A new path to the logging and forestry workforce

Maria Kinne’s favorite logging apparel is her high-visibility sweatshirt.

It is less bulky than the polyester vest with its many pockets, grommets and reflective strips that glow during daylight hours, and it is less restrictive when she’s bucking and limbing logs with her chainsaw, operating a cutting-edge log processor or preparing to fell a tree.

“The sweatshirt is a lot more comfortable, so it’s a good day when I don’t have to wear the vest,” said Kinne, who graduates in May with an associate’s degree in forest operations and technology.

She was among the first students to enroll in University of Idaho’s two-year program, which covers logging equipment operation, timber sale planning, logging safety and business skills. Kinne has a temporary job lined up with the state of Idaho after graduation but is also getting offers from logging companies.

“It’s a seasonal job with the Department of Lands, and after that I will likely apply for another state position, or with a forest management company,” said the 22-year-old who grew up working with her dad, the owner of Odenwald Forestry near Sandpoint.

Throughout high school, Kinne worked to save money for college. During the week she worked as a receptionist, and, on the weekends, was in the woods operating chainsaws and a mini backhoe to remove and pile forest slash.

After graduating high school in 2021, Kinne considered attending a college, but wasn’t sure what to study. After a couple of years in the workforce, her father told her about U of I’s new program.

“He learned about it at a logging conference,” she said.

The idea of a hands-on forestry short course appealed to her.

“I knew I didn’t want to go to school for another four years, and since this associate’s degree could be completed in two years, I could continue to do what I loved — being in the woods and working in the timber industry,” she said. “I decided to go for it.”

While she had already acquired some of the know-how of the forest resource profession, Kinne bolstered her skill set through the U of I program, gaining her a broader range of opportunities with different equipment.

Taking advantage of the 10,000-acre U of I Experimental Forest as an outdoor classroom, she learned to operate equipment, including a log processor, grapple skidder and feller-buncher. She hand-felled trees with a chainsaw and learned how to cruise timber, or measure trees in a stand to determine the quantity and quality of timber available for harvest.

“We were taught about forest operations on a large scale and how to operate a forest products business,” she said.

One of her most rewarding classes was a mapping and surveying course where students designed a timber sale using GIS coordinates.

“We learned to lay out a unit within land boundaries, which is something you must know if you work in forestry or logging,” she said.

She and a team of 2- and 4-year forestry students alongside Associate Professor Rob Keefe started harvesting a unit in September 2024 and finishing it in January 2025.  Spending hours of the school day in the seat of a machine in the forest was among her best memories of the program.

“There were days when it was just me processing (logs) on the landing,” Kinne said. “I was operating a processor in a forest while the sun was just rising over the mountains, and I felt like I had arrived in life.”

Keefe, who is the director of the Experimental Forest and oversees student logging operations, worked side by side with Kinne and the other students.

“As a second-generation logger from Idaho, Maria represents everything we’re looking for in the future logging workforce,” he said. “She is one of the hardest working people who has ever worked for me on the Experimental Forest and she will be a leader in our industry in the future. It’s been a real privilege to work with her the last two years."

Keefe and other staff mentored Kinne in the field as she operated equipment and processed logs.

“She has over 1,000 hours of paid work outside of the classroom logging on the Experimental Forest and processed over 100 loads of logs for us,” he said. “She also attended Idaho Logging Safety and Logger Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP) while in the program. These are required for all loggers, so she’s ready to go right into the workforce.”

When the program was adopted by U of I two years ago, it was highly endorsed by former Idaho Senator Shawn Keough, the former Idaho legislator and executive director of Associated Logging Contractors.

“Learning to operate logging equipment that can cost half a million dollars requires a lot of skill,” Keough said. “If students can acquire those skills on the University of Idaho Experimental Forest, they will have a knowledge base that can put them ahead of other applicants.”

Kinne said the program put her on the fast track to be hired as an employee in the forest industry.

“I would recommend this associate program for people who are hands-on learners and are hardworking and love being outside,” she said. “The program is a great option for those who want a college degree in a practical field but don’t want to be in school for four years.”

The next piece of apparel she plans to buy is a pair of all-season caulk boots — the kind with nails in the soles to keep from slipping on logs and bark.

“There’s a place in Spokane that makes some really good ones,” she said.