October 28 - 31, 2026
Leoni Meadows Camp

El Dorado Forestry Challenge

Release Forms

Facility Address:

Leoni Meadows Camp
6100 Leoni Road
Grizzly Flats, CA 95636

Facility Landline
(530) 626-3610

Event Curriculum


Ecology, Botany,
& Plant Identification


Timber Cruising
& Forest Products


2026 Featured Curriculum:
Mass Timber


2026 Focus Topic: Planning and Permitting Family Forest Management


Additional General Resources


Event Schedule

Day One

Welcome to camp


Registration

4:00pm


Dinner

5:30pm


Welcome

6:45pm


Focus Topic Question Presentation

7:00pm


Social Time

8:30pm


Report to Cabins

10:00pm


Day Two

Training & Field Study


Breakfast

8:00am


Field Training Meeting

8:45am


Field Training Sessions

9:00am


Lunch

12:30pm


Data Collection Field Trip

1:30pm


Dinner

5:30pm


Presentation Work Time & Ask a Forester

6:30pm


Report to Cabins

10:30pm


Day Three

Testing


Breakfast

8:00am


Field Testing Meeting, Split into groups A and B

8:45am


Group A

Field Testing
Lunch

Group B

Pacing Contest and school photo

9:00am


Lunch

12:30pm


Field Testing

1:30pm


Pacing Contest and school photo
Group Photo

5:15pm


Dinner

5:30pm


Presentation Work Time

6:30pm


Report to Cabins

10:30pm


Day Four

Presentations & Awards


Breakfast

7:30am


Teams pack up cabins

8:00am


Teams give presentations

9:15am


Judges Panel Feedback to Students

11:15am


Awards

11:30am


Lunch and Farewell

12:00pm


For Teachers

We want to make it easy for you to bring your students out into the forest. That’s why our program is 100% FREE.

Are transportation or substitute teacher costs a barrier to attending? We can help. We can accommodate reasonable requests through our Substitute and Transportation Reimbursement program.

Need help with the subject matter? We can connect you with one of our many volunteer Mentor Foresters, working professionals who will take time out of their schedule to meet with you and your students to train the tools that we will be using in the field.

Your students can earn a college science credit for participating in our event, thanks to our partners at Feather River College.

We have scholarships available to our alumni who pursue a career in forestry.

the Links you need

How to attend

Our program is supported by CalFire, Private Industry partners like Sierra Pacific Industries and PG&E, and Universities including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Humboldt, and UC Berkeley along with several community colleges, not just financially, but also through countless volunteer hours, because they all believe that our program has proven to be one of the most effective ways to grow the next generation of foresters and resource management professionals that will help restore and keep our California forests healthy, productive, safe, and enjoyable for decades to come.

El Dorado Forestry Challenge 2025

October 22 - 25

El Dorado Group Photo

Participating High Schools:

Bret Harte, Calaveras, Confluence West, El Dorado, Folsom, Foresthill, Golden Sierra, Granada Hills Charter, Mira Loma, Oak Ridge, Sequoia, Sequoia Grove Charter Alliance, South Tahoe, and Venture Academy

The El Dorado Forestry Challenge was the fiercest competition of the season with 11 teams scoring over 200. The event had 121 students and 23 teachers/chaperones from 14 schools in attendance. The focus topic was Fuelbreak Establishment After the Caldor Fire.  Students collected data in a unit of the Grizzly Flats Community Fuelbreak Project (GFFB) planted in 2024 that did not establish well and determine if interplanting is needed.

Top scores out of 250 points:

  1. Bret Harte High School Team 1 – 223.7 Points

  2. Foresthill High School Team 7 – 216.7 Points

  3. Oak Ridge High School Team 22 – 216.2 Points

  4. Mira Loma High School Team 18 – 213.3 Points

  5. Granada Hills Charter Team 14 – 210.3 Points

El Dorado High School won the Pacing Contest with a pace of 67’4″.  Venture Academy in second, Oak Ridge High School in 3rd place.