Page 7 - Christmas Tab 2017 e-edition

December 6 & 7, 2017 Christmas 2016 7 RC forestry students cut Reedley’s Christmas tree
Students harvest, transport landmark from Camp Edison near Shaver Lake
Students
and sta
with Reedley College’s forestry program prepared to
cut down the city’s Christmas tree Nov. 21
on Southern California Edison land at Camp Edison near Shaver Lake.
Photo contributed
Nov. 21. By early afternoon, the 30- to 35-foot r tree had been cut and driven back to Reedley. Once there, city workers teamed to trim branches and lift the tree into place at its season location, the center of the intersection of G and 11th streets.
“We use a crane, and we strap the tree to the crane before we cut it,” Long said.
“When we do cut it, it’s not falling over and becoming damaged. We can set it down gently and then load it on to the atbed.”
Long and Kent Kinney, longtime department instructor and manager, accompanied the college’s 25-student forest recreation class to Camp Edison for the cutting. Long said students have the opportunity for hands-on experience cutting and climbing trees as well as observing the process.
“ e students that we draw to our programs just love to be outside in general,” he said. “In the class, they learn how to manage the impacts of being outdoors. A lot of them will gain chainsaw experience from either the chainsaw class, or they end up on a re crew.”
Long said that Southern California Edison does a good job of managing the grove of trees at Camp Edison, but even they have trouble dealing with the bark beetle infestation that has killed and damaged thousands of trees in California and the west.
“Over the ve-year drought, we’ve had mild winters so it really wasn’t doing a
See RC Forestry, Page 8
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Publishing
Many people who buy a live Christmas tree visit their local seasonal lot to select a recently-cut tree. Many others choose to visit tree farms like Hillcrest Farms in Reedley to cut their own.
For the cities of Reedley, Sanger and Orange Cove, the hunt for their city’s Christmas tree extends up the Sierra Nevada — at Camp Edison, an area of about 3,000 acres in Southern California Edison-owned property west of Shaver Lake in Fresno County.
e cities contract with the Reedley College Ag and Natural Resources Department to cut down and transport the trees. Each city pays the department — which includes the college’s forestry program — $270, with $200 of the money going to pay an entry fee to enter SCE property.
“We go up in advance of the harvest day with city representatives,” said
Louie Long, an instructor with RC’s Ag and Natural Resources who directed the cutting operation for the rst time this year. “Southern Cal Edison representatives also are there. [ e reps] have been looking at trees that are accessible and nice enough for their city.”
Reedley College students and sta harvested Reedley’s tree the morning of
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