THE EKSAF

STEWARD

Vol. 2 No. 2 East Kentucky Society of American Foresters March 31, 2000

Membership Campaign 2000

This year, for most of us, started like previous years, except of course for any y2k problems that might have surfaced. There were meetings to attend and bills to pay and many other annual occurrences that signal the beginning of the year. One of these signals is the paying of SAF membership dues. Paying of these dues ensures your continued membership in the world's largest professional society for foresters. A society whose ideas and goals we shape and support through our membership. There are many potential members that could not only benefit from membership in SAF but could also provide benefits to SAF. This through their efforts to promote forestry and SAF and by adding to the member resource pool that is vital to the success of any organization. Likely as not you know such a potential member or members. If so give them call and encourage them to join SAF.

KT SAF has decided this year to encourage recruitment of new members by offering an incentive award. Not that any of us need any such incentives, but it couldn't hurt. This award, in the form of a $100 gift certificate, will be presented at the winter meeting in 2001 to the KT-SAF member who recruits the most new members prior to the endof this calenda r year. National office records will be used to verify the winner, so be sure and get the applications submitted in time to be included in their records. Student chapter advisors are unfortunately not eligible for this award. However, the student

chapter along with the chapter's advisor having the highest % increase in membership will be recognized for their efforts. You also get the added advantage of increasing your brain pool for forestry jeopardy should this enjoyable and entertaining event resurface at the winter meeting.

If you are not already aware of the national "Member-Get-A-Member" campaign check out the SAF website at www.safnet.org/members/getambr.htm. This program offers rewards, in the form of gift certificates and raffle prizes, for members who sponsor new members. Basically for every regular member (or two student members) that you recruit you will receive a $5 gift certificate for use on SAF products and programs. Your name will also be entered in a raffle for prizes including free registration and airfare to SAF's 2000 National Convention. Details can be found at the site mentioned above.

Here then are several opportunities that hope-

fully will add some additional encouragement- for you to recruit new members to SAF. Membership applications are available from SAF at (301)-897-8720, ext. 108 or you can download an application from the SAF website mentioned above or at www.safnet.org/who/join.htm. Good luck with the recruiting.

Arbor Day 2000

April 28, 2000 is National Arbor Day. SAF and the National Arbor Day Foundation recently signed an agreement aiming to raise public awareness of forestry and trees, recognize the important role of foresters, and develop local media opportunities. Governor Patton has proclaimed April 7 as Kentucky's day of observance of Arbor Day. Please take the opportunity to plan and/or get involved in local celebrations of Arbor Day. If you are or are not participating in Arbor Day activities but would not mind initiating some publicity please contact Dwayne Turner at 130 Robinson Road, Jackson, KY, phone 606-666-2438 ext. 225 or at dturner@ca.uky.edu. I have "ready to go" articles and other materials for media release etc. I can fax and/or email this material to you for use in your area. Please consider and take advantage of these opportunities to educate the public.

Calendar of Events

EKSAF Executive Committee

Chair Kevin Galloway

Chair-elect Ron Taylor

Past Chair Jeff Lewis

Secretary/Treasurer Laurie Smith

Policy Chair Rudean Reynolds

Communications Chair Dwayne Turner

April 7, 2000 - Kentucky Arbor Day Observance.

April 15, 2000 _ Kentucky Chapter, The American Chestnut Foundation organizational meeting. 1:00 p.m. Gladie Cabin Red River Gorge, Powell County, KY. Contact Rex Mann, 606-745-3123.

April 27, 2000 - EKSAF Chapter Spring Meeting, Natural Bridge State Resort Park. Please contact Kevin Galloway 606-784-7505 or Donnie Richardson 606-663-2852.

April 28 - National Arbor Day

April 29, 2000 _ Henry County Farm Forestry Field Day. Visit area farm with focus on forage and woodland management. 9:00 a.m. _ 2:00 p.m. Lunch served. Port Royal Area. Contact Steve Moore, Henry County Extension Agent, 502-845-2811.

June 14-16 - K-TSAF Summer Meeting, Cleveland, TN, "Ecosystem Management and Restoration on the Cherokee"

Loggers Involved in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative

American Loggers Congress and the American Forest and Paper Association recently established a reporting protocol for loggers to confidentially report perceived violations of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) by participants in the SFI program. Following a report the SFI independent expert review panel will request an investigation, review, and action from the SFI participant. Report filers will be given a report outcome within 45 days of the filing date.The Sampson Group serves as a "firewall"

between the company and the report filer and will issue confidential and anonymous summaries of reports filed and recorded outcomes. Mathew Smidt (606-666-2438 ext. 228) can fax the report protocol to anyone interested or it can be printed from the Sampson Group Web Site (www.sampsongroup.com).

