentor new farmers. Each location will have a panel of local women farmers who will talk about the challenges they have faced and how they have used a mentor to develop skills.

The School of Natural Resources and Extension will host the event in Room 107 of the Murie Building on campus and, in conjunction with Alaska Farmland Trust, at the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center in Palmer. The Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District will host the event at the Delta Career Advancement Center in Delta Junction. Site coordinators are Meriam Karlsson at UAF, Susanna Pearlstein and Amy Pettit in Palmer and Bryce Wrigley in Delta Junction.

Early registration by Nov. 5 is $25 or $30 after that date. Agriculture students, farm interns, and FFA and 4-H youth members may register for $20. The registration fee includes a light breakfast, lunch and conference materials. See more details and online registration at www.WomenInAg.wsu.edu.

For more information about the UAF site, contact Meriam Karlsson at 907-474-7005 or mgkarlsson@alaska.edu; Susanna Pearlstein at the Matanuska Experiment Farm at 907-746-9466 or spearlstein@alaska.edu; or Bryce Wrigley in Delta Junction at 907-895-6279 or Bryce.wrigley@salchadeltaswcd.org.

Harvest Wrap-up set for Nov. 1 in Delta Junction

The annual Harvest Wrap-up meeting will take place Nov. 1 in Delta Junction.

Buckley Hollembaek is shown here in 2014 on the family farm in Delta
Junction. Edwin Remsberg photo

The gathering provides an opportunity for agricultural producers to hear about current research, share observations about the past season and help identify research needs. The UAF Cooperative Extension Service will host the meeting, which will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Delta Career Advancement Center.

Researchers from the School of Natural Resources and Extension and the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District will talk about research relating to weeds and herbicides, bromegrass hay fertilizer trials, a lime study and grain variety trials. They'll also provide information about the noxious weed program.

Speakers will include Phil Kaspari, the Extension agriculture agent in Delta Junction; Meghan Lene and Vanessa Heath of the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District; and Mingchu Zhang, Robert Van Veldhuizen and Stephen Harvey of SNRE. Harvey is a graduate student and will present on small grains.

Arthur Keyes, director of the Alaska Division of Agriculture, will also participate. Two federal officials, Lloyd Wilhelm of the Farm Service Agency and Mike Stephens of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, will provide program updates. For more information, contact the  Extension office in Delta Junction at 907-895-4215.

Alaska Invasive Species Workshop hosted in Anchorage

The invasive aquatic plant, elodea, is shown in Badger Slough in this 2010
photo. Photo by Tricia Wurtz, U.S. Forest Service

The Alaska Invasive Species Workshop, Oct. 24-26 in Anchorage, will highlight the economic and environmental risks associated with invasive species.

Tobias Schwörer, a public policy researcher from the Institute of Social and Economic Research, will kick off the annual workshop with a free public presentation on that topic at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Anchorage Museum auditorium. The lecture will focus on the risks associated with the hardy invasive aquatic plant, elodea.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the Alaska Committee For Noxious and Invasive Pest Management will host the workshop at the Anchorage Marriott Downtown.

Workshop coordinator Gino Graziano said concern about elodea keeps coming up because of new infestations in the lakes and slow-moving waters of Interior and Southcentral Alaska. Elodea can form tangled masses that foul floatplane rudders, degrade fish habitat and make boat travel difficult.

“Floatplane operators raised the alarm on Lake Hood,” Graziano said.

Herbicide treatments have been effective in Lake Hood and other lakes, but eradicating elodea in slow-moving waters provides a greater challenge, he said. This past summer Potter Marsh and Chena Slough were treated. Graziano said the plant, which is thought to have come from aquariums or science kits, spreads easily.

The invasive species workshop brings together land managers and others involved in management, research and education efforts. Other topics will include regulations and legislation; research relating to northern pike and bird vetch; invasive slugs in the Chugach National Forest; pesticide control projects; and efforts to monitor and report invasive species.

Agenda and registration information are available at www.alaskainvasives.org. For more information, contact Graziano at 907-786-6315 or gagraziano@alaska.edu.

Forest Sports Festival draws spirited competitors

Jamie Hollingsworth looks on as competitors work the double buck saw.

The 20th annual Farthest North Forest Sports Festival got underway on a crisp Saturday morning in the fields across from the Georgeson Botanical Garden.

Fueled by doughnuts and coffee, competitors yelled encouragement to their teammates as they attempted forest feats for the first time —or sought to improve their past performances in events ranging from axe throwing to log rolling and crosscut sawing.

Eric and Stephen Nelson pose with Dave Valentine and Alice Orlich. Eric Nelson
and Orlich hold their awards as the reigning Bull and Belle of the Woods.

