Die Zypresse - Studienfakultät für Forstwissenschaft und ...

VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
Look for these articles
in this edition:
• Bergwaldprojekt—what is it
exactly?
• What has LC Freising been
up to
• Do you know your North
American tree species?
• Who is your new Executive
Board?
Inside this issue:
Editor’s Note 2
SERM 2012 2
Where Did All the Whitebark
Pines Go?
Bergwaldprojekt: A Week
to Remember
Calendar: What’s Up
Next for IFSA
LC Freising Happenings:
What We’ve Been Doing
Know Your Trees: North
American Edition
¿Cómo se dice...? 8
International Forestry Students’ Associati on LC Frei si ng
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4
4
5
7
Die Zypresse
Elections, Elections, Elections!
On May 8th, LC Freising
held its LC elections for
the Summer Semester
2012. Congratulations to
the winners! To get to
know your Executive
Board a little better, each
board member wrote a
short introduction about
him/herself.
President, Max von
Stern
My
name
is
Max
von
Stern
and
I’m
in
the
2nd
semester
of the Forstwissenschaften
und Ressourcenmanagement
program.
Originally, I’m from Am-
berg which is in the
“Oberpfalz” part of Bavaria.
When I´m at my
hometown, I spend most
of the time in nature, so I
work in the garden,
woods or go for a hunt.
Of’ course, I try to meet
old friends from my
schooldays as often as
possible.
I became a member of
IFSA almost from the
beginning of my studies,
so last year in October/
November. As the new
President of the LC Freising,
I will try to offer you
as many and good possibilities
to get to international
meetings as possible,
thereby connecting
you to the world. Just to
give you a small preview
of my plans, included is: a
meeting with our Danish
friends in Denmark, a
meeting at the Oktober-
Winter Meeting Slovenia 2012
By: Maria Probst, Me Schulte, Jakob Hoerl, and Max von Stern
We have never been to
Slovenia before, or to any
IFSA Meeting at all. We
were all very excited, but
luckily we had Jakob
with us, who has now
been to all four winter
meetings in Slovenia. It is
a lovely little country in
between Italy, Austria,
Hungary and Croatia. In
one part of the country
that we visited, was the
border triangle of Slovenia,
Hungary and Austria,
and it was quite
funny to stand at one
time in three different
18 June 2012
fest where we invite IFSA
world to join us, and more
to come. Of course, I am
open to all your ideas and
questions. I’m looking
forward to good team
work with you guys and
thank you for showing
your trust in me by electing
me!
The funniest story about
me and a tree was at the
university. During the
lecture of dendrology, we
went around the faculty
and had a close look at
some trees. On our way,
we found 10 almost alive
Fraxinus Excelsior. My
friends and I planted
them in the parking lot. 9
out of 10 are growing
right now!
(continued on page 3)
countries. The capital city
of Slovenia is Ljubliana
with its beautiful little
historic centre and the
river Ljubljanica flowing
through it, but it was not
just a sight-seeing tour -
we also learned many
(continued on page 2)
1

PAGE 2 DIE ZYPRESSE VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
Slovenia (from page 1)
important issues about forestry
there. Around 60% of Slovenia’s
surface is covered by forests, within
which 10% is protected. In order to
guard the forests and guarantee a
sustainable economy, the government
prohibited the clear-cutsystem.
Instead of this, they are
practicing the so called Close-to-
Nature-Forestry (CTN) system.
This is an irregular shelter wood
system where single trees are selected
to be cut down. CTN is a very
sustainable system with a small
ecological footprint, and furthermore,
it is economically profitable.
Slovenia also affords so many different
places worth seeing. One of
them is the Waterfall Rinka which
is one of Europe’s highest - about
According to dictionary.com, a forest
is defined as “a large tract of
land covered with trees and underbrush.”
