Portable sawmilling was just one of the classes offered at the Klamath Tree School this spring.

via OFRI: Tree School draws big crowds

The always popular Tree School mini-colleges were expanded to a fourth Oregon location this spring and saw record crowds.

Flint-knapping to small-scale sawmilling. Boundary lines to property rights. Woodland road construction to Silviculture 101. Growing aspen to managing noxious weeds. Biomass energy to ecosystem services.

Whether folks were new to family forestry, old hands or just kids, Tree School 2010 had something for everyone. Highly skilled members of Oregon's forest sector taught dozens of fascinating and valuable classes.

Small woodland owners, Christmas tree growers, loggers, professional foresters, arborists and the general public were enthusiastic learners. Enticing descriptions presented almost boundless options for hard-to-find information.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the March, April and May Tree Schools set record attendances. The program was back by popular demand in Oregon City, Baker City and Roseburg. For the first time ever, the mini-college expanded to Klamath Falls. Nearly 1,000 people attended the four events.

With courses lasting 1.5 to 3.5 hours, participants could engage in as many as four classes during each daylong event. The mix of new and repeat classes was designed to teach basic skills, refresh knowledge and stimulate new thinking.

Most of the schools offered more than two dozen classes and field trips, as well as exhibits, demonstrations and refreshments. Some, like "Forest Diseases in the Klamath Region" were designed specifically for one Tree School location.

Among the instructors were OFRI's Norie Dimeo-Ediger, Mike Cloughesy and Peter Matzka.