Reprinted from The Kentucky Logjam, Winter 1999/2000, Volume 5, No. 4.

KML Program Updates

Kentucky Master Logger programs are filling up fast. As the July 15, 2000 deadline for the start of the Kentucky Forest Conservation's logging regulations approaches, we are seeing a large number of loggers registering for the remaining Kentucky Master Logger classes.

If you already are a Kentucky Master Logger and you want others in your firm to get designated as a Kentucky Master Logger, don't panic. The Kentucky Master Logger program will continue to offer the 3 day programs. Programs will be offered in the summer and fall and will continue to be offered

1999 - Worst Forest Fire Season in a Decade

Forest Fires ravaged more than 152,000 acres across the state last year, making 1999 the worst year for forest fires since 1987.

The fall forest fire season started early due to a severe drought that began in July. The drought resulted in numerous fires, caused by cigarettes thrown from passing vehicles, heat from farm machinery, electric fences, and the exhaust systems from vehicles parked in grass.

In November, a sharp increase of forest fires forced the Division of Forestry to mobilize employees from the western districts to the eastern and southeastern districts of the state and request assistance from the Kentucky National Guard (KNG), the U.S. Forest Service, and the Southeastern Forest Fire Compact.

The Southeastern Forest Fire Compact is an agreement between nine southern states that share skilled wildland firefighters and equipment. The Southeastern Compact provided several crewleaders, engines, buckets, and other resources. Many of the states that provided assistance were also experiencing an increased number of forest fires due to drought conditions across the south. The following states provided assistance to the Division of Forestry: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The Kentucky National Guard provided both aerial and ground crews for fire suppression activities. Six Black Hawk helicopters, equipped with 660-gallon Bambi buckets, dropped water on numerous fires, and over 100 National Guard members were used to battle fires on the ground. The U.S. Forest Service provided assistance with fires bordering the Daniel Boone National Forest. A Southwest Area Interagency Management Team, made up of overhead team members from USFS and several southern states, were sent to assist the Eastern District located in Betsy Layne, Kentucky.

Inmate crews from the Bell County Forestry Camp, East Kentucky Correctional Complex, Otter Creek and The Lee Adjustment Center also provided assistance in putting in fire lines on numerous fires in southeastern Kentucky.

Governor Paul Patton issued an Emergency Declaration on November 18th, banning all outdoor burning statewide until conditions improved and directing all state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce the order.

Thousands of acres burned but very little structure damage occurred and no serious injuries were reported. Local fire departments were instrumental in protecting homes in areas near the fires.

arson. To combat the dramatic increase of arson fires, the division tried a new approach. A Prevention

Team was set up to saturate problem areas with educational materials and media coverage. The team focused on arson and the need for community members to protect their homes and lives by reporting arsonists. The Arson Hotline 1-800-27-ARSON offers up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of an arsonist.

Several arson leads received in November are being investigated with the assistance of the Kentucky State Police, Kentucky Department for Fish and Wildlife, local sheriffs and the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet's office of the Inspector General. Arson arrests were made in Perry and Wolfe Counties.

Gwen Holt

Kentucky Division of Forestry

Arson has been identified as the primary cause of many of the forest fires in 1999. Typically, nearly 50% of forest fires in Kentucky are attributed to

Year Number of Fires Acres Burned

1989 1,188 23,755

1990 1,266 22,437

1991 1,514 68,904

1992 1,297 20,574

1993 1,068 18,126

1994 1,802 50,263

1995 2,097 67,828

1996 973 18,066

1997 913 14,475

1998 1,140 29,224

1999 2,396 139,109

Gypsy Moths Move Into East Kentucky

This team is a group of experienced firefighters who are specially trained in emergency fire situations.

The gypsy moth monitoring program conducted last summer showed a sharp increase in the number of moths captured in three eastern Kentucky counties. A total of 507 months was captured in 1999, compared to just 42 in 1998 and 98 in 1997. The highest numbers of moths were found in Boyd, Bracken and Carter Counties.

The gypsy moths represent a serious threat to hardwood trees in Kentucky. The moths cause significant damage and even death to oaks,

hickory, ash, and maple.