Technically speaking then,
we have forests in the desert, at
least the Sonoran Desert in the
southwestern United States because
there are patches of land covered
by mesquite trees (Prosopis
sp.). When I joined IFSA last year,
I thought to myself: I grew up in the
Arrival at Zürich April 10, 2012:
Day 1
There are some Swiss people welcoming
us at the hostel, feeding us
with information about the city, the
program, and the next meeting
point. They are speaking a weird
l a n g u a g e t h a t t h e y c a l l
100 meters. There is also
the wine region around
Lendava where we had
the chance to taste some
wine. And one event not
to be forgotten: the international
evening. Here
every nation (we had 10
different ones like Rumania,
Austria, Canada,
Turkey, Spain and others)
participating at the
winter meeting had a
table with traditional
food and many drinks. Of
course somebody made the legendary
Freske Fiske Snaps (maybe
you can guess the content from its
name…).
desert, what sort of connection do I
have to the forest besides the obvious
uses? Then I remembered the
mesquite thickets
I used to see
scattered
throughout the
landscape back
home. Mesquite
wood is great for
grilling, adding a
forest?”
'Switzerdütsch'. They seem to be
nice. Later that day, all SERM participants
have gathered in a lecture
room of ETH Zürich, listening
thoughtfully to the 'understanding-
IFSA' introduction as well as to
some professors of the forestry department.
It follows an invitation
for an apéro on the university's roof-
All in all, it was a great experience
and we really did enjoy our time in
sLOVEnia!
Forests in the Desert: A Word or Two from your Editor
By: Will Meister
“When I joined IFSA last year, I
thought to myself, I grew up in
the desert, what sort of
connection do I have to the
strong flavor to whatever is on the
grill and can also be used to make
exquisite furniture. The beans of
mesquites are also delicious
whether raw or
ground into flour for
baking. As we bring
you the latest edition
of Die Zypresse, please
remember, forests are
all around.
Southern European Regional Meeting (SERM) 2012
By: Sandra Baumgardt and Louisa Wong
top. Cheese, chips and wine – Swiss
hospitality is approved.
Day 2
Ütliberg, a unique and beloved destination
for recreation just next to
Zürich, management of such a forest
can be extremely challenging,
(continued on page 5)
2

VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
Elections (from page 1)
Vice-President, Sebastian Rassel
My name is Sebastian, and I’m the
new Vice-
President of
LC Freising
in SS 2012.
I’m in the
fourth semester
of the
Bachelor in
Forestry and
Resource
Management.
Originally, I
am from
Westphalia, which is in the northwest
of Germany.
I’ve been an active IFSA-Member for
two years now, participated in several
international meetings and always
had a lot of fun with IFSA - both on
international and local levels.
I like to spend my free time outdoors,
holding discussions with different people,
organizing barbecue and game
events, listening to old style
“bündische” music, and doing a lot of
other stuff.
As Vice-President, I will try to help
out our new President and stay in
close touch with our old partner-LC in
Copenhagen as well as our new one,
which will be designated this August.
Treasurer, Alina Kasten
I’m the new
Treasurer for
the summer
semseter
2012 and
wanted to
introduce
myself to all
of you. My
name is Alina
Kasten, and
I’m in the
second
semester of the B.Sc. Forestry and
Resource Management. Originally,
DIE ZYPRESSE
I’m not from Bavaria, but I’ve lived
here for almost four years now and I
have no intention of leaving anytime
soon. I come from northern Germany,
Hannover to be exact and it was
quite a change for me to move that
far away.
I’ve been with IFSA ever since I
started studying last winter and so
far it’s been a lot of fun. I’m looking
forward to taking part in more IFSA
events because last year I didn’t have
the time to do it.
As the Treasurer, I will of course
take care of the LC’s money
responsibly and keep the books up to
date. I will also give a financial
report every semester to keep all
members up to date.
Secretary, Fabian Hofmann
I'm your designated secretary for this
semester.My name is Fabian
Hofmann and I'm lucky to be born
and raised in the nicest part of
Bavaria - Lower Franconia.
Unlike most LC members, I'm
studying Forestry Engineering at the
HSWT. I'm in my 4th semester now.
