Water Resources at the 2012 Forest Family Fun Day

The Texas Forest Service Water Resources Program recently participated in the 12th biannual Forest Family Fun Day at the George Henderson Expo Center in Lufkin, Texas. Approximately 1,200 people attended the event. Admission was free and loggers were able to receive up to six hours of continuing education credit for the Texas Pro Logger Program.

The Forest Family Fun Day is sponsored by the Texas Forestry Association and the Texas Logging Council. The event hosted a contest for the best looking log truck, a log auction, a skidder mud race, a log loading contest, and a chainsaw competition. Hands on activities for children were put on by Home Depot and Project Learning Tree that were designed to educate and spark an interest in the outdoors and the forest industry. Of course, there were also many brand new log trucks, skidders, loaders, shears, and other state of the art logging equipment on display.

At the Water Resources Program booth, Donna Work and Todd Thomas passed out information and answered questions related Texas Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs). Displays and demonstrations also helped kids understand the importance of healthy forests in providing clean water. The booth featured a working Streamside Management Zone (SMZ) diorama, samples of benthic macroinvertebrates, literature on BMPs, and much more.