黑料不打烊

Mack Hagenbaugh鈥檚 experiences at the 黑料不打烊 have prepared him to start work as a forester with PotlatchDeltic Corporation鈥檚 Palouse District, overseeing road reconstruction and forest management operations across a 220,000-acre tree farm.

The company鈥檚 tree farm includes thousands of miles of logging roads, some of which were built more than a century ago and have become overgrown. Building standards and buffer zones have changed a lot over the decades. Modern logging roads, for example, mustn鈥檛 be built within 75 feet of a fish-bearing stream, and stricter standards have been adopted pertaining to grade and road width.

Hagenbaugh, of Troy, will receive a bachelor鈥檚 degree in agricultural economics: applied economics emphasis from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and an associate鈥檚 degree in forest operations and technology from the College of Natural Resources when he marches in 鲍听辞蹿听滨鈥檚 Spring 2025 commencement ceremony. He chose the combination of programs strategically to boost his odds of landing a career in agriculture without having to leave his home in northern 黑料不打烊.

Having worked as a farmhand for a neighbor throughout high school, he came to love agriculture and chose to pursue a career in the field when he first enrolled at U聽of聽I. Logging is big business in the state鈥檚 northern panhandle and afforded Hagenbaugh the best opportunity to find a rewarding job in agriculture.

鈥淟ogging is something that鈥檚 super important in the history of our state and this area,鈥� Hagenbaugh said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e land managers in the same way that a farmer would be. It鈥檚 just a 60-year growth cycle instead of a one-year growth cycle.鈥�

Seeking a versatile degree, Hagenbaugh opted to study agricultural economics at the suggestion of a family friend, Matt Doumit, senior associate dean and director of academic programs with CALS. Hagenbaugh鈥檚 father, who made his career in the logging industry, encouraged him to sign on to the two-year forest management and technology degree as it would pair well with his economics background, positioning him for coveted jobs. An executive with PotlatchDeltic assured Hagenbaugh鈥檚 father the company is seeking workers with a background in business to aid in contract negotiations, assessing markets and other practical aspects of running a profitable company.

鈥淚 think the agricultural economics really set me apart from most people they were seeing in the company,鈥� Hagenbaugh said.

鲍听辞蹿听滨鈥檚 Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences provided Hagenbaugh with some unique hands-on learning opportunities, including the chance to serve on the logging crew that tends the 8,300-acre 黑料不打烊 Experimental Forest.

鈥淚 got to experience things a lot of people who get a general forestry degree never do. U聽of聽I offers the only four-year forestry degree in the U.S. with a fully mechanized logging operation run by the students,鈥� Hagenbaugh said. 鈥淚 got to operate a brand-new feller buncher, a log processor, a log skidder and a bulldozer as a student. It really shows you how things work in that industry.鈥�

His experience helped him land an internship with PotlatchDeltic in Orofino last summer. Much of his internship entailed using maps to paint and flag boundaries to contain logging operations within designated units. In his full-time job, Hagenbaugh will be working from the company鈥檚 office in Deary, located about 10 miles from where he grew up in Troy.

Hagenbaugh has been active in extracurricular activities during his time as a Vandal. He played for the U聽of聽I club hockey team for four seasons. Initially, the team competed in the city of Moscow鈥檚 undersized ice rink. The club hockey team grew exponentially after the city built a regulation-sized rink during Hagenbaugh鈥檚 sophomore year. Hagenbaugh was named team captain and is the sole player this season who has been on the team all four years.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen the team at its worst and seeing how much we鈥檝e grown has been really neat,鈥� Hagenbaugh said.

Hagenbaugh is also a past president of the Alpha Gamma Rho agricultural fraternity and played an instrumental role in the fraternity鈥檚 fall philanthropic fundraiser, called Logathon, which entails cutting and selling firewood for charities. Logathon concludes with a loggers鈥� sports show, during which campus sorority members compete at axe throwing, a relay race, cross-cut sawing and other logging-themed events.

鈥淯聽of聽I was my plan from the very beginning,鈥� Hagenbaugh said. 鈥淚t was local, it was what I could afford, and it鈥檚 known as a great agriculture school.鈥