Nature Preserve is Host Site for Chainsaw Safety Training

A group of students, professional loggers requiring certification, forestland owners and a few Do-It-Yourself homeowners gathered at Mill Creek Nature Preserve in Wayland this spring for the Game of Logging.

This chainsaw safety training course teaches individuals the basics of chainsaw mechanics and maintenance, safety gear and how to use it, and cutting techniques to fell trees accurately and safely.

The training was sponsored by the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health.

Each of the dozen students felled a tree as part of the course. Trees were selected for cutting to advance our forest management with the help from the New York State Forest Owners Association.

Many of the trees selected this year were ash trees growing along hiking trails. As these trees die off from the emerald ash borer infestation they would have become dangerous for any hikers visiting the preserve to enjoy the trails.