Kentucky - Tennessee
Society of American Foresters
NEWSLETTER
Professionals advancing the science, technology, practice and teaching of forestry to benefit society and the environment.
Number 264 On the Web @ http://www.ktsaf.org February 2003
FROM THE OUTGOING CHAIR - GARY SCHNEIDER
A seemingly short time ago I was elected your KT-SAF chair. That time was in fact a year ago, and to say that it has been my privilege to have served in this capacity is an understatement indeed!
I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with the many foresters and related professionals that I have worked with over the past 12 months. I deeply appreciate the efforts put forth by our "SAF volunteers!" As we know, the Society of American Foresters could not function without individuals committing their time, talents, and, yes, their hard earned money for the good of their organization. Such unselfish dedication makes our SAF so great!
During the past year much has been accomplished within the KT-SAF, including the summer meeting at Paducah, KY, and the winter meeting just concluded at Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN. The 101 registered for that meeting focused on forest laws and regulations. Speakers from state, federal, academia, and industry shared the latest information on what constraints and opportunities current and pending legislation has/will have on forest operations.
The first presentation of an SAF professional ethics class was given by Dr. John Rennie (UT professor). The one-hour session, with one hour of approved CFE credit, will be offered at each future winter meeting. Completion of such an hour-long presentation satisfies the requirement that many organizations/associations have for continued instruction in professional ethics.
One of the most rewarding activities at our winter meeting was recognizing professional achievement. Johnny Dunn (Tn. Div. Forestry) received the Forest Technician of the Year, Hagan Wonn (Somerset Wood Products of Kentucky) was the Outstanding Professional forester of under 35-years of age, Ron Taylor (USFS, KY) received the Outstanding Professional forester award for over 35-years of age, and Emmet Vaughn Lumber Co. (TN) was honored with the Herman Baggenstoss award.
At the conclusion of the winter meeting, it was my honor to pass the gavel to incoming chair, Red Anderson. He will do a super job as the KT-SAF chair in 2003. Assisted by chair-elect, Jerry Crow, treasurer, Laurie Smith, and secretary, Jeff Lewis, these officers are backed by a great team of committee chairs and individuals. We still need your help, however. If you would like to become involved, please let your chapter chair know. I guarantee you will be given ample opportunity to provide leadership, and you will enjoy yourself as well.
I look forward to continuing to work with the members of KT-SAF, and all of the SAF membership, as I assume the chair of the 2003 House of Society Delegates.
COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE NOTES
Year 2002 Highlights and Wrap-up
Financial health
SAF ended 2002 within its budget target.
The insurance claim from the 2001 meeting was settled at 90% of our original claim.
New non-dues revenue (an important source of SAF funding)
Increased exhibitor revenue at Convention
SAF Merchandise is now a $70,000 profit center
Much of our assets are invested in reserve accounts and like the portfolios of many of our members, SAF's investments did not fair well in 2002
Professional Education
The Winston-Salem Convention offered many opportunities for professional education - targeting the needs of the practicing forester
SAF hosted its first Field Forester Seminar in Ellisville, Mississippi. The program drew over 80 participants and was deemed very successful
The CF program grew. At the beginning of the year there were approximately 1000 CFs. Staff anticipated that there would be over 2000 by the end of 2002. Staff was absolutely right…by the end of the year there were slightly over 3000.
Leadership Development - The Leadership Academy has been a real success for SAF…one of the most highly rated programs (rated 4.9 out of 5.0 by attendees). Although highly rated there is little financial support from the membership to make it viable.
Forest Policy - The 2002 Farm Bill was a major effort for SAF Policy staff. Whether it was testifying at committee hearings, providing critical information to key legislators, or spending time on the Hill making sure that congressional staffers were well informed…SAF was there this year. Our hats are off to Michael Goergen, senior director of programs and policy and Rita Neznek, government affairs manager
Outreach
Jeff Ghannam, director of public affairs, arranged SAF's participation in issue segments with several national markets (MSNBC, FOX, PBS) and numerous major news papers.
SAF was in constant contact with the medial across the country on the "Fire" issue this year
Membership
We ended the year short of our membership goal (-150).
Membership…recruitment and retention is a continual emphasis area for SAF
Looking Forward to 2003
Status of EVP Position - Michael Goergen , SAF director of programs and policy is currently serving as Acting Executive Vice President
Position announcement was distributed via press release and on the SAF website the week of December 9th
Search Committee has been formed and is actively seeking top candidates
Core Values Finalized - use them as key messages at every opportunity when communicating with clients/public, end each e-mail or letter with one, and add to your business card
Forests are a fundamental source of global health and human welfare
Forests must be sustained while simultaneously meeting environmental, economic, and community aspirations and needs.