In my leisure time, I really enjoy
music, doing different nerdy stuff,
and outdoor activities (foremost
mountain-biking).
I became an IFSA member last
Autumn and as your secretary, my
goal is to keep it simple and keep it
going.
You should have access to the data
you need and not be confused. If you
have a concern please let me know.
My tree story is rather pensive than
funny: Last winter I worked together
with some lumberjacks.
After cutting down one tree, a big
oaken branch fell down right next to
me.
If I was standing just 1 meter in
that direction it would have hit me
straight on the head.
From this day on, I was even more
aware of what an exhausting and
dangerous job these guys do.
They risk their lives every working
day - but don't get paid properly for
that risk.
As most of us will work in leading
positions later on, I really urge you
to pay them the respect (and
money) they deserve.
Newsletter Editor, Will Meister
I‘m Will, your new newsletter
editor. Currently, I‘m in the second
semester of the Master in
Sustainable Resource Management
program and am focusing on
sustainable agriculture and water
and soil management. Originally, I
hail from a small town on the U.S./
Mexico border called Yuma in the
state of Arizona. When at home, I
enjoy spending time with my family
and working outdoors in the yard.
I joined IFSA last semester after
Urs gave a presentation about it
because I wanted to find out more
about forests (until now I‘ve spent
my entire life in the desert). This
semester I hope to incorporate new
ideas into the newsletter, your
ideas, and provide you with a
newsletter that is fun, refreshing,
(continued on page 4)
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PAGE 4 DIE ZYPRESSE VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
Elections (from page 3)
and a good read. My funny
experience with a tree was trying to
From the 15 th to 21 st of April 2012,
15 LC members had the possibility
of taking part in another Bergwaldprojekt
(BWP). However, this year
was going to be special. We invited
our LC Partner, LC Kopenhagen,
to participate as well since the Harz
is at a convenient distance both
from Freising and Copenhagen.
Just for explanation: Bergwaldpro-
slide down the trunk of a tree when
I was about 7 year old because I
jekt is a project, founded in 1987 by
Renato Ruf and Wolfgang Lohbeck
to organize volunteers that want to
help by planting
trees or doing
other jobs like
fence-building
and land recultivation.
LC Freising
had already
visited a
thought it was like a fireman‘s pole.
It wasn‘t, in case you‘re wondering.
Where Did All the Whitebark Pines Go?
By: Will Meister (summarized from Scientific American “Environmentalists Sue to Declare Whitebark Pine
Endangered” http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=endangered-pine
The Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis),
native to the mountainous
regions of the Western United
States and Canada, is facing what
some feel could be the beginning of
the end.
Climate change, some believe, is
the culprit in the disappearance of
this species. With warming temperatures,
the Whitebark Pine’s
alpine range is dealing with a
flurry of changes. White Pine Blis-
Internationally, these events are on
IFSA’s calendar. Are they on yours?
More information available at
www.ifsa.net/events.
19th European Foresters’ Orienteering
Championships (19th
EFOL)
31/7—4/8/2012 in Druskininkai,
ter Rust (introduced from Europe)
infestations and mountain pine
beetle outbreaks have increased
because of changing precipitation
patterns and warmer winter
weather. Fire-suppression measures
are also likely playing a role
in the sharp decrease in Whitebark
Pine numbers. In certain parts of
the Pine’s range, up to 80 percent
of the trees have died from one or a
combination of these factors.
Bergwaldprojekt: A Week to Remember
By: Alina Kasten
Calendar: What’s Up Next for IFSA
Keeping you informed
Lithuania
Do some outdoor sports with your
fellow foresters and learn about
forestry in Lithuania.
40th International Forestry Students’
Symposium (IFSS)
1/8-15/8/2012 in Turkey
“Bergwaldprojekt is a project...to
organize volunteers that want to
help by planting trees or doing
other jobs…”
Environmental groups in the
United States are currently fighting
to list the Pine as an endangered
species but have run into
resistance from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
Whitebark Pines play an important
role in the high mountain ecosystem
as they provide food and shelter
for many different animals. The
Pine also acts as a pioneer species,
playing an important role in habitat
creation.
