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Student Highlights
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Internships
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Student Profiles
Did you know Green River offers on-site housing?
Easy access to college resources (such as the Holman Library) and school forest;
The ability to be part of university-style housing in a community college environment.
Fully furnished apartments with private bedrooms and communal kitchens;
Living with students from around the world. The residents at Campus Corner Apartments are a blend of U.S. and international students.
Natural Resources students can live in one unit. Contact Instructor Dick Hopkins at dhopkins@greenriver.edu for details.
Is Summer School for you?
Instructor Rob Sjogren invites you on a learning adventure of a lifetime in the Outdoor Classroom. From beach sands to 7,600 ft. high wilderness ...come backpacking with us to explore America's choices in outdoor recreation. Compare the opportunities of both private and public land ownership. Along the way, study our native Washington trees and flowers, learn plant identification skills, and discover the three different ecosystems of the Northwest.
3 CLASSES: 20 days of BACKPACKING
Tree & Shrub ID - 5 credits - NATRS 183
Shrub & Wildflower ID- 5 credits - NATRS 184
Wildland Recreation - 4 credits - NATRS 197
Total costs: Tuition + $160.00 for meals and expenses, includes the $50.00 non-refundable deposit.
We have room for 13 students - FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED
WE WILL VISIT:
Pasayten Wilderness Area
High Elevation Lakes
Colville National Forest
North Cascade Park
For information, contact: Rob Sjogren at (253) 833-9111, ext. 4582 or by e-mail: rsjogren@greenriver.edu
There’s a new program in town, and it’s bringing with it some incredible people, people with the core values of Loyalty, Honor, Integrity and Respect. Professionals will want to look closely at this program for two really good reasons. First, because they volunteer for work! And second because many of these people are soon to be available for hire.
It’s called the Veterans Conservation Corps and it’s the result of a conversation between two men, Washington State Senator Ken Jacobsen and Tom Schumacher of the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, from that fortunate meeting legislation was passed and the Veterans Conservation Corps was created. The purpose of the Veterans Conservation Corps is to assist veterans by providing volunteer opportunities on projects that help restore Washington’s rivers, streams, lakes, marine waters and open lands. How does that help veterans? It helps in three ways: for starters there are the rehabilitation benefits to be gained from doing conservation work. Then there is networking with prospective employers like private consulting companies, city, county, and federal agencies. And finally it provides educational opportunities leading toward a degree in Natural Resources, Water Quality, or GIS. - Read More.
Michael Farnum (pictured above) originally from Honolulu Hawaii and recently retired from the US Army is working toward a BS in Natural Resources/GIS at Green River Community College. Michael’s career goals are to work in research and analysis with GIS in forestry or wildlife management. Michael is a team leader with the Veterans Conservation Corps, the Green River Society of American Foresters Student - Chapter Treasurer, and the GIS Alliance Treasurer. His military career fostered a passion for the outdoors. The VCC and GRCC are providing the tools needed to start a second career which will allow him work in the best office ever made, our forests.
Society of American Foresters Student Chapter:
The GRCC SAF Student Chapter website placed second in the national SAF competition.SAF Officers:
Adrian Patterson - Chair
Lacey O'Grady - Chair-elect
Michael Farnum - Treasurer
Betty Burton - SecretaryGRCC's award-winning Student Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) tied for third place in 2005 and first place in 2006, and won first place in 2007. The goals of the GRCC Student Chapter of the Society of American Foresters are education, knowledge, experience, and fun. During winter quarter, members attended the Washington-Oregon Leadership Conference and the Oregon Logging Conference. In October of 2006, five students and co-advisor Rob Sjogren attended the SAF national convention in Pittsburgh. In 2007, the Student Chapter co-hosted the student activities of the SAF national convention in Portland with Oregon State University. Attending many area and state meetings provides the students with a unique opportunity to meet natural resource professionals and network with potential employers. The Chapter hosts meetings for other chapters each year, which brings professionals to view and discuss what the students are doing and learning.
The GRCC Student Chapter is the custodian of the Washington State Society’s “Wildfire in Washington” display that you may have seen at the Western Washington Fair (Puyallup). The GRCC Student Chapter was also awarded the Washington State SAF Chapter of the Year for 2007.
Forestry Club Officers:
Sven Soholt - Chair
Brandon Larsen - Vice Chair
Andrew Mowry - Secretary
Doug Hunter - Treasurer
Dakota Vogel - Past Chair
Forestry Club wins GRCC Club of the Year Award for 2005-06!
Forestry Club cut, sold and delivered firewood at $200/cord. The funds were used for sponsoring a first aid/CPR class, a trip to the Oregon Logging Conference, and a trip to the SAF National Convention in Reno and Orlando. The Club conducts social activities and meetings at school and at the Pat Cummins Managed Forest.
