2012 in Review
VISION | MISSION The Arkansas Forestry Association strives to be the respected leader and credible information source for all issues related to forestry.
The Arkansas Forestry Association advocates for the sustainable use and sound stewardship of Arkansas’s forests and related resources to benefit members of the state’s forestry community and all Arkansans, today and in the future.
roads and at the same time orchestrated a situation where the Supreme Court may elect not to issue a ruling on the Silvicultural Rule itself. This leaves the status of forest roads in limbo, the validity of the new regulation under attack and EPA on a path to create a whole new unprecedented regulatory program which will be subject to yet more litigation. Working forests and their owners could not be further from attaining certainty in management of their lands, which is why Congress needs to provide a legislative remedy.
Pesticide application
Advocacy Representing your interests
Local, state, federal
Public policy work The forestry community faces unnecessary regulatory threats at the local, state and national levels. Taking center stage in 2012 were forest roads, pesticide application and taxes. AFA Executive Vice President Max Braswell worked with AFA leadership, committee members, agency staff, affiliated organizations and elected officials to advocate your interests and ensure the profitable long-term management of the state’s forest resources.
Forest roads In a landmark decision issued August 17, 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that polluted stormwater generated by logging roads is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). AFA worked with several of its members and the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) to secure support from Sen. Mark Pryor, a key Democratic ally, on a letter to President Obama urging the
U.S. Inspector General to recommend Supreme Court review of this forest roads issue. As the legal and legislative battles continued, AFA provided financial assistance to the legal process, led by NAFO, and signed onto an industry amicus brief to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Continuing its advocacy work, AFA filed comments with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), joining 80 individuals and organizations, regarding its proposed rulemaking on the application of the agency’s point source storm water rules for forest roads. AFA called on EPA to preserve the existing status of forest roads as non-point sources under the Clean Water Act. In December, EPA removed the mandatory NPDES permit requirement for point source stormwater discharges from logging and associated access
On the state level, AFA initiated many meetings with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to better understand the implications on the pesticide application process after the agency issued its final draft of the Arkansas Pesticide General Permit (PGP). The draft adopted EPA’s position that forestry’s long-standing non-point source status was moot. In April, AFA facilitated a task group that met with ADEQ Director Teresa Marks and her staff to express specific concerns with the Arkansas PGP. The meeting was very productive as the agency agreed to investigate opportunities to make the permit workable for forest landowners. In June, AFA and a task group of members conducted a field tour with ADEQ’s water division staff to educate and demonstrate examples of precision herbicide application methods and best management practices used by forestry to enhance forests, while also protecting water quality. To continue sharing the latest information on this important issue, AFA created a summary for forest landowners on the Arkansas PGP entitled, “What Every Forest Landowner Should Know.” The article was posted on the AFA website, included in newsletters, and also included a PowerPoint presentation to help landowners operate within the permit guidelines. In October, AFA testified at an Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology
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When the Arkansas Forestry Commission’s appropriation bill came under fire, AFA and a coalition of forestry organizations worked to defeat an amendment that would have limited the harvesting activities on the Poison Spring State Forest.
in the standard.
Connection
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On your behalf...
The association recommended candidates for two open positions on the Arkansas Forestry Commission and Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Allen Morgan of Arkadelphia, past AFA president and principal in Hunter-Wasson, and Bobby Johnson, 2011 AFA Tree Farmer of the Year, to serve on the Commission. AFA reached out to Gov. Mike Beebe and coordinated additional letters of support from AFA members asking him to fund the use of Single Engine Air Tankers for the Arkansas Forestry Commission in the 2012 fire season. AFA reached out to more than 200 candidates for the state legislature with a summary of issues of importance to the timber and forest products community and a questionnaire asking each their positions on issues. This helps the AFA Government Affairs Committee make decisions on endorsements and provides insight into which candidates may be future allies in the legislature. AFA board member Tommy Maxwell urged the U.S. Green Building
Council to broaden the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard in an Arkansas Business opinion piece. Other prominent Arkansans joined the discussion including Aubra Anthony, CEO of Anthony Forest Products; Lt. Governor Mark Darr; Sen. Michael Lamoureux; and Rep. Nate Bell. •
AFA had the opportunity to educate Lt. Governor Mark Darr on the benefits of forest certification and the need to broaden the LEED Standard to include multiple certification programs, including SFI and Tree Farm, in addition to FSC, which is currently the only recognized program
ADVOCACY, cont. —
Other issues
Commission public hearing in support of proposed changes to Arkansas Regulation 6 that would allow for a Permit by Rule for entities that apply pesticides to manage their timberland. The opportunity for these changes to take place was the direct result of nearly two years of work by AFA and a task group of landowners to find solutions to several key concerns with the Arkansas Pesticide General Permit. A Permit by Rule will greatly simplify the permit process.