Bergwaldprojekt in the autumn of
2011, and since we really had a lot
of fun on that occasion, we thought
it would be a great
idea to help out on another
project.
The first meeting with
the Danish was rather
exciting, as most of us
(continued on page 6)
Probably the biggest gathering of
forestry students from all over the
globe. Get to know your counterparts
from other countries while
enjoying the deliciousness of Turkish
food and learning about Turkish
forestry. IFSA will also be holding
its 23rd General Assembly during
this time.
4

especially because a larger diversity of
people would like to take part in the
decision making. The SERM delegation
learns about this during two
speeches by the university staff who
work in the research forest, and a forest
tour is included. Although it is
raining all the time, the Swiss organizing
committee manages to motivate
us to run about the forest for at least
three hours in small groups. Nobody
gets lost, everybody gets wet. After
drinking some Rivella everybody feels
good. Next stop: Lac de Neuchâtel.
Day 3
We are in the mountains now. There
is some snow lying around. The forester
of Jaun, Canton Fribourg, invites
us to explore the area and explains
more about the role of the forest
as a 'protection forest.' We see a
helicopter carrying wood from a steep
slope to another place from where it
can be transported further. The procedure
is amazing to see. This very expensive
method of logging can only
work with subsidies from the state,
aiming at ensuring the security of the
area. Another less expensive method
that is used in Jaun as well is called
cable logging. The wood is transported
from the slope by a cable car. The
mayor of the city nearby invites us for
lunch and entertains us with some
traditional accordion music. In a small
museum, we learn about the making
of the famous Gruyère cheese. The
day ends in Charmey, where the local
forester explains about the special
heating of the village that works with
wood chips.
Day 4
VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
SERM (from page 2)
On Friday, we visit the mountain re-
Elections and Statutes
Of course, we held our elections for
the Summer Semester, but we also
had our General Meeting, where we
DIE ZYPRESSE
gion “Wallis.” The topic is protection
forest. We visit a protection forest
which was burned by fire some years
ago and see some of the problems
and difficulties of its recovery. This
forest above Leuk in the Canton of
Wallis burnt to the ground in a single
night on August 13, 2003. It was
the largest forest fire in Switzerland
in the last 30 years.
In the evening, we sample the traditional
food and drinks of this amazing
region, where people are very
kind, honest, hospitable, generous
and sometimes as rough as the rocks
around them. We spend a wonderful
evening in a family-run vineyard and
have some fine wine and cheese. At
night we have this IFSA tradition
known as the “international evening,”
where each country’s representatives
present their own schnapps
and food from their homeland. This
is a nice evening where you can taste
over 10 countries’ delicacies in one
night!
approved a new set of statutes.
They are stored in the Dropbox.
Day 5
This day our destination is Emmental,
where local foresters show us a
traditional forest management
method with no clear cutting and a
particular tree species composition
called “Plenterwald”. Additionally,
they tell us about the construction
of wooden bridges in the region. The
oldest one, “The Horben Bridge,”
was built in 1834, and it is amazing
to see that it still functions very
well even with heavy loads of buses
and trucks.
In the evening we travel back to
Zürich and it’s time to say goodbye.
A great time was shared during
these 6 days with IFSA members
from the southern part of Europe.
The organizing committee OC
Zürich is a great team, and they
showed us what Swiss hospitality
means. We are also amazed by the
charm of the mountains, multifunctional
forests in tune with nature,
and with local traditions –
cheese, chocolate, and wine!
LC Freising Happenings: What We’ve Been Doing
Presentations
IFSA members have been busy giving
presentations this semester. Partici-
(continued on page 7)
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PAGE 5

PAGE 6 DIE ZYPRESSE VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
Bergwaldprojekt (from page 4)
hadn’t had a chance to meet any of
them and it was quite clear that we
would get along well.
