Name: Woodsmen Team
Previous/other names: N/A
Prominent date(s) of activity: 1964 - present
History: The events which comprise the Woodsmen Competition reflect the methods utilized by Canada's pioneer foresters, and are intended to pay homage to the forefathers.
Activities: Each year the Woodsmen Team, comprised of Forestry and Environmental Management students, competes in inter-collegiate lumberjack tournaments throughout Canada and the Northern United States, and hosts a local tournament at UNB. The events reflect traditional forestry practices and include chopping and sawing wood, log decking, pulp tossing, axe throwing and several other traditional events.
Note(s): UNB is a member of CILA (Canadian Intercollegiate Lumberjacking Association).
In the fall of 2006, for the first time in 42 years, the Woodsmen Competition was not held on the UNB Campus because the Chapman Field parking lot where the competition normally took place was being renovated into a soccer field. Student members of the Forestry Association, who had worked over their summer vacations as lumberjacks, landscapers, and general labourers to fund the event, were not informed until that September. Organizers were displeased with how little support and encouragement the university was affording an event that had won them a great deal of recognition and pride over four decades. That year, and thereafter, the event was hosted by the Maritime College of Forest Technology at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre.
In 2008 the Woodsmen team, along with two students from the Lets Talk Science program, visited the Yoho Scout Reserve to teach the scouts about tree identification, wildlife management, sawing techniques, tool care, and how to light a fire. The information given on these topics was reinforced through games, challenges, and activities, which further acquainted the scouts with the fields of forestry and environmental management.
Source(s):
- UA Case 173.
- Student Union, Clubs and Societies, Woodsmen Team
- Canadian Intercollegiate Lumberjacking Association
- Up the Hill, 1964, Organizations.
- Up the Hill, 1995, p. 120.
- Up the Hill, 1996, p. 26.
- The Brunswickan, vol. 141, no. 6, 2007, p. 4.
- The Brunswickan, vol. 142, no. 11, 2008, p. 4.