Division of Forestry employees will do follow-up surveys this winter and spring to locate any egg masses laid by female gypsy moths. An intensive trapping program is expected for the affected counties.

Reprinted from the Kentucky Woodlands, Vol. 8, No. 1, Winter 2000.

Log Price Report

Agriculture Water Quality Plans

Most of us are aware of the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality (AWQ) Act and the Kentucky AWQ Plan developed by Kentucky Division of Water as a result of the AWQA. October 23, 2001 is the date that the provisions of this plan must be implemented. You will recall that basically any landowner with 10 or more acres that has forestry and/or farming operations must have an individual AWG plan. Indications are that most landowners seem to be putting this off until the last minute. The most likely reason being the misconception that this is a lengthy and involved process and plan. In reality most of these plans will be fairly simple to com-

plete. As respon-sible foresters we should all try to stress the importance of this plan to those landowners that we are in contact with professionally and /or personally. They can and should be encouraged to contact the following agencies for assistance:

University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Conservation, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA Farm Service Agency, local Conservation District offices, the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, the Division of Water Regional office, and the Division of Forestry District office.

Background for Forest Landowners on EPA Water Quality Regulations

Jefferson G. Edgens, Ph.D., Natural Resource Policy Specialist, UK Cooperative Extension Service

In August, EPA released two draft rules packages that broadly sweeps agriculture and silviculture operations into the point source category. Point sources are anything defined as coming from a "discrete conveyance," i.e. pipes, culverts, etc. from wastewater treatment plants or industrial outfalls. Under the Clean Water Act (CWA) point sources are issued permits and receiving waters are monitored.

However, the CWA does not address non-point source pollution in the same manner. Court cases and legislative history supports the contention that non-point sources are to be treated differently.

But over the last few years, approximately 40 states (Kentucky is not one at this point) have been sued to enforce water quality standards and to target non-point sources. In this light, EPA chose to, among other things, draft rules that would capture nonpoint sources and make them subject to the same permitting process as point sources. In addition, the science behind non-point source pollution is woefully inadequate. The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) testified that only 4 of 50 states responding to their survey have sufficient data to target non-point sources of pollution. Therefore, potentially regulated parties are challenging the legality and scientific basis of the rules.

The point at issue is something called total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) an engineering approach best suited for command and control of point sources. A TMDL assesses the amount of a pollutant that can be safely assimilated in a watershed without exceeding water quality standards.

Since August, complaints and criticisms of EPA's rules have reached a crescendo. Congress has received a large number of complaints from agriculture and silviculture groups charging EPA is off the mark in regulating these industries in the same manner as point sources. Concerned parties have raised the criticism that Congress has not provided strong oversight in the rules process. However, the latest word from Washington is that several pieces of legislation have been introduced that would clarify non-point control.

TMDL Legislation Before Congress

<> Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has introduced legislation S. 2041 (Feb. 8) to explicitly exempt logging operations from EPA proposed TMDL rules. As you recall, representatives from Forest Landowners Association spoke to an overflow crowd during a recent El Dorado Arkansas hearing on TMDLs. No surprise, then, that Sen. Lincoln has introduced legislation.

<> On Feb 10, Rep. Jay Dickey (R-AR) introduced H.R. 3625 to exempt agricultural stormwater and silviculture operations from permitting.

<> Senator Hutchinson (R-AR) is the third member of Congress to introduce legislation that seeks to exempt silviculture from the TMDL rules. S. 2139 would amend the clean water act to

Congress has also told senior EPA management not to finalize proposed rules without significant changes first. Congress has become involved as state agencies and landowners have criticized the rules package and the costs of compliance.

It is clear the new EPA rules create uncertainty for the industry and private landowners interested in harvesting their timber. This is a developing story and I'll keep EK SAF members informed as to the latest efforts.

exempt "agricultural stormwater discharges" including runoff from ... forest land. Hutchinson's measure exempts silvicultural operations described as: nurseries, reforestation, cultural treatment, thinning, prescribed burning, site preparation, road construction and maintenance, surface drainage and pest and fire control.

According to a news release from the American Crop Protection Assoc., these measures"may be attached as riders to must-pass appropriations bills."

Desperate Need

I have been doing forest management work in some fashion for the last twenty-eight years. In that time I have seen many hundreds of cases that were never brought under forest management. Multiple tens of cases that were brought under management and the plan was never completed. And many hundreds of farms with thousands of dollars in collateral in standing timber, sold because of the landowners "desperate need" for capital.