Finally arriving at the cabin, where
we would be staying, after a long
day of travelling, we enjoyed our
vegetarian dinner and had a little
introduction round with the
Bergwaldprojekt organizers Volker
and Henning, who would guide us
through all the tasks this week,
together with Cien and Sebastian,
two interns, and Anna, our cook.
After overcoming the language barrier
of having to speak English, conversation
between all parties involved
flowed quite smoothly and by
the end of the week it seemed like
we’d known each other for forever.
Our days always started in the
same manner. We were woken up at
6 am and after breakfast, around
7:30 am, we lined up next to the two
busses that would take us to our
working locations. The task for this
week was mainly to plant beeches
under the protective cover of spruce
trees somewhere along the outer
zone of the Nationalpark Harz.
To plant the approximately 30-50
cm tall ‘trees’, we used a tool similar
to the planting mattock
(“Wiedehopfhaue”), and after a bit
of practice, we got the hang of
planting the beeches. With the
weather on our side, we enjoyed
relative warmth under the shade of
the trees and beautiful sunshine
whenever we stopped for a break.
Of these we had two, one afterbreakfast
break around 10 am and
a lunch break around 12 pm. These
were a welcome change from the
monotonous work and provided us
with the chance to talk, exchange
experiences, and deepen our friendships
with the Danes as well as
with the BWP organizers. The longest
stretch always seemed to be the
afternoon, when the fingers slowly
began to ache a little bit and the
knees started complaining when
you’ve kneeled down on a stone for
the hundredth time. This however
faded far into the background, when
one just looked around to actually
see the work they’d accomplished by
now, and since we only had to work
as hard as we could with no set pace
or amount of trees we had to plant,
the atmosphere stayed relaxed and
work-friendly.
Around 5 pm in the afternoon the
bus came back to collect us and a
happy, but very tired and dirty
looking group befell the cabin
shortly afterwards and the storm to
the showers began. I was told that
the last BWP in autumn of last year
didn’t even have hot showers, so we
considered ourselves very lucky to
have several showers and hot running
water.
The next thing we looked forward to
now was dinner and afterwards a
more or less relaxed evening. Dinner
was always vegetarian, cooked
by Anna, with local and mostly organic
ingredients. Her cooking was
very good and in my opinion the
dessert was always the highlight.
After dinner we
partook in the
activities any
group of young
people would
think of when
left unattended
at a ski cabin
after working
hard all day. And yes, that included
drinking alcohol, but thankfully we
were all responsible enough to not
overdo it so we could be ready for
the next day. However, we also
played some fun group games, including
things like memory and one
evening we even sat together and
sang songs, accompanied by a guitar.
“After dinner we partook in the
activities any group of young
people would think of when left
unattended at a ski cabin after
working hard all day.”
As I mentioned before, most days
were the same routine, planting
beeches. There were, however, some
days where we would do something
entirely different, and I think I can
speak for all participants when I
say, we were highly grateful for it.
As much fun as planting beeches is,
after the one hundredth tree, it can
get a little repetitive. So one day we
set out to put up fences and plant
small birch trees inside. With our
minds and hands feeling refreshed,
we didn’t even mind going back to
planting beeches under the spruce
once again on the last day.
I’m mentioning this day in particular
because firstly, we only worked
until noon, and secondly, it showed
how much of a team we had become.
Usually everyone just plants by
himself or herself, and you’re not
quite close enough to carry on a decent
conversation. When you run
out of plants, you ask the people
around you for some before you go
get new ones. On the last day however,
we really wanted to finish the
batches of plants we had opened
and instead of everyone working by
themselves and finishing up after
they were done, we became a team
and while one half dug the holes,
the other half planted.
It made me realized
how close we were and
how much we’d grown
together in this past
week.
Besides trying to find
different tasks for us,
the BWP organizers
also arranged other things for us.
For instance, we visited an old
mine, and on another day, we hiked
through the core zone of the national
park, guided by one of the
rangers. Both events were really
interesting and we’re all glad we
went.
