November 2014
New facilities, expansions on tap for forestry community
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low and steady economic recovery has led to several companies announcing expansions, new facilities and acreage acquisitions.
community alongside the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s School of Forest Resources. Our heritage is rich in the timber industry and this heritage continues to move us forward with sustainable woodbased products.”
Excerpts from a Georgia-Pacific news release: In Gurdon, we’re investing $37 million in our lumber operations that will expand the production capacity of the lumber mill by approximately 60 percent. This will include the installation of new equipment and infrastructure improvements, which are slated for completion by the third quarter of 2015. At the nearby Gurdon plywood mill, we’re also evaluating additional investments totaling approximately $20 million that would increase the mill’s efficiency and capacity, as well as reduce air emissions. Zilkha Biomass Energy, a producer of biomass solutions to electric utility customers, announced it is building a facility in Monticello, to manufacture their Zilkha Black® Pellet, the first commercially available advanced pellet in the biomass industry. The company plans to invest $90 million in the facility and create 52 new jobs. “Power companies across the globe are looking for renewable energy alternatives and biomass wood pellets stand as one of the most practical and cost-effective solutions,” said Jack Holmes, CEO of Zilkha Biomass Energy. “This plant in Monticello will be one of Zilkha’s largest and will help us capture more of the growing biomass energy market. Our Black Pellets have a set of beneficial qualities, such as waterresistance, that make it a more attractive option than traditional wood pellets.” Made from a variety of feedstock, such as mill residuals and other low-grade wood, wood pellets are used in the energy industry as an alternative fuel source. Zilkha Black® Pellets can be easily integrated into coal-fired plants to create cleaner emissions,
Highland Pellets LLC, an Arkansas company, announced the building of a 500,000 metric ton per year wood pellet facility in Pine Bluff, Ark. The $130 million plant will create over 35 direct jobs and a further 482 indirect jobs, with a direct financial impact of $86,000,000 annually that will benefit local communities. Highland Pellets is a privately held company with industry veterans from the wood pellet, finance, and energy markets. Wood pellets are a sustainably sourced feedstock for use by European industrial utilities to lower their carbon footprint and provide sustainable base load power.
allowing plants to more easily comply with clean air regulations, and energy companies to build fewer new power plants. The pellets are water resistant, which allows them to be transported and stored outside like coal. “Wood pellets are gaining popularity in the U.S. as we look for sustainable fuel sources that are cleaner and cheaper to burn,” Gov. Mike Beebe said. “South Arkansas has the renewable forests that this kind of enterprise requires to succeed. We are excited that Zilkha has chosen Monticello for their innovative work in the energy sector.” “Monticello is proud to have been chosen as the site for Zilkha Biomass Energy,” said Nita McDaniel, executive director of the Monticello Economic Development Commission. “The manufacturing of Zilkha Black Pellets is a natural fit for the
“While this plant is the first built under the Highland brand, our colleagues Mike Ferguson and Scott Jacobs bring decades of industry leading experience in the engineering and operating of industrial wood pellet plants,” Highland Pellets Chairman Tom Reilley said. Potlatch Corporation has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 201,000 acres of timberlands in Alabama and Mississippi from affiliates of Resource Management Service, LLC. “We are pleased to add these very productive timberlands to our southern portfolio,” said Michael Covey, chairman and CEO of Potlatch Corporation. “The timberlands have been managed intensively and are well stocked. This transaction will expand southern ownership by almost 50% into two new states contiguous to our existing Arkansas holdings and will increase our total acreage under management to nearly 1.6 million acres,” concluded Covey.
CALENDAR November 19 Program Committee 10 a.m. - AFA Office, Little Rock November 27-28 AFA Office Closed in Observance of Thanksgiving December 9 AFA Education Foundation Board 10 a.m. - AFA Office, Little Rock AFA Executive Committee Noon - AFA Office, Little Rock December 16 AFA Board of Directors Orientation 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, Little Rock December 17 Tree Farm Committee Meeting and Inspector Awards Western Sizzlin’, Benton December 18 Forest Management Workshop Sheridan December 24-26 AFA Office Closed in Observance of Christmas January 1-2 AFA Office Closed in Observance of the New Year May 7-8 AFA Board of Directors Meeting Rogers October 6-8 AFA Annual Meeting Hot Springs
Trees of Arkansas now in color
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he Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC) has released an eighth edition of its 64-year-old identification guide Trees of Arkansas. For the first time, the paperback book has color photos. It also has been reorganized and updated. Trees of Arkansas can be ordered online at forestry. arkansas.gov or purchased at AFC offices around the state. The new book, available to the public for $5 a copy, includes: • Descriptions of 116 of the state’s estimated 160 species, including three that were not mentioned in the seventh edition in 2011, and all alphabetically grouped under the common names for botanical families; • 271 color photos of leaves, buds or bark and 124 black-and-white leaf drawings; • Color-coded chapters; • An easy-to-see botanical key in 11-point type as well as line drawings to help users understand technical terms used in the key; • Statistics concerning the state’s 19 million acres of forested land; • Information on the state Champion Tree program and its Bigness Index; • A history of the forest industry’s boom times in the 1920s; • Biographies of this edition’s editor in chief, Eric Sundell, as well as the book’s seminal author Dwight Munson Moore; • A glossary and two indices. Sundell, professor emeritus of biology for the University of Arkansas at Monticello and a founding member of the Arkansas Native Plant Society, has thoroughly revamped Moore’s text to make it more friendly for users who aren’t botanists. Although the text has been revised for every edition, reflecting changes in scientific understanding of plants’ relationships and
evolution, “this one is a huge re-edit,” said AFC Public Information Coordinator Adriane Barnes. “Dr. Sundell edited it about eight times before it was through. ... Without his help in revising the eighth edition, the project would not have been possible.” Moore based his first, 1950 booklet on “Common Forest Trees of Arkansas: How to Know Them,” an 84-page pocket manual for botanists by John Theodore Buchholz and Wilbur Reed Mattoon that was issued as a University of Arkansas Extension Service circular in 1924. At the time a biology professor at the University at Arkansas at Fayetteville, Moore wrote for botany enthusiasts. Although anyone could carry the little book into the woods and squint at its tiny-type key to identify a twig or a leaf, species descriptions were in chronological order related to when in history botanists placed their origin. The new organization of families is alphabetical, by tree families’ common names.