Foresters are dedicated to sound forest management and conservation
Foresters serve landowners and society by providing sound knowledge and professional management skills
Leadership Academy - was eliminated from the proposed 2003 budget due to unavailable funds and declining participation. HSD Chair Mike Lester reported that HSD made a commitment to encourage participation and self-fund the Leadership Academy for 2003 taking into consideration the fact that the program would be streamlined under this scenario. If it doesn't happen in 2003, look for it in 2004.
Student Participation - Student members are one of SAF's most important assets. They are the future of SAF. Here's a proposal for state society leadership…
Ensure that student chapter(s) in your state society have an active/energetic university liaison and a cadre of equally active/energetic professional members to assist with programs and activities.
If you do not have a student mentor/sponsor program - start one!
Find a way to send a contingent of students to participate in the National Convention. Great opportunities for student growth, interaction, and locating job opportunities.
2003 Presidential Field Forester Award
Each State/multi-state Society is eligible to nominate a member.
State society chairs must send nomination to Tim French, Council Representative by May 31.
Nomination must include 1) biographical sketch, 2) photo, 3) letter from chair outlining the reason for each recipient's selection (see SAF web site at www.safnet.org/who/nationalawards.html)
Selection Criteria
1. Must have practiced forestry for at least 15 years
2. Major portion of career must be in field application of forestry
3. Must be recognized locally or regionally by peers for excellence in field application of forestry
4. Understands the forest and uses science along with the adaptive management process to achieve landowner objective and insure sustainability
5. Management intensity may range from very intensive applications to more extensive management regimes
6. May be from any employment sector
2004 Strategic Plan - For the past 5 or 6 years Council has developed a Strategic Plan to guide and focus the efforts of both the National Office and Council itself. The 2004 Strategic Plan has been reformatted and broadened to engage State Society leadership and assist them in their local planning efforts. State Society Executive Committees will find that many of their planned activities/programs will contribute to helping achieve the 2004 Strategic Objectives. Look for the Strategic Plan in the Forestry Source or print you own copy from the SAF website: http://www.safnet.org/who/strategicplan04.pdf
Tim French, Council Representative, District IX
2003 KT-SAF OFFICERS
On December 20, 2002, Richard M. Evans, KT-SAF Teller, announced the results of the 2003 elections. Jerry Crow was elected chairman-elect with 53 votes while Rudean Reynolds received 14 votes. Jeffery Lewis was elected secretary with 63 votes. We thank all the candidates for agreeing to run for these offices.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
EAST KENTUCKY CHAPTER OF SAF
The East Kentucky Chapter will hold their spring meeting, Friday, May 9th in Garrison, Kentucky. The meeting is being hosted by the consulting firm of Les Ott and Associates. Les and his colleagues manage 50,000 acres, primarily for timber production in Lewis County.
This is a joint meeting with the Ohio and Kentucky Chapters of the Association of Consulting Foresters of America and the East Kentucky Chapter of SAF. CFE credits will be awarded. Members in SAF chapters other than East Kentucky wanting details, contact Harry Bullock, Chapter Chair at bullockcf@aol.com.
KT-SAF SUMMER MEETING
The KT-SAF will hold its summer meeting on June 12 and 13, 2003, in Oneida, Tennessee. Hosted by the Middle Tennessee Chapter, it will be on Restoration and Legacy in the Upper Cumberlands. For room reservations call the Holiday Inn at 423-663-4100; state rates are $50 plus tax per night.
KT-SAF WINTER MEETING will be hosted by the West Kentucky Chapter in late January 2004.
SEMINARS HELP FIELD FORESTERS HANDLE THE TECHNOLOGY
Hand-held computers to record data. Geographic information systems and geographic positioning systems to map forest acreage. Software to help process and analyze forest inventory information. These are just some of the areas in which technological innovation has led to dramatic changes in the way field foresters do their work.
For foresters who haven't been able to stay as plugged-in to the latest advances in forestry technology, the avalanche of new tools and software packages may lead only to questions and bewilderment rather than increased accuracy and efficiency.
To help foresters sort it all out, the Society of American Foresters, in partnership with the American Tree Farm System and some of the nation's leading forestry technology companies, has created the SAF Field Seminar Series--a variety of events featuring classroom and field learning opportunities designed to give field foresters, land managers, and landowners hands-on experience with the latest technologies and teach them the newest techniques in forest management.