After a whole week of spending so
much time so closely together, it
was of course hard to part again
and we all left with the promise to
(continued on page 7)
6

VOLUME III, ISSUE 2
Happenings (from page 5)
pants of the Bergwaldprojekt, SERM,
and Winter Meeting all gave presentations
about their experiences. We also
been treated to two workshops by Urs
on motivation and time management.
In a new presentation series about
forestry in your home country, Ping-
Lian educated us all about forestry in
Taiwan, and her country’s dependence
on imported forest products. This
presentation was followed-up by
Gerard the following week with his
introduction to forestry in South Africa.
We all learned about South Africa’s
reliance on non-native tree species
for forestry and the land reform
his country is currently undertaking.
Other projects are also underway, including
another Bergwaldprojekt, an
Oktoberfest gathering, and various
return one day and to keep in close
contact with one another. Since
both the encounter with our lovely
LC-partner and the BWP project
other fun
activities.
We hope
you will
join us! We
meet every
Tuesday
at 6 pm 1.
in the
Forestry
building.
DIE ZYPRESSE
Know Your Trees: North
American Edition
Here’s you chance to test your forestry skills and see if you
can identify these North American tree species. The answers
appear below. No cheating!
3. 4. 5.
Images from C. S. Sargent's "The Silva of North America", 1891 as on forestry.about.com
Answers: 1. Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) 2. Black Locust (Robina pseudoacacia) 3. American Elm (Ulmus
Americana) 4. American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) 5. Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
Bergwaldprojekt (from page 6)
ended so well, I too hope that I can
one day join another event like this
and for all others who plan to participate
in the BWP, I strongly rec-
2.
ommend it because it is a unique experience
that is sure to promise a lot
of fun despite all the work we did.
7
PAGE 7

INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY STUDENTS’
ASSOCIATION LC FREISING
Studienfakultät Forstwissenschaft und
Ressourcenmanagement
Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2
85354 Freising
Editor: Will Meister
Phone: 0176.613.45.686
E-mail: ifsafreisingnews@googlemail.com
www.ifsa.net
To celebrate the internationality of
our LC, this section will feature
words and phrases written by our
members in the languages they
know, so that we can all learn a
little something.
I’ll be starting this new tradition off
with some, hopefully, new American
phrases that you have never heard
before.
As happy as a clam = very happy
and content
Back to the drawing board =
start again on a plan after the failure
of an earlier attempt
Barking up the wrong tree =
making a mistake or false assumption
in something you are trying to
achieve
Do you have an idea for an article? Do you have
comments about the newsletter? Please let us
know at ifsafreisingnews@googlemail.com.
Der IFSA Freising Newsletter ist für die Auswahl der
Artikel verantwortlich. Die Redaktion behält sich daher
das Recht vor Artikel zu akzeptieren oder abzulehnen
und für die Veröffentlichung zu modifizieren, ohne den
Inhalt und die persönliche Meinung des Verfassers zu
schädigen bzw. zu verfälschen. Verfasser behalten
volles Urheberrecht für die in diesem Newsletter veröf-
fentlichten Artikel.
** Meetings are held every Tuesday at 6 pm in
the Forestry building **
¿Cómo se dice...?
By: Will Meister with help from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/american-phrases-and-sayings.html
The bee’s knees = excellent; the
highest quality
Brownie points = a notional mark
of achievement, or kudos for performing
some credible act
Close, but no cigar = fall just
short of a successful outcome and
get nothing for your efforts
Double whammy = a double blow
or setback
Fancy-pants = overly elaborate,
swanky, or pretentious—especially
of dress
Get down to brass tacks = engage
with the basic facts or realities
Get your goat = make you annoyed
or angry
The heebie-jeebies = a feeling of
anxiety, apprehension, or illness
In the bag = virtually secured—as
good as in one’s possession
The whole kit and caboodle = a
collection of things
The life of Riley = an easy and
pleasant life
No dice = a refusal to accept a
proposition
Pie in the sky = a promise of
heaven, while continuing to suffer
in this life
Run of the mill = the ordinary,
basic article, with no decoration or
augmentation
The Real McCoy = the real
thing—not a substitute
8