The Society of American Foresters (SAF) is a growing club working towards a greener future, running events throughout the school year including hikes, camping trips, and planting trees and shrubs to promote good practices in forest management. The SAF helps many of their members by hosting two chainsaw workshops a year and assisting members with Firefighter Type 2 certifications. SAF is a club for more than just forestry majors, pulling students from all different degrees; over the past year, the SAF has almost doubled in size due to their strong efforts in recruiting and encouragement of participation within the club.
The SAF has several initiatives to support its members. Along with helping participants earn their certifications for firefighting and teaching them chainsaw safety, they also help members become part of the Big Tree Program. This is a program that surveys trees and measures them for the Michigan Botanical Society. For the upcoming year, the SAF plans to keep all of its current activities, and additionally attend the national SAF convention in Loveland, Colorado.
These initiatives and other successes earned the club the nomination of Michigan Tech’s College of Forestry and Resources (CFRES) for the 2024 Outstanding SAF Chapter Award. This is a national award, where three chapters representing universities from all over the United States are nominated.
For more information, visit the Society of American Foresters page on the MTU student involvement website.