PERMANENT AND SUMMER JOBS
Employers with permanent or summer jobs are encouraged to contact the forestry programs in Kentucky and Tennessee. Send descriptions and other information to Traci Koury, Department of Forestry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0073, tkoury@uky.edu; Donald Hodges, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-4563, dhodges2@utk.edu; Karen Kuers, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37375, kkuers@sewanee.edu.
NEWS ABOUT FORESTERS
Beryl Nichols, a 1977 UT Forestry graduate, is featured on the cover and lead story of the Southern Loggin' Times, January 2003 issue. His business is called American Timber Investments out of Jasper, Alabama.
Gary Gilmore and Joe Simmons both retired from Bowater at the end of December 2002. Stan Malone retired at the end of January 2003. Bob Keeney, currently Bowater procurement coordinator, will be retiring at the end of March.
Gary is planning on retiring to his farm near Spring City where he hopes to begin building a new home in March of this year. He will be heavily involved in the training of his grandsons with farm'n, fish'n and hunt'n. Joe Simmons is getting into the real estate business. Stan is looking forward to doing consulting work with some land development along with building a cabin this summer on our farm in Cumberland county.
As part of the Bowater reorganization Tom Mainor has been promoted to procurement coordinator; he will now be reporting to Ed Eldridge of Cleveland.
Jenny Mainor, a 2001 UT forestry graduate, is now with the Tennessee Division of Forestry. She had been with Mead in Alabama.
WHAT IS GOING ON ALONG THE ROADS ON THE MOREHEAD RANGER DISTRICT DANIEL BOONE NATIONAL FOREST? - RON TAYLOR
Two roadside hazard tree timber sales have been implemented on the Morehead District. Several thousand merchantable and non-merchantable dead hazard trees are being cut to reduce falling trees and limbs along approximately 58 miles of roads. The two-lined chestnut borer has infested and killed hardwood trees, primary white oak, weakened by drought and defoliation. The biggest and oldest trees seem to have been the most susceptible. Mortality has been significant on the District and removal of these trees will reduce the hazard along these roads. A road maintenance contract to remove and dispose of this material would have been very expensive with similar impacts. Also, with these two sales the Regional Salvage Sale Fund is being replenished by $28,000. So, if you see trees being skidded along the roadways of Bath, Menifee and Rowan Counties they are removing hazard trees killed by the two-lined chestnut borer.
Fugate Branch Stewardship Pilot Project
New contracting procedures are being tested on the Morehead Ranger District of the Daniel Boone. Timber sale contracts including wildlife habitat improvement, forest health and other timber stand improvement activities are being lumped together based on a trade of "goods for services" and contract award based on "best value" rather than highest bid. Conservation credits can be earned prior to harvesting in lieu of purchaser credit to cover a portion of the stumpage value.
Also a Monitoring and Evaluation Team for the Fugate Branch Stewardship Pilot Project met on Monday January 6th. The team is made up of local citizens and state agencies and will be evaluating business practices for timber sales that Congress authorized the Forest Service to use. They will monitor all aspects of the timber sale from start to finish. This is the first project of this type for the forest and only one of eleven projects in Region 8.
Fire Tower Restoration
Frank Bodkin, District Archeologist, spoke at the Forest Fire Lookout Association annual meeting on January 18th in Morehead. While researching his talk on fire towers on the Morehead Ranger District he came across information about the location of a forgotten fire tower on Sand Mountain near Plummers Mill on the Rowan/Fleming County line. This tower was made of wood but was never replaced by the newer metal towers as were several other towers on the District. Plans are underway to restore the Hickory Flats Fire Tower, which is on private land, by a local group. This tower is located in the Cranston area. On Sunday, January 19th, the Forest Fire Lookout Association toured the towers and lookout sites on the Forest. The Morehead District already has restored Tater Knob Fire Tower located along the Zilpo Scenic Byway. This 35 foot tall tower, seated on the prominent knob, offers a magnificent view of rolling forested hills along the Bath and Menifee County-line including Cave Run Lake and Chestnut Cliffs.
2002 FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA (FFA) CONVENTION
The Kentucky-Tennessee SAF staffed an informational booth this year at the 75th annual FFA convention in Louisville, KY on October 30, 31, & November 1 at the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center. The National FFA organization honored the Society of American Foresters with a plaque for its outstanding support as a 35-year exhibitor at the FFA National Career Show. The career show is an integral part of the FFA convention as it highlights & offers career opportunities for current high school agricultural students. FFA is part of the American public education system and prepares students to respond to the needs of local communities.
This year, an estimated 46,000 people attended the FFA convention. About 5000 FFA students visited the SAF booth and came away with information on forestry. The kids are asked to locate (pin) their hometown on a map of the U.S. at the SAF booth. Every state in the U.S. was represented as well as representatives from Russia, Europe, Puerto Rico & Canada.