Arkansas Log A Load For Kids has raised more than $600,000 in 2014! Check the Log A Load For Kids Facebook page for updates: facebook.com/arlogaload
Wildlife, forestry funding available through EQIP
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armers and landowners in Arkansas have until November 21, 2014, to submit applications to receive financial assistance to implement conservation activities through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2015 program year. Applicants can sign up at their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field service center. According to David Long, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) private lands supervisor, the new Farm Bill dropped the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and replaced it with wildlife costshare funding in the EQIP. Long advised, “Landowners interested in improving, restoring and creating habitat on their property should continue to apply at their County NRCS office using the EQIP. The new Farm Bill included a minimum of 5 percent EQIP funds be devoted to wildlife practices. With WHIP no longer available, landowners need to know, they can still apply for wildlife practices through the EQIP.” Individuals and other entities who own forestland, cropland and pastureland are eligible to participate in EQIP. The November 21 EQIP deadline is for consideration in the local, state and initiative funding categories including wildlife. Long noted, “High priority wildlife and forestry practices landowners may receive cost-share assistance include, but are not limited to, prescribed burning, forest stand improvement for wildlife, planting native grasses and forbs, establishing pollinator habitat, native tree and shrub planting, stream bank restoration, shallow water development, and wetland wildlife habitat. Many species of wildlife will benefit from implementing these practices including deer, turkey, quail, reptiles and amphibians, along with many declining grassland and forest dwelling songbirds and other species of conservation concern.” Local categories focus on the primary resource issues in a localized area, as identified by the locally-led conservation workgroup representatives for each county or designated local area. Wildlife conservation practices are available through various funding pools. Long advised, “Other than wildlife and forestry resources, EQIP cost-share practices
can also address water quality issues related to animal manure management and sedimentation, water quality, and reduction of erosion. Landowners can apply for not only wildlife and forestry practices but others to develop a holistic strategy to address all conservation issues on the land.” All applications will be evaluated for funding based on a state and nationally developed procedure to optimize environmental benefits. Applications ranking highest in a funding category will be funded subject to availability of program funds. Long points out, “It is very important to note, landowners should call their county NRCS office to set up an appointment to sign-up as soon as possible to start the process to have their application considered for this EQIP funding cycle. Landowners can sign-up anytime of the year, but applications are considered for funding one to two times each year. With applications this go-around accepted through November 21, it is critical to make application sooner rather than later to be considered for funding during this program year.” For more information and to locate your county NRCS office, visit www.ar.nrcs.usda. gov. Landowner Assistance Landowners may also obtain assistance
from a statewide staff of AGFC private lands biologists. For more information on EQIP and establishing and maintaining wildlife habitat on your property along with other programs to help, contact an AGFC private lands biologist at: Beaver Lake 866-253-2506 Harrison 870-741-8600 ext. 114 Hope 877-777-5580 Calico Rock 877-297-4331 Little Rock 877-470-3650 Brinkley 877-734-4581 Jonesboro 877-972-5438 Monticello 877-367-3559 To locate the private lands biologist that covers your county, go to www. agfc.com/habitat and review the map for contact information. The Arkansas Forestry Commission has a staff of foresters across the state that are available to assist landowners, providing technical assistance in managing forestland, go to www.forestry.arkansas.gov to locate the forester that covers your county.
December 18 landowner workshop in Sheridan addresses wildlife, tree improvement, herbicides, timber sales LOCATION Sheridan Community Recreation Center 1511 S. Rose St. Sheridan, Arkansas
COST $10 per person, includes lunch and handouts AGENDA 9 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions
9:10 a.m.
Forest Management to Benefit Wildlife Jeff Taverner, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission Private Lands Biologist
9:55 a.m.
Break
10:10 a.m.
How Tree Improvement is Improving Arkansas’s Forests Dave Bowling, Arkansas Forestry Commission Tree Improvement
10:55 a.m.
Benefits of Herbicide and Chemical Use in Forestry Greg Hay, CPS Timberland Division
11:40 a.m.
Lunch
12:15 p.m.
Selling Your Timber Patrick Glass, Arkansas Forestry Commission
1 p.m.
Adjourn
REGISTER Send contact information and $10 for each attendee to: AFAEF Sheridan Workshop 1213 W. 4th St. Little Rock AR 72201 CONTACT Rob Beadel (501) 374-2441 rbeadel@arkforests.org