Atlantia Forestry (quarantine) Challenge

(Originally published 5/8/2021 on our previous webpage)

We’ve put together a challenge for our foresters to stay active and learn new skills while we are apart. There are three award levels and activities are broad enough to allow a wide level of participation. Feel free to gear the activities for your own best learning and enjoyment! (pdf available here)

Atlantia Forestry Challenge 2021: staying active during quarantine
Please follow CDC and local safety guidelines at all times
Rules:

Item completion must be verified by an officer, photo, video, or document attachment as appropriate by email to atlantiaforesters[at]gmail.com
- Activities may be completed any time from 2020 to 2021 (quarantine initiated activities are eligible) As of December 19, 2021, the challenge has been extended to May 31, 2022. All verifications must be submitted by June 30, 2022.
- Points may only be earned once for each activity and correspond to one item on the list. (E.g. a single backpacking trip does not simultaneously earn points for the basic camping trip option but a second backpacking trip would qualify for it).
Completion of 3 activities earns a special participation badge that can be linked to other tokens or badges (e.g. wood burned challenge coin)
Completion of 15 points across a minimum of 3 categories earns a “challenger” badge
Completion of 25 points across categories earns a “completionist” badge (e.g. metal charm or pewter badge)
Feel free to tailor the difficulty based on age or experience level, this is for fun and education and to encourage forester activity during quarantine and beyond.
If your submissions are to be shared in the newsletter or youtube channel, please include relevant waivers.
Participants must have at least applied to join the Kingdom of Atlantia Royal Forestry Guild or be an affiliate member.

Focus Areas:
Research:

(3 pts) Write an article for our Forestry Guild newsletter on a Medieval Forestry related topic.

Recreation:

(2 pts) Create a persona-appropriate tinder pouch.
(3 pts) Use calligraphy and/ or illumination to recreate forestry related depictions or documents such as Gaston Fébus’ Le livre de chasse.
(3 pts) Create a piece of garb related to the Forestry Guild garb requirements.*
(2 pts) Create and test a piece of persona appropriate forester related gear such as a canteen.

Education:

(3 pts) Teach an online course, webinar, or in person class on a forestry topic.
(4 pts) Create a video demo of a medieval forestry topic for inclusion on the Guild youtube channel, either by sharing to the playlist or direct upload.

Safety:

(3 pts) Complete a certified first aid course.
- E.g. https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/first-aid/first-aid-training/first-aid-online
(2 pts) Create a first aid kit.
- Can be a belt based small kit for minor cuts, etc., a larger kit for in camp, or for a backcountry situation where first responders may take a long time to reach you.
(3 pts) Navigation: take an online course in land or marine navigation, hunt a geocache, or demonstrate proficiency with compass and map.
(1 pt.) Compile 3 pieces of safety equipment for use hiking or camping, either medieval or mundane (e.g. solar blanket, compass, whistle, first aid kit, etc.).

Camping:

(2 pts) Leave no trace camping trip.
(3 pts) Leave no trace backpacking trip.
(3 pts) Collect a kit of campsite tools and containers that would have been feasible pre- 1600, such as cookpots and utensils.
(1 pt.) Set up a tarp based shelter.

Hiking:

(1 pt.) Field test medieval appropriate gear on a day hiking trip or saunter.
(1 pts) Go for a 3 mile (minimum) hike.
(2 pts) Go for a 3 mile (minimum) hike in garb, including period(ish) shoes – turnshoes/moccasins with insoles and leather or thin modern soles are acceptable, but heavy lugged soles are not.

Bushcraft:

(1 pt.) Display knowledge of at least 3 different knots useful in outdoor situations.
(1 pt.) Find local knappable stones and cut a stick with it.
(1 pt.) Collect material and make twine.
(2 pts) Identify 3 edible plants that would be safe to forage, and explain why and how to prepare them for consumption (if necessary).
(2 pts) Build a pack frame.
(2 pts) Build a natural shelter.

Firecraft/ Outdoor cooking:

(1 pt) Build three types of wood structures for a fire.
(1 pt.) Create fire starters.
- E.g., char cloth, whittled wood shavings, wax based, etc.
(1 pt.) Demonstrate a safe fire set up including a method for quick fire extinguishing.
(1-3 pts) Light a wood fire safely.*
- (1 pt.) for matches or magnesium fire starter (qualifies for Underforester testing)
- (2 pts) Flint and steel or fire glass (qualifies for Forester testing)
- (3 pts) Friction method (e.g. bow drill, hand drill, etc.) (qualifies for Forester testing)
(3 pts) Cook an edible meal for four people over a wood fire.*

Environmental Stewardship:

(1 pt) Learn about and fulfill a wildlife habitat program for your home.
- Purchase not necessary, just show that your habitat meets the qualifications for the program’s checklist
- E.g. https://www.nwf.org/certify or https://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/pollinator-protection-pledge
(1 pt.) Go on a litter campaign.
- Spend a few hours cleaning up your neighborhood by picking up trash
(1 pt.) Plant a tree.
(1 pt.) Learn about managed forests in your area, take a field trip if possible.
(1 pt.) Learn about hunting or fishing regulations in your area and why limitations are in place.

Additional options for Junior foresters:

(1 pt. each) Complete 1-3 of the forester activities from East Kingdom’s Tyger Camp: edible campfire, blowing a horn, or creating a salve: https://chancellorminor.eastkingdom.org/tygercamp/forestry/

*Items that also qualify for Guild ranks must be witnessed by an officer, virtual options are available (if you want them to count for rank eligibility as well). A summary of membership progression can be found at this link.

-Forester Isobel

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