In addition to its legal advocacy, AFA focused on legislative advocacy in July at the federal level, supporting bills such as H.R. 872 (Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act), and H.R. 2541 (Silviculture Regulatory Consistence Act). Both of these bills would provide more regulatory certainty for forest landowners, and efforts continue to build support for these or similar legislative solutions to issue such as forest roads and pesticide permits. AFA urged U.S. Senator Mark Pryor
AFA endorsed a slate of candidates at the federal and state level for the November General Election. Of the 13 candidates that AFA endorsed, 12 were victorious in their races including AFA Executive Committee member Ken Bragg, who will be the Representative from House District 15. • Grass roots coalitions are important to AFA’s advocacy work. The association was part of a coalition of loggers, landowners, manufacturers, consultants, and state and federal forestry officials that outlined drought-related challenges for representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The coalition did an excellent job of defining the activities that contribute to good forest health and identified resources needed to continue to fulfill our responsibilities.
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Along with the Arkansas Timber Producers Association and the Arkansas Forest and Paper Council, AFA hosted a New House Member Orientation Breakfast, which allowed leaders from each organization to meet with incoming legislators. The event also was also the first opportunity to distribute the new 2013-2014 Legislative Maps, a “must-have” item for each legislative session. (AFA is a valued partner.)
and Congressman Mike Ross to support keeping the 2003 tax cuts on dividends and capital gains in place. Dividend payments are not only good for investors, but they also encourage financial transparency, higher stock prices, and less debt financing. The current tax rates are much more conducive to economic growth, investment and job creation. (AFA advocates for public policy that allows for profitable and sustainable long-term management of forest resources.)
Information
Assessing, adding value
Gather, filter, communicate AFA and the AFA Education Foundation are increasing their presence and influence in social media and web-based communications tools and are working to incorporate them into more of the association’s events and activities.
Facebook With 278 “likes,” AFA is continuing to build its Facebook presence—averaging three posts a week on association activities and links to articles and online resources: facebook.com/arkforests
Constant Contact Every Monday— and other times, as needed—AFA distributes TreeMail, an email newsletter for members and friends of the association. It includes articles of interest to the forestry community, a calendar of events, program and workshop information, job announcements, breaking news and other information. In addition to TreeMail, members receive a weekly Legislative Update from AFA Executive Vice President Max Braswell when the State Legislature is in session.
Twitter Our 1,042 Twitter followers represent a wide range of international, national, state and local forestry and conservation organizations and businesses; state and federal elected officials; state and federal government agencies; print and broadcast media; and others. Each month, on average, @arkforests (AFA’s Twitter ‘handle”) is mentioned by other Twitter users with a combined reach of 50,000 Twitter users.
Paper.li Each day, @arkforests publishes the Arkansas Forestry Daily via Twitter. It is an online newspaper that aggregates stories from AFA’s Twitter lists and other key search words. When it is “published,” a tweet goes out that provides a link to the newspaper and mentions key contributors: paper.li
During the 2012 Teacher Conservation Tour, we encouraged participants to make social media posts to win an iPod Touch. This generated 30 Facebook posts by TCT participants, reaching 943 Facebook users.
Flickr We create online albums of event photos on Flickr.com, embed the slide shows into website pages and include links to the online albums in our electronic newsletters sent through Constant Contact: flickr. com/photos/arkforests
Issuu All of our print publications (newsletters, membership applications, guides, etc.) will soon be available online for viewing, downloading and printing at issuu.com/arkforests. This will allow members greater access to membership recruitment tools and association information.
