Cal Poly Logging Team to Host Collegiate Logging Competition at Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly’s logging team, an intercollegiate team of male and female students involved in traditional forestry field skills, will host the Association of Western Forestry Clubs (AWFC) Conclave, April 1-3. 

AWFC, the largest of its kind, is the premier annual collegiate logging sports competition in the western U.S. and Canada, featuring traditional timber skills like axe throwing, saw bucking and pole climbing. Cal Poly last hosted in the event in 2018. 

For more than 30 years, Cal Poly’s Logging Team has given students of all backgrounds and academic disciplines the chance to participate in competitive co-ed sports. Today, the logging team is comprised of more than 100 students, representing more than 12 majors.

The three-day Conclave will bring as many as a dozen teams from universities across the western United States and Canada and feature more than 200 student competitors. Teams from UC Berkely, Colorado State University, University of Idaho, Montana State University, Cal Poly Humboldt, University of British Columbia and more will compete. 

“Hosting the 86th annual Association of Western Forestry Clubs Conclave is an honor for the Cal Poly Logging Team,” fourth-year forest and fire sciences major and president of the Association of Western Forestry Clubs Daniel Auten said. “For many of the teams attending the event, it will be their first time vising Cal Poly. We are excited to welcome them and showcase our campus and logging unit.”

The event will begin each day at 7:30 a.m. and run throughout the day. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Cuesta College A-1 lot and shuttles will begin at 7 a.m.

In late 2025 the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) donated and installed two 80-foot wood poles at Cal Poly’s timber sports site – which will be used in the competition. 

Sponsors of the event include Mendocino Redwood Company, Redwood Empire, Arbor MD, Bartlett Tree Experts, PG&E, Sierra Pacific Industries, B&B Small Engine Repair, JTS Forestry, Auten Resource Consulting, Stihl and McDonalds.