Chainsaw Repair

 Auburn Southern Forestry Conclave, STIHL qualifer coming to Auburn, AL

Posted: Thursday, March 14, 2013 7:19 pm | Updated: 8:21 pm, Thu Mar 14, 2013.

Kristen Oliver | Opelika-Auburn News

Auburn University’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences is hosting students from 14 regional schools for the 56th Annual Southern Forestry Conclave all day Friday and Saturday at Ag Heritage Park.

Auburn last hosted the event in 2001, according to Tom Gallagher from the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Gallagher said the 14 competing schools generally rotate the job of hosting.

“There’s various forestry events, some technical and some physical,” Gallagher said. “It’s a big endeavor.”

Gallagher said 270 students from the 14 school clubs will compete. He said some of the clubs are smaller, with as few as nine students, while others are larger, like Auburn’s group of 30.

Gallagher said they have done a lot of work to prepare for the competition, which includes events in archery, log rolling, pole climbing, crosscut saw and more.

“We’re happy to host and take our turn,” Gallagher said. “We want to put on a show that students are going to remember.”

The competition has been going on for 56 years, and Gallagher said the technology of the events has developed and improved over that time. He said forestry competitions date back hundreds of years to contests held in logging camps.

Gallagher said the students in this field are primarily heading into forestry careers, which often means working in sustainability research or for private landowners, among other possibilities.

In conjunction with the Southern Forestry Conclave Friday is the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Southern Qualifier and Professional Series regional qualifying event.

“One student from each college competes, and then they bring in the pros,” Gallagher said. “The pros compete against the pros and the students against the students.”

In the collegiate competition, the 14 students from each school will compete in events based on traditional logging skills, such as wood chopping and sawing, with the winner earning a $1,000 scholarship and a spot in the championship in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., in June.

The STIHL event begins at 6 p.m. at the Cowboy Church of Lee County Covered Rodeo Arena at 7600 U.S. Highway 280. Admission for the STIHL event is $5 per person, and admission is free for the Southern Forestry Conclave events.

Participating schools include Auburn, Alabama A&M, Clemson, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas-Monticello, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

The Outdoor Channel will televise the STIHL collegiate qualifier April 7 at 2 p.m., April 4 at 7 a.m. and April 5 at 1 a.m. The professional qualifier will air April 14 at 2 p.m., April 10 at 7 a.m. and April 12 at 1 a.m.

For more information about the conclave, visit http://wp.auburn.edu/conclave. For information about STIHL TIMBERSPORTS, visit www.facebook.com/STIHLTIMBERSPORTS.