Members commemorated Earth Day and Arbor Day with a display in the Lindbloom Center and sold Douglas-fir seedlings. Additional seedlings were planted on campus. The crewcab with a 400-gallon slip-on fire tank was entered in the Buckley Logging Parade, Morton Loggers Jubilee Parade, and the Hoquiam Loggers Playday Parade. Students walked alongside the truck, handing out candy to the little kids, and Natural Resources brochures to the older “kids.” We placed first again in Logging Support category at Hoquiam!
Goals of Forestry Club are service and fun. Members earn money by cutting, splitting, and delivering firewood at $200/cord for seasoned Douglas-fir. With these funds the Forestry Club is able to offer first aid classes, host student walkabouts, purchase hats, sweatshirts, and jackets with personalized logos, and have also used funds to help families in need. In April, Arbor Day and Earth Week seedling sales also raised money for Forestry Club events and activities.
Internships
Natural Resources Internship (NATRS 294) is your last spring quarter and a 14-credit course. Students must obtain and work in paid positions for the quarter or longer. Some even end up in permanent positions. Employers include federal, state, county, and municipal agencies, private industry, associations, and consulting companies. Students have completed internships in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, and Wyoming.
The Advisory Committee is made up primarily of alumni of the Forestry/Natural Resources programs at Green River. They provide guidance, direction, and suggestions regarding curriculum, facilities, equipment, instruction, and student employment.
Serving 2009/10:
- Chair Heath Yeats, Ranger, Lake Sammamish State Park
- Jeremy Anunson: Owner, Gamble Bay Timber & Construction
- Bob Arnold: Owner, Rapjohn Wood Company
- Pat Cummins: Faculty Emeritus, GRCC Forestry Technology
- Mike Glass: Forester, Olympic Resource Management
- Spring Johnson, Class of 2000
- Brian Karnes: Forester, T.L. Fitzer Company
- Kristi McClelland:Forester, King County Dept. of Natural Resources
Phellinus weirii (laminated root rot) Research
Each year’s Silviculture class members are responsible for a research plot investigating a natural fungus found in the tree roots: laminated root rot, or Phellinus weirii. The Natural Resources program at GRCC is the primary investigator with the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources pathologists in a 10-year study researching the susceptibility of Douglas-fir to laminated root rot (Phellinus weirii). This fungus kills Douglas-fir by weakening the root systems so that the tree cannot take up water and eventually often blows down. Students have completed the sixth-year measurements of the Phellinus weirii plots in the school forest. There have been some Douglas-fir seedlings killed by laminated root rot, but not enough data has been accumulated at this time to do any analysis.Salvage Harvest:
The class of 2008 completed a two-acre harvest of hardwoods at the Pat Cummins Managed Forest and salvaged downed trees from the December 2006 windstorm. The objectives of the harvest were to provide hands-on educational knowledge and experience to the students, to harvest an aging red alder stand, to reforest with red alder seedlings, and to generate revenue for the program. The students had worked on planning and layout for the past year, traversing the boundaries, setting riparian management zones, and calculating acreage last spring in the Navigation & Mapping class. They learned how to write a Forest Practice Application, planned the harvest, monitored the logging, inventoried the logs, and studied log markets in Sampling & Appraisal class.
Gamble Bay Timber:
Gamble Bay Timber & Construction was the successful bidder for logging. The president of the company is a 2000 graduate of the Natural Resources program at GRCC. Each student was provided the opportunity to fall a big tree, operate the shovel, and operate the tracked skidder. This was hands-on-learning from start to finish!
Jeremy Anunson
Lincoln Tree Farm:
GRCC and Tacoma Public Schools entered an agreement in which the Natural Resources students will inventory, prescribe management plans, conduct stand management, write a wildlife habitat plan, a recreational plan, and an educational plan for the Lincoln Tree Farm, located on the Mountain Highway between Spanaway and Eatonville. On the first reconnaissance, the class encountered a herd of eight elk.
Tess Pinkney - SAF student member
"As a child my family took me camping every summer. And every summer there was a new national park or national forest or state park to visit. I was ten years old the first time I wandered through the great redwood forests of California, feeling utterly dwarfed by the majestic giants and struck by the quiet whispers of the wind. It was this feeling that first led me towards the idea that the National Park Service would be right for me. My first quarter in the Natural Resource Department at GRCC was a tumultuous and hectic period trying to find where I belonged in the program. I had joined the program with an interest in the Park Management degree prompted by my early childhood dreams and found a much deeper thirst for knowledge for all that forestry had to offer. Because of this, I am also aiming for a degree in Natural Resources and Wildland Fire, finding myself drawn to the intricacies of fire behavior and forest management."
Lacey O'Grady - Chair for Student Chapter of SAF
"I am proud to be a part of the Natural Resources program at Green River Community College. At the start of my schooling at GRCC I was unsure which direction I would take as my career path, that is until I had my first intro class in the Natural Resources program. The instructors are amazing! They assist the students not only with course material, but also guide us into the field with work skills. The students are so friendly and all work as a team. I feel a sense of community, friendship, and family by being a part of this program."
