37th Annual Family Forestry Expo is May 9

The Family Forestry Expo is an annual, weeklong event that offers hands-on exploration of the role forests play in our everyday lives. This year, the Family Forestry Expo is scheduled May 4 -9 with the theme, “Forests - Landscapes of Many Uses.”
Over 1,300 local fifth grade students from 29 schools, from Eureka and Charlo, across the Flathead Valley, will visit the Expo to learn about natural resource topics. The students visit stations that provide educational presentations about fisheries, aquatic/riparian systems, archaeology, wildlife, fire, backcountry ethics, plant identification and forest management. The program is curriculum-based and the field stations complement the students’ classroom study.
Sixteen classes will tour either the F. H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company mill or the Weyerhaeuser mill. The remaining classes will have the opportunity to take part in a portable sawmill demonstration and visit stations representing lumber manufacturing and forest products.
On Saturday May 9, families are invited to expo activities from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Trumbull Creek Educational Forest, located about two miles north of the junction of U.S. Highway 2 and Montana Highway 40, just west of Columbia Falls.
The Saturday family-oriented event features a short forest walk with educational stations and demonstrations along the way. Each station provides information and hands-on activities that allow participants to learn about the many uses of our forests, private and public. Various exhibits will also be on display featuring local organizations, businesses and agencies that care for natural resources.
From 10:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m., there will be grandstand demonstrations of logging equipment, Forest Service Spotted Bear Ranger District mule pack string, and logging sports by the Flathead Valley Community College Logger Sports Team.
A free logging camp lunch, compliments of Family Forestry Expo is available from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
For more information visit familyforestryexpo.org and facebook.com/familyforestryexpo.