March/April 2012
Forestry news... >> Rep. Bruce Westerman, a member of the AFA Board of Directors, was elected House Minority Leader by fellow Republicans in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Westerman, from Hot Springs, is a senior analyst at Mid-South Engineering. >> AFA President Allen Morgan and Cross County Tree Farmer Bobby Johnson received appointments to the Arkansas Forestry Commission from Gov. Mike Beebe. >> On February 17, the Arkansas Forestry Commission passed an interim plan of operations that has Deputy State Forester Larry Nance leading the agency. Under the plan, employees will continue to report to their supervisors and supervisors will report to Nance. The commission also voted to appoint itself as a search committee to find a new state forester. Applications will be accepted through April 20, the date of the next commission meeting. The members will meet then to determine finalists or, if necessary, extend the search. >> The Calhoun County 4-H fundraiser known as the Hogskin Forestry Contest broke attendance records. The Cooperative Extension Service hosted a statewide invitational forestry contest where participants tested their knowledge in several forestry related fields of study. Hermitage FFA finished in first place, Harmony Grove FFA was second place and the third place team was Wickes FFA.
Rusert receives national PLT honor
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roject Learning Tree (PLT), the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, announces that Kathy Rusert, a science and reading teacher in the Acorn School District in Mena, Arkansas, was named one of five 2012 National PLT Outstanding Educators. Rusert will be honored at PLT’s 26th International National Outstanding PLT Coordinators’ Conference, in Educator Kathy Rusert, who Deadwood, South Dakota, teaches at Acorn Schools in May 14-17. Mena. Every year PLT provides more than 30,000 educators with the tools and on-the-ground training they need to incorporate environmental education and service-learning into their curriculum. PLT activities use trees and forests as “windows” on the world to help teachers strengthen their teaching of core subjects, take their students outdoors to learn, and grow stewardship in the next generation. PLT’s Outstanding Educators are selected for their commitment to environmental education, their exemplary use of PLT, and their exceptional teaching skills. Rusert teaches science to students in grades 7 and 8, science labs for students in grades 5 and 6, and remedial reading. A public school teacher for almost 25 years, she is also the faculty contact for environmental activities and supports environmental education for students of all grades. Always looking for creative ways to extend her students’ learning beyond the classroom, she works hard to raise money for field trips and was successful in obtaining grants and volunteers to help create an outdoor classroom to promote hands-on learning. This 15-acre area provides students with opportunities for research, exploration, and environmental stewardship, and Rusert’s students use it to teach PLT activities to
younger students.
In describing the impact of using PLT activities in her own teaching, Rusert says, “A-ha! This is what I hear while I teach. PLT activities are linked to specific Arkansas frameworks and are a great tool for effective interdisciplinary teaching.”
“Kathy has succeeded in making science fun for students, and by making science fun, they inevitably score better on standardized exams,” says Daniel Caron, a teacher at Acorn High School. “I have never seen a more effective or efficient science teacher in my 20 years of teaching.” Rusert believes strongly in interdisciplinary, hands-on education, as well as opportunities for students to teach others. To pass this on to the next generation, she teaches a Methods of Teaching Science for Southern Arkansas University that introduces future teachers to practical teaching tools, such as PLT, that they can easily use in the classroom. Rusert is a member of the Arkansas PLT Steering Committee and trains and engages others in the PLT program. She also promotes the benefits of PLT and outdoor education through the Arkansas Curriculum Conference, Arkansas Environmental Literary Plan Committee, as a freelance writer for PBS Teacher Source, and more. Her awards include Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in 2005 and Outstanding Arkansas PLT Teacher of the Year in 2011. In addition to attending the PLT International Coordinators’ Conference, Rusert is invited to participate in the World Forestry Center’s International Educators’ Institute, July 8-14, in Portland, Oregon.