YouTube Watch a variety of forestry-related videos, including Arkansas Forests Forever and the AFA membership video, on the AFA YouTube channel: youtube. com/ArkansasForestry
Slideshare This site allows AFA to upload and share PowerPoint presentations from meetings and events in a user-friendly format: slideshare.net/arkforests
On a regular basis over the past few years, the AFA Executive Committee and Board of Directors have reviewed and discussed the association’s financial health. Times have been tough. At its September 25 meeting, the Board of Directors approved an AFA membership dues adjustment to provide financial stability and build a much-needed reserve. In 2007, the AFA board approved a new dues structure. This is the only time in more than 20 years that AFA dues have been increased. This generated enough membership income to allow the association to meet its financial goals and obligations for the year. However, since that time, dues income have fallen an average of $23,000 per year, for three years. Over that same time frame, AFA’s cash reserve dropped 63 percent. The reserve is used for operating expenses during bad economic conditions and, when needed, to engage in critical legislative, regulatory or other public policy initiatives. The staff and Executive Committee discussed this dilemma for more than a year, and concluded a new direction was necessary to prevent the depletion of our reserve. With these factors in mind, we conducted a thorough review of the AFA membership database and compared dues structures with other southern forestry associations. AFA dues rank at or near the bottom. While this fact alone does not justify the need for change, it does verify that we have an opportunity to support AFA in a way that will allow us to deliver the value you expect and more align our dues structure with that of our colleagues. Thus, after much discussion and debate, the AFA Executive Committee recommended and the Board of Directors approved a new dues structure for 2013-2015. The new structure will allow the association to stabilize the budget and begin to rebuild a reserve. (Grow AFA membership by providing value in everything we do.)
Programs Promote forestry
(Left to right) Auditor Ray Hicks, from the University of West Virginia, visits with David Butler, Enterprise Forest Management, and Carl Carter, Carter Forestry and Wildlife, during a Tree Farm visit.
TREE FARM
From April 30 to May 3, a team from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the American Tree Farm System visited 36 Arkansas Tree Farms, selected by a random sampling of the database, as part of a required Tree Farm program audit. Through the Tree Farm program, ATFS
offers certification to forest landowners who are committed to good forest management. AFA administers this program through its Tree Farm Committee, made up of volunteer Tree Farm Inspectors and woodland owners. ATFS certifies forest management to eight standards of sustainability. Periodically, each ATFS region is
required to undergo an audit by an accredited certification body. During this audit, a team examines on-the-ground conformance to the standards. (AFA facilitates programs and services that promote profitable forestry, sustainability and stewardship.)
Membership A new Membership Task Group met in January to develop a Membership Recruitment Strategy. Highlights of the strategy include: •
Using frequent communication to encourage and equip members to make membership recruitment part of their commitment to AFA
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Capitalizing on relationships to identify high priority membership targets
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Demonstrating the value of membership
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Creating tools, programs, activities and strategies that appeal to a young demographic
In support of this strategy, a revived Membership Committee met in September and AFA hosted a regional membership meeting at Arborgen’s Bluff City Nursery in November that allowed members to network and learn about ArborGen’s seedling production operations.
View an online presentation on the AFA Membership Strategy by scanning this code with your smartphone or go to goo.gl/CmglK
AFA members joined staff for an association update and nursery tour during the AFA Regional Meeting at the ArborGen nursery in Bluff City.
FOUNDATION REACHES EDUCATORS, STUDENTS, LANDOWNERS, OTHERS WITH POSITIVE FORESTRY MESSAGE Formed in 1996, the AFA Education Foundation’s mission is to provide programs and activities that promote the economic and environmental benefits of forest management in the state.
PROJECT LEARNING TREE PLT is an environmental education program for early childhood and K-12 students. It teaches children how to make sound environmental decisions based on facts. The AFA Education Foundation sponsors PLT workshops throughout the state so traditional and nontraditional educators can incoporate the activities in their classrooms and programs.
Twenty-three educators from around the state participated in the summer Teacher Conservation Tour, June 26-29. This hands-on conservation education program included a visit to a timber harvesting operation in South Arkansas.
• 1,144 educators trained at 59 workshops • 10 school and camp programs reached 1,256 students and teachers
TEACHER CONSERVATION TOUR This four-day educational tour focuses on all aspects of forestry, from the landowner to the manufacturer and provides 24 inservice hours for educators. • 23 people from 16 educational institutions participated in 2012
LANDOWNER EDUCATION & ASSISTANCE The AFA Education Foundation sponsors landowner education workshops throughout the state to help landowners learn how to better manage their resources and attends landowner conferences as an exhibitor. • 12 workshops and conferences • 2,042 landowner contacts
The new South Wing expansion at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) features the Log A Load For Kids of Arkansas Emergency Department and Trauma Unit. Through 2017, this grassroots campaign has pledged to raise $4 million in support of these essential programs. Since 1993, the program has raised more than $6.35 million for ACH.
LOG A LOAD FOR KIDS
OUTDOOR LEARNING CENTER GRANT
In 2012, Arkansas Log A Load For Kids raised more than $483,341— part of the campaign’s $4 million commitment toward the Emergency Department and Trauma Unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, which opened July 5. The unit bears the name Log A Load For Kids of Arkansas, in recognition of this funding.
