FOR 373

F O R E S T   O P E R A T I O N S

315 Bray Hall

 

Instructor:            R.H. Germain                                                        email: rhgermai@esf.edu

Office:                  316 Bray Hall                                                        Phone: 470-6698

Office Hours:       "Open Door" policy or by appointment.

 

OBJECTIVES:

Concepts:

(1)     Introduction of the principles and practices of timber harvesting.

(2)     Introduction to and understanding of the methodologies employed in locating, constructing, and maintaining forest roads.

(3)     Appreciation for the systems approach in analyzing and evaluating forest operations.

(4)     Introduction to the assessment of the performance & operating costs of equipment used in various phases of forest operations.

(5)     Examination of the environmental impacts associated with forest operations and the approaches for mitigating these impacts.

Skills:

(1)     Ability to plan, layout, and supervise timber harvesting operations.

(2)     Ability to plan, layout, and maintain forest road systems.

(3)     Ability to determine operating costs associated with forest operations.

(4)     Ability to rationally assess the quality of timber harvesting operations.

(5)     Ability to specify techniques for limiting adverse environmental impacts associated with timber harvesting and forest road construction activities.

CLASS ATTENDANCE:

Class attendance is vital -- absences, for any reason, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for assignments, laboratories, and lecture materials covered during the absence.

If you encounter a situation beyond your control in which you will be missing three (3) or more days of class, you can contact the Office of Student Life (110 Bray, 315-470-6660, Fax: 315-470-4728) and they will contact all your instructors for you.  Supportive documentation may be required.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

If you have an identified disability and will need accommodation, you should first contact Mr. Slocum in the Office of Student Life in 110 Bray Hall.  He will discuss the ESF process and work with you to access supportive services.  If you have a learning disability, the College will require you to provide supportive documentation and will develop an approved accommodation sheet for you.  Accommodations will not be provided until the accommodation sheet is established and we meet to discuss its applicability to this course.  Accommodations will not be provided retroactively.  If you have any questions about disabilities, please contact me and/or Mr. Slocum as soon as possible.  All conversations will be confidential.

CLASSROOM LEARNING ENVIRONMENT:

To maintain the best possible environment for learning, the following standards for acceptable behavior will be followed by all students in this class:

·         Turn off all cell phones and pagers before entering the class.

·         No use of cell phones in class

·         Be on time for class and don't leave early.

·         Don't have conversations among yourselves during class that distract other students or the instructor.

·         Don't taunt or belittle other students in the class.

·         Don't use vulgarity or profanity in the class.

Students who violate these standards will be told to leave the class.

FIELD LABS:

         The lab sessions will consist of projects at Heiberg Forest as well as field trips to logging operations and manufacturing facilities. Attendance is mandatory. To maintain a safe and productive learning environment, students will need to adhere to the following guidelines:

·         Students must wear boots and long pants.

·         Hard hats are required.

·         Students must be attentative and polite to our host for the day.

·         Students should try to avoid smoking tobacco products. If you must smoke, please stay away from the group so others are not exposed to your second-hand smoke.

      Students who violate these standards will not participate in field sessions.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM:

The College does not tolerate academic dishonesty. The penalty may be a grade of zero for the assignment, or failure of the course.  If the offense is particularly grievous, the matter will be referred to Judicial Affairs.

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s ideas, work, or words as if they were your own. Plagiarism includes copying from a source without citing it, using the same words without using quotation marks (even with a citation), or improperly paraphrasing (re-wording) another's work. Always cite sources you consult.  You must attribute words, ideas, interpretations, information, and knowledge that is not your own to the appropriate author or source. 

As a student in this class, you acknowledge your responsibility for abiding by the Code of Student Conduct; and you acknowledge your understanding of academic dishonesty and the penalties for academic dishonesty, which are applicable to both individual and group assignments.

 

 

GRADING POLICY:

Grades will be based on the results of a mid-term exam, final exam, timber sale project, road project, procurement project, field trip reports, homework assignments and article reviews. All assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the date due. Late assignments will be penalized: For each hour the assignment is late, 5 points will be deducted from the final grade.