CALENDAR March 27 Feral Hog Control Workshop Union County Fairgrounds, El Dorado Contact Robin Bridges (870) 864-1916 April 9 Log A Load For Kids Campaign Kickoff Arkansas Children’s Hospital April 13 Legal Risks and Forestland Ownership Monticello Contact Rusty Rumley (479) 575-2636 April 27 Strong Log A Load For Kids Molnaird Bros. Sawmill May 8 - 10 Wildlife Habitat Restoration on Private Lands Conference Faulkner County Natural Resources Center, Conway May 9 Central Arkansas Log A Load For Kids Golf Tournament Pine Bluff May 10-11 AFA Board of Directors Meeting Mount Magazine State Park Lodge May 17 South Central Arkansas Log A Load For Kids Golf Tournament DeGray State Park, Arkadelphia
May 19 South Central Arkansas Log A Load For Kids Arkadelphia June 26-29 Teacher Conservation Tour Monticello September 25-27 67th AFA Annual Meeting Holiday Inn Airport, Little Rock September 29 River Valley Log A Load For Kids Russellville October 20 Central Arkansas Log A Load For Kids Sheridan
TCT set for June 26-29 at UAM he 2012 Teacher Conservation Tour— sponsored by the Arkansas Forestry Association Education Foundation (AFAEF)—has set its dates for June 26-29 in Monticello. The focus of this four-day workshop is on the environmental and economic benefits of Arkansas’s forestlands.
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through 12 with professional development hours, any formal or informal educator may apply for the tour. AFAEF covers all food, lodging and tour costs. A $100 registration fee is required at the time of application and will be refunded if you are not selected to attend.
This educational workshop and tour provides educators with a lot of time in the woods, learning about the interaction between forests, the environment, and the economy. Participants will tour forest product manufacturing facilities, view wildlife conservation efforts, and harvesting and replanting operations all while learning valuable information about our forest communities. Participants will also meet and learn from natural resource professionals who are in the field conducting the work on a daily basis.
The workshop will be based at the School of Forest Resources at the University of Arkansas – Monticello campus in Monticello. Lodging will be provided at the Holiday Inn Express in Monticello.
“This is not your typical 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. classroom workshop,” stresses Rob Beadel, AFAEF Education Director. “Our days are long and packed full of field activities keeping the participants engaged throughout the week.”
Participants must provide their own transportation to and from Monticello. Space is limited to 25 participants and selected on a first-come first-served basis. An application form is available online at arkforests.org/teachers-students. html. Applications must be mailed in along with the $100 registration fee. For more information, contact Rob Beadel at (501) 374-2441 or rbeadel@arkforests.org.
Teachers will earn 24 professional development hours including 6 technology hours and 2 hours of Arkansas History approved by the Arkansas Department of Education. Although the four-day workshop provides teachers of grades K
Participants in the 2011 TCT use a crosscut saw at the U.S. Forest Service office in Hector.
Workshop, field day May 18 in Hope
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he University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope is hosting a Forestry Workshop and Field Day on Friday, May 18, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
This workshop and field day is designed to teach private forest landowners some of the basics of working with forests and managing forests for wildlife. Participation is limited to 50 people. Registration is $10 per person if received by May 11. After that date, registration will be $15 per person payable at the door.
Contact Dr. Jon Barry by phone at (870) 7779702 or e-mail jbarry@uaex.edu for more information. Registration forms and updates will be available at swrec.uark.edu. Lunch and handouts will be provided for those who register by the deadline. Agenda items include: • Managing Forests for Wildlife • Tree Identification • Tree ID Field Tour • Quail Habitat Restoration Field Tour • Arkansas Forestry Commission Services to Landowners
Students get into tree farming for watershed conservation
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igh school students in Siloam Springs and Gentry are doing some tree farming to make a difference in area waterways. Planting trees is one of the ways residents of the Illinois River Watershed can improve water quality in Northwest Arkansas. To support this conservation practice in 2011, volunteers from Gentry High School, local 4-H youth clubs and FFA chapters partnered with AEP Southwestern Electric Power Company and the Illinois River Watershed Partnership (IRWP) to install a container tree farm at SWEPCO’s Flint Creek Power Plant in Gentry. The goal of this project is to supply approximately 1,000 trees to the community each year to be planted in riparian buffer areas along creeks, streams and rivers to provide bank stabilization, filter sediments and pollutants, and increase groundwater infiltration.
High School are planting 500 seedlings per school in innovative containers made of recycled plastic bottles. Parks Lumber in Gentry delivered loads of mixed top soil/ mulch to each high school agriculture department for planting the seedlings. Once planted, the seedlings will go to the Flint Creek Tree Farm for irrigation and growing throughout the year and to provide a regular supply of saplings for IRWP projects. The seedlings include various species of oak, bald cypress, persimmon, sugarberry, red mulberry, black gum and shellbark hickory (This year’s tree species: Cow Oak, Willow Oak, Overcup Oak, Water Oak, Bald Cypress, Persimmon, Sugarberry, Red Mulberry, Black Gum, Shellbark Hickory, Redbud and Sycamore).