In my part of the world, lending institutions do not itemize standing timber values when using land as collateral. This, then, can cause an undue financial burden on some landowners that is most easily solved by selling this uncollateralized property. Therefore, in hundreds of cases thousands of acres of timberland are being harvested prematurely in Kentucky. This practice is costing landowners millions of dollars in lost revenue, putting the sustainability of our resource in jeopardy, costing the financial community millions of dollars in lost interest revenue, and continuing to move our forest ecosystem even further out of balance.

This "desperate need" situation is a losing proposition and will remain that way in our small farm economy unless we in the forest management, forest industry, financial, environmental preservation and environmental conservation communities commit ourselves to formulating a financial instrument for removing the "desperate need" from this situation.

In Kentucky "desperate need" is one of the two biggest threats to good forest management. The other threat is a "just plain need" for a return on investment, This "just plain need" situation is at the very least an equal threat because of the sheer volume ofinvestors with as little as a few thousand dollars to millions invested in the relatively cheap land of Kentucky.

We in the forest management community are on the threshold of being able to bring under management a substantial portion of our states twelve million acres of forested land; land that was abused almost beyond comprehension in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This abused land, in areas where fire has been kept to a minimum, has made a tremendous recovery in the last half century. The post, world war II economic recovery, limited as it was in rural areas of Kentucky, would not have been possible without this regeneration of our forest. Now, here at the turn of the twenty first century, a deforestation of equal magnitude would devastate our rural economy and send tremors through Kentucky's statewide economy. This being true, let

us not forget, that the devastation that took our forefathers close to a century to achieve; we as an industry could now accomplish in a decade.

If we then are going to give more than "lip service" to bringing about a guaranteed sustainable yield for society whose lives depend upon it, for those in forest industry whose livelihoods depend upon it, and for the health of our planet upon which our lives depend; we must act soon! We must act of one accord, in unity, as a chorus with many voices blended into one song.

We can elicit change only after putting to rest our prejudices from the past. Prejudices that were spawned by entities fighting over shares of, what was considered to be an endless, inexhaustible resource. Prejudices later fueled by fear of the real possibility of a resource so altered that it could be of no use. Prejudices that can now be overcome because these same entities realize that only by working together can they achieve their individual goals.

Economic prosperity by utilizing forest products. Preserving our forests for future generations. Intense ecosystem management to maintain the overall health of our planet. These are all lofty goals, but they don't nor will they ever, stand alone. Neither are they achievable in Kentucky, or anywhere else for that matter, without the involvement and support of private landowners.

We must find a way to make "standing timber" yield a return on investment. We must, in many cases, find a way to make "standing timber" yield a profit. We must if we are to have a dependable supply of wood products. We must if we are to have old growth forest to pass on to future generations. We must if we are going to have beautiful forest to recreate in. We must if we are to have a healthy planet to live on. WE MUST!!!

Billy Joe Fudge

Kentucky Division of Forestry

The EKSAF Steward is published biannually. Please feel free to submit any information and articles for editing and inclusion in the newsletter. Helpful comments on the content, format and structure of the newsletter are also as welcome. Send information and comments to Dwayne Turner at 606-666-2438 ext. 225, dturner@ca.uky.edu and/or 130 Robinson Road, Jackson, KY 41339.

SPRING MEETING NOTICE

The EKSAF Chapter will hold it's Spring Meeting on Thursday, April 27, 2000. The location for the meeting will be the Natural Bridge State Resort Park at Slade, KY . A brief business meeting will be held at the Hemlock Lodge and then field tours that focuson the effects of fire, past land uses and treatment, forest recovery and even-aged management of sites near the Cottage Furnace area of the Daniel Boone National Forest. A lunch stop will be made at the Food Court in Stanton. The registration fee will be $3.00 per person to cover the meeting room expense. Carpooling is recommended since a fair amount of travel will occur between sites.

Please contact Kevin Galloway at 606-784-7505 or Donnie Richardson at 606-663-2852 by Tuesday April 25th if you plan to attend or if you have questions.

Meeting Agenda

9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Registration

9:30 - 10:30 Business meeting and Updates

10:30 - 11:00 Tour overview

11:00 - 12:30 Tour of fire site

12:30 -1:30 Lunch in Stanton

1:30 - 3:00 Tour of Cottage Furnace sites

EKSAF

C/O Dwayne Turner

University of Kentucky

130 Robinson Road

Jackson, KY 41339