Forestry/Resources

These are some resources for the Forestry event. The 2012 Official Tree List may be found [[Media:ForestryTreeList12FINAL.pdf|here]].

This page is incomplete: you can help by adding on to it or visiting the Forestry Wikifire page.

Field Guides
Since identification events in the past have allowed the use of at least one field guide, this will probably hold true for forestry. This section will list some of the most common guides and their advantages/disadvantages.


 * Sibley Guide to Trees
 * Includes many species; very easy-to-use layout.
 * Has many pictures (drawings) for each tree; including leaves, fruit, twigs, bark, seeds, and sometimes the whole tree.
 * Drawings, not photographs.
 * Has an intro section with a lot of good reading material.
 * Range maps for every tree.
 * Does not include much information (apart from IDing), but has lots of space to write in.
 * Larger and heavier than most other field guides (this does not matter much in SO).


 * National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees
 * Separated into East and West books. May be a disadvantage.
 * Includes all but one species on the 2012 list.
 * Has one photograph for each tree, showing leaves, fruits, and cones.
 * Color photographs and information on separate pages.
 * Advanced and sometimes complicated layout.
 * Has many pages but is not large in size.
 * Lots of complete information on each tree.
 * Range maps for every tree.
 * Has small margins, but some empty spaces to write in on the sides.
 * Recommended for the Forestry event in 2011-12.


 * National Geographic Field Guide to Trees of North America.
 * Includes many species (but is still missing many others); easy-to-use layout sorted by family.
 * Drawings, not photographs.
 * Many drawings for each tree for identification.
 * Does not include range maps.
 * User-friendly layout easy for identification but not all trees' information is complete.


 * National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America
 * Includes many species and information on tree size, habitat, and more.
 * Thick book has many pages - simple layout sorted by leaf shape/type.
 * 1-5 photographs (not drawings) for each tree.
 * Range maps for most, but not all, trees.
 * Small margins and not much space for writing.
 * Has an intro, glossary, and lots of reading material.

Web Sites
Making a binder will be helpful in this event. The following web sites are useful to start creating a binder.


 * USDA
 * This site has excellent resources for use. You can search by common name or scientific name. An important page on the USDA website is Fact Sheets & Plant Guides, which contains information about many trees in doc and pdf formats.


 * Dendrology at Virgina Tech.
 * search by common name and find single sheets with Tree, leaf, bark, twig, flower information.
 * US Forest Service.
 * This site has a lot about the ecology of each tree, especially good for fire related information.

Scioly.org Resources
Practice tests and sample tournaments are available at the Tufts Wright Center Page and the 2012 Test Exchange along with the training guide and some Forestry tips.