Blog
April 11, 2023
Using Arbor Day to inspire a love of the outdoors
Kindergarten teacher brings her love of the outdoors inside her classroom Wendy Peppersack is native Idahoan and an avid outdoors woman. She loves archery, hunting, fishing, hiking, backpacking, camping and landscape photography. It’s no surprise that her love for the outdoors makes its way inside her classroom. “I think it is so important for children…
December 16, 2022
Essay contest in its 27th year always delights
Every fall, for the last 27 years, the Idaho Forest Products Commission sponsors an annual Forest Products Week Essay Contest. This year’s submissions were exceptional! “Our judges had a difficult task this year. In fact, we had so many terrific essays that we awarded first place and honorable mentions in six divisions instead of the…
November 18, 2022
Small grant makes big impact: Forest Day helps Idaho at-risk teens connect with nature
Olivia Shan had an idea: she wanted to connect a group of at-risk kids from a north Idaho high school to nature. “We wanted to give the students a way to connect with nature, learn about our native tree species and be introduced to natural resource careers,” says Olivia. After hearing about a grant opportunity…
November 8, 2022
Architecture students design with wood and win
To encourage, recognize and support the creative and innovative use of wood in architectural design, the Idaho Forest Products Commission sponsors a Design With Wood Competition for students from the University of Idaho School of Art and Architecture and Washington State University‘s Architectural Studies Program. More than 100 students participated in this year’s event! U-Idaho’s Brannon Jordan of Minneapolis was the…
November 3, 2022
A Day with Forester Dan
Ann Hewitt’s 5th grade class was recently treated to lessons in forestry with Dr. Dan Miller (who also happens to be Hewitt’s dad) during a forestry tour in the woods of North Idaho. Miller knows a thing or two about forestry. In addition to being a guide on nearly 40 Idaho Forest Products tours…
October 18, 2018
Wood: A Natural Choice
Affordable housing across the nation and in parts of Idaho is at a crisis level. Half of U.S. renters are living paycheck to paycheck because they’re spending more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing.1 Meanwhile, the U.S. Green Building Council says buildings account for 39 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions per year…
April 12, 2017
Do Trees Need People?
The world’s oldest tree, a 9,550 year old spruce, was recently discovered in Sweden.1 This new-found spindly record holder is old even for a tree… right? Perhaps you are asking: How long does a tree live? While there are a few ancient giants (and dwarfs) who have seen humans move from tribal life to the…