NAWLA Education Foundation Gourse: A firsthand account

lne NAWLA Eottcsrror,t FoundaI tion, or "NEF," was started by the North American Wholesale Lumber Association in 2011 to educate, inspire, and plant a new generation of leaders throughout the forest products industry. NEF collaborates with universities to offer students engaging coursework, exciting field experiences, and practical internships in the lumber distributionfield.

The first NEF class was held at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in January. Twenty-one students spent one week learning about the complexities of the lumber supply chain and what the industry offers as a career option. The students ere now eligible for internships with NAWI,A members.

The article below is a firsthand account of the program from one of those students, Swaraj Pandey:

The construction department at my college, UW-Stout, paired with the NEF to offer a course that is a great fit for students in a broad range of majors. By enrolling in this course, students qualify for an intern opportunity with NAWLA members. In fact, to qualify for the internship, a student must complete this intensive, threecredit course focused on the lumber, building material, and supply chain.

The course consisted of lectures, field trips, and case studies. The first day of the course started with a brief introduction related to the course requirements and schedules. We learned about forest ecology, ecosystem services, forest succession, and forest regeneration under natural and managed scenarios. Additional lectures were given on forest management and harvesting, including forest certification.

Later in the afternoon, we went for a field trip to the school forest in Bjornson Education-Recreation Center. The center has 443 acres of land. We were accompanied by a local forester who displayed extensive knowledge of forestry. We observed the principles of forest ecology, forest management, and harvesting. The property was a mix of northern hardwoods (maple, oak, ash, basswood, yellow and white birch) and coniferous plantations (red and white pine, spruce) with stands of poplar. The forest management plan included select hardwood cuts, pine plantation thinning, aspen cuts, oak regeneration, and timber stand improvement projects.

On the second day, we went for a two-hour virtual field trip to Andersen Windows in Bayport, Mn. We were able to look at step-by-step processes where several home projects were in progress by top builders. Andersen Windows uses 987o of their raw materials and develops long-lasting products that have a minimal adverse effect on the environment. Over 70Vo of their wood is sourced from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. It was an impressive tour packed with useful information.

The third day included a tour of Weekes Forest Products, a major stocking wholesaler. We toured their reload center and learned about a wide variety of lumber, panels, engineered wood, industrial products, and related specialty building products. Our next destination was Viking Forest Products, Eden Prairie, Mn., distributors of OSB, plywood and softwood lumber products. Viking's business

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