 

All exams will be comprehensive and will cover materials presented in lectures, readings, and laboratories.  Make-up exams will be given only for those students who provide a written and signed explanation of extenuating circumstances sufficient to justify their having missed the scheduled exam.

The course grade will be based on the following scale:

 

Item

Weight

Homework

10%

Field Trip Reports

10%

Road Curve Project

15%

Timber Sale Project

15%

Procurement Project

15%

Mid-term Exam

15%

Final Exam

20%

 

 

 

 

 

 


FOR 373/573 - MW 12:45 - 1:40, Lab Thursday 12:45 - 4:55

Draft Schedule 2011

 

Day

Date

Lecture #

Lab #

Topic

M

29-Aug

1

 

Intro - Harvest Planning

W

31-Aug

2

 

Intro - Harvest Systems & History

TH

1-Sep

 

1

Logging Operation – Wagner Lumber

M

5-Sep

 

 

NO CLASS-Labor Day

W

7-Sep

3

 

Harvest Systems – Forest Road Location

Reading – Wallbridge Roads

 

TH

8-Sep

 

2

Heiberg – Introduction to Road Curves

M

12-Sep

4

 

Forest Roads – Intro. Horizontal Curves

Reading -Curves

Reading - Trigonometry

 

Exercise 1

 

Exercise 2

 

Forest Road Curve Project

 

W

14-Sep

 

 

NO CLASS – National SFI Conference

TH

15-Sep

 

 

NO LAB – National SFI Conference

M

19-Sep

5

 

Forest Roads – Horizontal Curves

W

21-Sep

6

 

Forest Roads – Standards

TH

22-Sep

 

3

Heiberg – Road Curve Exercise

M

26-Sep

7

 

Forest Roads - Construction & Maintenance Forest roads – drainage BMPs

Reading – Germain Harvest area

 

W

28-Sep

8

 

BMPs – Riparian Forest Areas

TH

29-Sep

 

4

Heiberg – Road Curve Exercise

M

3-Oct

9

 

Procurement Systems

Reading – Anderson sawmills

 

W

5-Oct

10

 

Procurement Systems Two

TH

6-Oct

 

5

Mill Tour – Gutchess Lumber

M

10-Oct

11

 

Independent Contractors 

Reading – IC Doctrine

 

W

12-Oct

12

 

Hazard trees Productivity

Reading – OSHA hazard tree guidelines

Reading – VT hazard tree guidelines

Reading – Egan osha

Reading – Wright hazard tree

 

TH

13-Oct

 

6

Logging Operation – Forecon

M

17-Oct

13

 

Supply/Logyard Management

W

19-Oct

14

 

Mid-term Exam

TH

20-Oct

 

7

                            Heiberg – Road Curve Exercise    

M

24-Oct

15

 

Harvest Systems Re-visited

W

26-Oct

 

 

Cable Yarding

TH

27-Oct

 

8

Heiberg – Timber Sale 

M

31-Oct

16

 

Cable Yarding

W

2-Nov

17

 

Biomass/Chipping Supply 

TH

3-Nov

 

9

Heiberg – Timber Sale

M

7-Nov

18

 

Limbing and bucking (HVIP)  

W

9-Nov

19

 

NO CLASS – Supply Chain Symposium

TH

10-Nov

 

 

NO LAB – Supply Chain Symposium  

M

14-Nov

20

 

Productivity

W

16-Nov

21

 

Logging Costs

TH

17-Nov

 

10

Mill Tour – Harden

M

21-Nov

 

NO CLASS - Thanksgiving

W

23-Nov

 

 

NO CLASS - Thanksgiving

TH

24-Nov

 

 

NO LAB - Thanksgiving

M

28-Nov

22

 

Logging Costs

 

Machine Rate Exercise

W

30-Nov

23

 

Systems Costs

TH

1-Dec

 

11

Logging Operation

M

5-Dec

24

 

Systems Costs

W

7-Dec

25

 

Timber Sale Contracts

TH

8-Dec

 

12

Timber Sale Bid Opening     Course Wrap-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINAL EXAM    TBA