In 2011, volunteers planted 1,000 seedlings from the Arkansas Forestry Commission in containers at the tree farm, and about half of those trees are now planted in Gentry City Park, Siloam Springs Trail at Simmons Foods and The Nature Conservancy’s Healing Springs riparian area.
“It’s an exciting partnership bringing together local companies, cities, schools, community groups and hundreds of students and volunteers,” said Dr. Delia Haak, IRWP director. “The Siloam Springs and Gentry students are providing a great start to 2012, and we’re looking forward to using saplings from the tree farm in our big watershed-wide riparian project on March 10.”
For 2012, agriculture/horticulture students at Siloam Springs High School and Gentry
For more information on the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, visit www.irwp.org.
Habitat conference May 8-10
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Wildlife Habitat Restoration on Private Lands Conference is scheduled for May 8-10 in Conway at the Faulkner County Natural Resources Center. This conference will bring together professionals from many agencies and organizations dedicated to habitat restoration on private lands. The conference is designed to improve communications among and between agencies and organizations, offer cross-training about private lands programs, share landowner success stories, learn about successful on-the-ground techniques, and provide updates about farm bill programs, as well as other information of relevance to those working with private landowners. Who should attend? This conference targets state, federal and non-governmental wildlife and fisheries biologists, and foresters engaged in habitat restoration and delivery of conservation programs to private landowners. Exemplary landowners may attend. Classroom presentations include wetland regulations, riparian and streambank restoration, air quality and prescribed burning, historical plant communities, inavasive species, and conservation partnerships. The conference also includes a field tour of recreation and forest stand management at the Gus Blass Boy Scout Reservation in Damascus and pastureland management on Dan Dipert Tree Farm. Seating is limited and is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Please register early to ensure a seat. Registration closes April 25. There is a registration fee based on full or partial conference participation. For more information, look online at www. arnatural.org/habitat_restoration or contact Debbie Moreland at (501) 682-2915 or debbiepinreal@aol. com.
‘The New Normal’ focus of AFA Annual Meeting
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merican author and scientist Isaac Asimov said, “The only constant is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.” This certainly applies to forest management and the forest products industry as the Arkansas Forestry Association and its members adapt and adjust to “The New Normal”—whether that means the economy, public policy or even the weather. The program for the 67th AFA Annual Meeting, scheduled for September 25-27, at the Holiday Inn Airport in Little Rock, will address a variety of changing influences on our members’ ability to manage forestlands and operate in a healthy business climate. Sponsor/exhibitor information will go out soon and registration brochures will be sent in the summer. Following is the meeting agenda and confirmed speakers:
Tuesday, September 25 • • • •
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10 a.m. – Golf 11 a.m. – Sporting Clays Noon – Registration and Exhibitor Set-up 1 p.m. – Landowner Workshop • Tax Issues • Insurance Tom Skaggs, Outdoor Underwriters • Landowner Rights, Oil and Gas, Lignite, Mineral Rights Rusty Rumley, National Agricultural Law Center 5 p.m. – AFA Board of Directors Meeting 6 p.m. – Exhibitors’ Reception 7:30 p.m. – Dinner on your own
Wednesday, September 26 • • • •
7 a.m. – UAM/ACF Meetings 8:30 a.m. – Housing Market 9:15 a.m. – Emerging Markets Tom Harris, TimberMart South 10:30 a.m. – Hot Topics Panel • Forest Roads Dave Tenny, National Alliance of Forest Owners
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Landowner Issues Scott Jones, Forest Landowners Association • Boiler MACT Donna Harmon, AF&PA Noon – Lunch in Atrium 1 p.m. – Weather Outlook John Lewis, National Weather Service 1:45 p.m. – Impacts of Weather • Harvesting/Stumpage Dr. Matt Pelkki, UAM • Wildfire Larry Nance, Arkansas Forestry Commission • Tree Growth/Survival Dr. Vic Ford, Southwest Research and Extension Center 3 p.m. – Wildlife Benefits Morgan Richardson, Campbell Group 3:45 p.m. – Feral Hogs Jarrett Rushing, UA Cooperative Extension Service 6 p.m. – Fish Fry at the Central Arkansas Nature Center
Thursday, September 27 • •
8 am. – Award Breakfast 11 a.m. – Door Prizes and Adjourn