The KT SAF provided an opportunity to build & introduce awareness to our forestry profession for our products and services to the next future generation. In doing this, we helped to build a relationship with these students in understanding the importance forestry plays in our lives.
The SAF volunteers who helped staff the booth at the convention were Rick & Cindy Wilcox, Kevin Galloway, Tadd Norris, Alan Fowler, John Wood, Dave Walters, Gavin Wilson, & Ken Negray. Dale & Kelly Weigel from Indiana SAF also helped. Volunteering a few hours to work at the booth is an enjoyable experience. The more people we have, the more fun we also have with the kids and at the convention. To help with next year's convention, contact Ken Negray at 270-365-7789 or krnegray@vci.net.
Ken Negray
4-H SITE EVALUATION EVENT BECOMES REALITY!
The 2002 State 4-H Forestry Contest culminated a ten year project to "enhance" 4-H Forestry. In 1992, 4-H Forestry judging consisted of an outstanding program requiring the identification of leafs, fruits and seed and wood from important forest trees. The program lent itself to a static format suitable for participation at regional fairs. Our "enhancement" proposal at the time was to gradually move away from the fairs and include skill events such as tree measuring/sawtimber volume estimation, compass and pacing and a team event to be know as Site Evaluation.
The Site Evaluation contest requires team work and critical synthesis of concepts from the individual events into useful stewardship decisions. This event addresses our long held objective of stimulating critical thinking and information synthesis in the Forestry Judging contest. My heart swelled with pride as the young minds were obviously at work. Despite the rain interrupting our train of thought, we persevered and conducted the first ever site evaluation event at this year's State 4-H Forestry contest. Our Extension Program is to be commended for these efforts and opportunities we have afforded these young people.
In 1992, the idea was that the Tennessee program could be "brought more in line with the National" since Larry Tankersley was a recent appointee to the National 4-H Forestry Invitational Management Committee,.
Based on an agent survey it was agreed that events would be added incrementally over successive seasons. One event was added each year for a number of years. This allowed time for development and implementation of training and educational materials. Tree identification videos and slide sets were produced to assist with training in tree identification and forest insect and disease identification(a "new" event), tree measuring sticks were purchased and distributed to agents for use in sawtimber volume estimation, wood identification sets and literature were developed and distributed and recently CDs made available from the National 4-H Forestry Invitational Contest were made available to agents. In-service training opportunities have also been productive.
The successful completion of the site evaluation event at this year's State Contest (2002) fulfills a direct charge from the search committee that hired me. The 4-H Forestry Judging "enhancement" program appears to be "institutionalized". Many young agents have no direct experience with anything else and many agents who were early adopters of the program have continued to participate perennially and often use the material learned in other program areas such as club meetings and outdoor class rooms and adult forestry work. This project has been a wonderful professional experience for me personally! Thanks to all who participated and supported this effort.
SAF members are urged to contribute to 4-H Forestry efforts. We need your support! The Tennessee 4-H Forestry program needs sponsors. We are soliciting donations from persons and companies who are willing to support Tennessee's 4-H Forestry Program. Currently the 4-H Program needs funds to buy trophies, state medals and pay expenses for the Tennessee team's trip to the National 4-H Forestry Invitational contest.
You are well aware of the importance of public support for our forest management activities. Forestry programs available to young persons are an important aspect of cultivating this support. The 4-H Forestry Program contacts over 5,000 youth and adults each year.
If you are willing to contribute please make your check out to 4-H Foundation-Forestry and send your tax deductible donation to:
4-H Forestry
The University of Tennessee
Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries
274 Ellington Plant Sciences Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996
Note that there are many ways to support and contribute to 4-H Forestry. Volunteer at your local county Extension office.
Thanks very much for your support!
For more information contact Larry Tankersley at (865)974-7977.
OFFICE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
KTSAF has been asked to send a letter supporting the Office of Forest Management at the University of the South to the Vice Chancellor. When this letter is finalized, it will be posted on the KTSAF website. KTSAF members, particularly those who are also members of the Episcopal Church, are urged to add their support by contacting the bishop of their diocese. Continuation of this office supports stewardship of natural resources which is also an important issue in the Episcopal Church.
KEEPING YOUR ADDRESSES, PHONE NUMBERS UP-TO-DATE -
JOHN RENNIE
Please keep your information on file with SAF up-to-date. Provide changes to: Amy Ziadi, data systems administrator, SAF National Office, 5400 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 897-8720, ext. 102, ziadia@safnet.org .