“You got this,” a competitor cheered on his teammates, who were trying to use a peavey, a tool with a hook, to maneuver a large log between two points successfully. Clearly, it wasn’t easy.

Forest Fest volunteer Jamie Hollingsworth explained the strategy for the double buck saw competition, which requires pulling a crosscut saw with a partner in a coordinated way. “You’re just rocking your body,” he advised a couple of competitors trying it for the first time.

Forest Fest participants included natural resources management and other UAF students and staff and members of the public trying out old-time logging sports. A smaller number participated this year, but the atmosphere remained competitive all the same. Innovations included a new birling “log,” a colorful orange and yellow plastic version borrowed by Patty Gym.

Katelyn Bushnell, a junior economics major from UAF, competed in several logging events for the first time, including birling, which involves trying to stay afloat on a log in chilly Ballaine Lake.

“I thought this would be a fun thing to do,” she said. She was looking forward to relaxing and not doing homework for a change.

Bobbi Jensen, a UAF academic advisor, participated in her second forest fest as a member of the Logger Logger team. She and Wendy Hawkins won first-place in the women’s double bucksaw event. Her favorite event involves axes, however.

Birling competitors try out the new log at Ballaine Lake.
Holding the ends of the log are Jamie
Hollingsworth and Steve Sparrow.

“I like throwing the axes,” she said. “I want to beat Victoria,” she added, joking. Victoria is Victoria Smith, a co-worker and former Belle of the Woods who ran the HooDoo half marathon this year instead of competing.

Those competing in the fire-building competition near Ballaine Lake used one log round, one axe and three matches to start a fire and bring water in a can to boil. A few drops of detergent meant the boiling water bubbled over the top of the can. This year’s winners brought their water to a boil in 11 minutes, 46 seconds.

Eric Nelson, the husband of natural resources management student Cynthia Nelson, earned the title of Bull of the Woods and NRM graduate student Alice Orlich was named Belle of the Woods for the fourth time. Nelson is a Department of Transportation camp foreman in Nenana and Orlich is finishing a master’s degree this semester.

Volunteers helping out at the event included members of the student Resource Management Society, current and retired faculty and staff of SNRE and of the Bonana Creek Long-Term Ecological Research program.

And the winners are ….

Belle of the Woods (overall female winner): Alice Orlich

Bull of the Woods (overall male winner): Eric Nelson

Team winners
First: Stihl, with members Gabriel Smith, Dawson Foster, Cy Conrad, John Shank, Coleman Smith and Ana Rodriguez
Second: Logger Logger
Third: Rifle Plus Few  

Axe throw (female): Alice Orlich

Birling (female): Alice Orlich

Birling (male): Gabriel Smith

Birling overall: Gabriel Smith

Cy Conrad fans the flames of the fire he started with his teammate, Dan.

Bow saw (female): Wendy Hawkins

Bow saw (male): Dawson Foster

Double buck saw (female): Wendy Hawkins and Bobbi Jensen

Double buck saw (male): Gabriel Smith and Dawson Foster

Double buck saw (Jack & Jill): Brooks Lawler and Cy Conrad

Fire building: Cy Conrad and Dan

Pulp toss (four-person team): Stihl

Log rolling (male): John Shank and Coleman Smith

Log rolling (female): Faith Stemmler and Danielle Siegert

Log rolling (Jack and Jill): Jason Theis and Bobbi Jensen

Axe throw (male): Eric Nelson

20th annual Forest Sports Festival set for Oct. 7

Competitors struggle to keep their balance during the 2016  birling
competition at Ballaine Lake as Mingchu Zhang looks on.

Aspiring lumberjacks and adventurous spirits may test their skills Saturday, Oct. 7,  during the 20th annual Farthest North Forest Sports Festival at UAF.

Jason Buist, left, and Pete Buist try to rev up their fire during
the 2016 fire-building competition. The longtime contenders
compete part of the "Old Growth" team.

Students and community members 18 and older are invited to try their hand at old-time forest sports such as ax throwing, log rolling, bow saw and crosscut sawing, campfire building, and birling, which involves staying upright on a floating log. No previous experience is necessary,  just a sense of humor. People may compete as individuals or as teams of four to six. At the end of the day, awards will go to the top team and to the top individual contenders — the belle and bull of the woods.

The competition begins at 10 a.m. at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm fields, across from the Georgeson Botanical Garden. At 1 p.m., the games move to Ballaine Lake. A warming fire and hot drinks will be available at the lake. Participants are advised to dress warmly. If competing in the birling, a towel and change of clothes are recommended.

The free event is hosted by the School of Natural Resources and Extension and the student Resource Management Society. The competition was developed in 1998 as a way to commemorate old-fashioned logging sports, raise awareness of the natural resources management programs at UAF and have fun. For more information, contact David Valentine at dvalentine@alaska.edu or 907-474-7614.