Osceola High School received the AFA Education Foundation’s annual $1,000 Outdoor Learning Center Grant to create a Seminoles Interactive Learning Center and Memorial Garden. (AFA facilitates partnerships that promote the growth of forestry programs and the logging profession in communities, schools and universities.)
PLATINUM SPONSORS: Georgia-Pacific, International Paper, Outdoor Underwriters, Weyerhaeuser GOLD SPONSORS: Deltic, Evergreen Packaging, Plum Creek, Potlatch
Annual Meeting September 25-27
Exploring ‘The New Normal’ With more than 350 participants over three days of events and sessions, the 67th AFA Annual Meeting went into the books as one of the most successful conferences in the association’s history. Held September 25-27 at the Holiday Inn Airport in Little Rock, the program included a landowner workshop on timber tax, property rights and liability issues; golf and sporting clays; board of directors meeting; an exhibitors’ reception; sessions on the housing and timber markets, hot forestry topics, the weather and its impact, the benefits of wildlife management and feral hogs; an outstanding fish fry; and an awards breakfast honoring achievements in the forestry community. The Program Committee’s goal was More than 350 people participated in events and sessions during the 67th AFA Annual Meeting, held September 25-27, at the Holiday Inn Airport in Little Rock.
for participants to explore and define The New Normal in which our industry operates today and how it affects the economy and environment. During the awards breakfast, AFA honored the following for their contributions to forestry: Outstanding Tree Farmer W.J. Thomasson, of Pansy; Logger of the Year Roy Hodges, of Rover; Communicators of the Year Allen and Ginny Nipper, of Addis, La.; Log A Load For Kids Volunteer of the Year Kip Queathem, of Pine Bluff; and the biannual President’s Award went to Susan Glaze, of North Little Rock. Plans are underway for the 68th Annual Meeting, October 1-3, 2013, at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock. (AFA facilitates programs and services that promote profitable forestry, sustainability and stewardship.)
SILVER SPONSORS: Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, American Forest Management/AFM Land Sales, Bibler Bros. Lumber Co., Cowboy Dispatch, Crop Production Services – Timberland Division, Domtar, F&W Forestry Services, Farm Credit Services of Western Arkansas, Hancock Forest Management, Larson & McGowin, Molpus, Regions Timberland Group, Resource Management Service, Timber Mart-South BRONZE SPONSORS: Anthony Forest Products Co., Arkansas Board of Registration for Foresters, Brazeale Lumber Company, Davis DuBose Knight Forestry & Real Estate, International Forest Company, Kingwood Forestry Services, Neeley Forestry Service, Neill Forestry Consultants, Stevens Forestry Service EXHIBITORS: Acorn Forestry, ArborGen, Arkansas Champion Tree Project, Arkansas Division – Ouachita Society of American Foresters, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Construction Safety Products, Crop Production Services, DataScout, Davis Dubose Knight Forestry and Real Estate, Dow Agro Sciences, Forrest Keeling Nursery, Haglof Inc., International Forest Company, Landmark Spatial Solutions, Outdoor Underwriters, Provine Helicopter, Red River Specialties Inc., Robco Distributors, Superior Forestry Service Inc., UA Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Weyerhaeuser Premium Seedlings
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Little Rock, AR Permit # 2686 1213 W. 4th St. Little Rock AR 72201
President Ray Dillon, Deltic Timber Corp. Vice President Rhonda Hunter, Weyerhaeuser Established: 1947
Secretary Pete Prutzman, Kingwood Forestry Services
Members: 1,218
Treasurer Ken Bragg, Resource Management Service
Staff Max Braswell, Executive Vice President mbraswell@arkforests.org Jennifer Lambert, Administrative Director jlambert@arkforests.org Rob Beadel, Director of Forestry Education rbeadel@arkforests.org Anna Swaim, Communications Director aswaim@arkforests.org
Executive Committee Aubra Anthony, Anthony Forest Products Co. Steve Anthony, Anthony Timberlands, Inc. Allen Bedell David Cawein, Green Bay Packaging Tom Crowder, Bragg Land Co. Glenn Gray, Georgia-Pacific Robert Gray, Potlatch Forest Holdings Steve Hanley, Plum Creek Allen Morgan, Hunter-Wasson Wayne Owen, Crop Production Services Frank Wilson, Wilson Bros. Lumber Co.
1213 W. 4th St. Little Rock AR 72201 Tel: 501-374-2441 Fax: 501-374-6413 arkforests.org