Week four in Finland felt a little less busy than our
previous weeks. Not to say it was boring at all, it was simply relaxed and more
localized in comparison to the activities requiring more travel since our
arrival.
We started out the week by getting acquainted with our
forest management stands for our Silviculture class. These personally assigned plots are be the
basis for our final report, which examines the stand history, current
situation, site health, collected data and risk analysis to substantiate our
chosen future sulvicultural treatments.
Basically, a forest management plan structured around the knowledge we
have built about Finnish forestry in combination with our unique stand
characteristics.
Juha drove us out to a nearby forest where we hiked around
each of our plots to discuss past treatment operations in the area, species
composition, review of measurement techniques and ask any questions we might
have. This was a valuable learning
experience to see stand I would be reporting on but also how it contrasts to
the other students’ sites. The untrained
eye might not notice how tree species, age and management practices change
across the landscape but it is very clear to see how foresters have purposefully
transformed the composition across our plots. Some things I missed from Cal
Poly while we were hiking around were the GPS trackers and compasses we are
trained to use when identifying points to return to for future study. Out here we only had our conscious memory and
each other to rely on for tracking, but I realize now that these are skills
just as valuable out in the woods as well as in the city.
The rest of the week was an educational assortment of
Finnish language, livestock feed and heat regimens, agriculture machinery and
school farm experience. My favorite part
had to be the various tractor-driving activities. I never thought I would have to maneuver a
tractor backwards with a trailer attached and it was not pretty in the
beginning. After some guidance, practice
and many wrong turns I started to get the hang of it. Our machinery teacher Juhani also taught us
to take a front loader on and off the tractor, which required some strategic
joystick controlling and directions from a helpful friend on the ground who can
see things you can’t in the drivers seat.
During our farm work we moved hay bales much more efficiently than we
did last week. It feels good to be
comfortable driving these powerful machines in all directions for a variety of
tasks! The exchange students were discussing how the learning process here is
much faster and involves infinitely less red tape than Cal Poly’s tractor
driving class. We didn’t have to sign
our lives away or listen to hours of lectures about what knobs, pedals, wheels,
or levers are in the machines we would be operating; we were personally shown
the controls then we drove! This is a very different system than we are used to
at home and you often feel awkward not knowing exactly what to do but the
teacher is right next to you, helping calmly and very patiently, understanding
when you make mistakes and advising how to do it differently next time. I feel very lucky to enjoy such an
extraordinary learning experience and truly feel like my practical knowledge
has grown exponentially because of it.
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Taking basal area measurements |
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Measuring stem diameter at breast height |
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Root rot on a spruce tree |
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Counting tree rings to determine age |
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Drainage trench |
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George helping us understand how a combustion engine works |
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DC and AC converters |
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Learning the difference between agriculture and forestry machine tires |
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Maneuvering backwards with a trailer |
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Putting on the front loader |
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Learning about 'vihtoa'; the traditional Finnish practice of hitting yourself with birch branches while taking a sauna |
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