Connor Sports® recently hosted a sustainable forestry education event in partnership with the Forest Park (Michigan) School District, Iron Mountain (Michigan) School and West Iron (Michigan) Schools, and local industry partners to begin the production process for the Official Court that will manufactured at Connor Sports’ manufacturing mill in Crystal Falls (Michigan) for the 2027 NCAA® Men’s Final Four®.
The Natural Resources Educational Day at the Cooks Run forest in Iron River was focused on providing a fun and educational way to learn about responsible forestry for more than 500 Forest Park, Iron Mountain, and West Iron K-12 students as part of the process of sustainably harvesting the timber for the 2027 Final Four court.
Students visited a series of interactive field stations staffed by Connor Sports and 20 local industry partners, including learning about strategic timber selection as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and hand-cutting methods.
A highlight was the felling of a forest tree by certified SAWW Level 1 trainer Brock VanOss of Crystal Falls, Michigan-based VanOss Forestry to be used in the manufacture of the official court for the 2027 NCAA Men’s Final Four. Through observation, students learned through proper techniques and safety methods of tree felling and chainsaw operation.
“Sustainability has always been a priority for Connor Sports in our position as the industry leader in hardwood basketball court manufacturing, and today’s event in partnership with our valued Upper Peninsula timber industry partners provided a classroom in the woods for students from the Forest Park and West Iron school districts,” said Benjamin Bachman, CEO Gerflor North America/Connor Sports. “We thank all those who developed such as tremendous education program to show local students first-hand the process of responsible forestry and how those forest to floor methods and products will be used for the Made in Michigan Official Court of the 2027 Men’s Final Four in Detroit.”
Educational stations included: hand cutting and tree selection; use of heavy equipment; impact of sustainable forestry on wildlife; cutting of logs into lumber; production of the court including a court panel similar to those to be used for the Final Four court, and the “landing” area where the cut logs are staged and prepared for transport to the sawmill.