Intermountain Society This conserves IMSAF operating of ... · published January, April, July, and October each year. Please submit materials at least 6 weeks in advance. GREETINGS

IMSAF Newsletter June 2012

http://www.usu.edu/saf Page 1

Intermountain Society of

American Foresters

Editors Comments and Disclaimers This newsletter is posted on our website and sent by e-mail to members with e-mail addresses. Those without e-mail addresses receive by surface mail. This conserves IMSAF operating budgets. I edit for brevity and clarity and take responsibilities for them. Contact me with your concerns, corrections and (better yet) news you wish us to cover. Darrel L. Kenops, [email protected], (208) 884-1076. Thank You, Darrel L. Kenops Future newsletters will be quarterly, published January, April, July, and October each year. Please submit materials at least 6 weeks in advance.

GREETINGS FROM IMSAF CHAIR JOHN ROBERTS by John Roberts, IMSAF Chair

Congratulations to the Utah State University Forestry Club and SAF Student Chapter for producing a great Intermountain SAF Annual Meeting in Logan, Utah. In addition to a great agenda, "Snow Management in the Intermountain West", we were treated to a visit by SAF National President William Rockwell who spoke at our evening dinner meeting. Thanks to the entire USU Chapter, but special thanks to Shane Stickney and Kourtney Blanc for their hard work, during finals weeks, their photos and meeting report covered in this newsletter. We hope you did well during final exams.

We learned about the high number of Wasatch Front snow avalanches and resultant need to predict these avalanches and their impacts. It was a very informative program topped off with a great spring morning hike into the area which had intense, immense avalanches in 1986 in Logan Canyon. The meeting was well attended, split evenly between Utah SAF and Snake River Chapter (Idaho) members. We are still searching for our elusive Nevada SAF members! SAF President Rockwell presented an informal discussion of the Society's future courses of action and how the changes in the profession of Forestry area driving changes of our Society. George Bacon, Snake River Chair-Elect, has contributed a great summary of these changes elsewhere in this issue. President Rockwell discussed the physical changes at SAF's National Office. He mentioned the long process of marketing the very valuable lands in the "Wild Acres" property in Bethesda, MD is finally coming to fruition. SAF will retain our office buildings and a few acres. The SAF Council is deliberating on the disposition of funds from that sale. One possible outcome would be a downtown Washington, D.C. office to increase our ability to influence national forestry policy. Stay tuned to our IMSAF newsletter and website for more information, along with the "Forestry Source", SAF's newspaper.



Terry Sharik receives an award from Chair John Roberts

for 19 years of service to Intermountain SAF. IMSAF ANNUAL SPRING 2012 MEETING, LOGAN, UTAH by Shane Stickney, USU Student Chapter President

Wood Camp Hollow in Logan Canyon.



For those of you who didn't make it to the spring meeting this year, it was a pretty good time! Like most things I'm in charge of, it started with some technical difficulties, projector problems this time. Thankfully, Chris Haller and Phil Douglass, Utah Division of Parks & Recreation and the Division of Wildlife Resources, respectively, were able to educate and entertain us with their presentation while we were sorting out the projection situation. Chris and Paul talked about the challenges of providing wildlife habitat free of threats and disturbances by users in a highly used winter recreation area. They also talked about considerations taken when updating or installing new campground or recreation resources, particularly considering what new technologies are in use and how to accommodate them. After acquiring a new projector, Toby Weed, Utah Avalanche Center talked to us about avalanche science and public advisories. Avalanche advisories are made through a combination of weather information, field observations and tests, and volunteer observations provided by the public. More information, including a tutorial on understanding avalanche and videos of how avalanche field tests are preformed is available at www.utahavalanchecenter.org. Next David Tarboton, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, spoke about snow hydrology and stream flow modeling. Snowpack information from the NRCS's SNOTEL observatory system is used in stream flow modeling. However, because of unseen factors such as groundwater build-up and presence/absence of macro pores in subsurface structures, stream flow monitoring is a very complex and somewhat imprecise thing. Last, but not least, Bill Rockwell, SAF President, talked to us about the future of SAF. A big topic of discussion was to or not to accredit a Natural Resources Management degree, and to do it on our own or in conjunction with a coalition of natural resources professional societies. He also talked about the sale of part of the land around SAF's national office in Bethesda, Maryland. The next day we went on a field trip to Wood Camp Hollow in Logan Canyon for a lesson in avalanche ecology led by Mike Jenkins and Liz Hebertson. They showed us a really cool spot where you could see multiple cohorts of aspen that had established in the wake of avalanches of varying size and run outs. It was like seeing different avalanche paths that could be dated by the trees that grew there following the disturbance. (Editor’s note: Mike’s and Liz’ powerpoint presentation, with notes, is posted on our website: http://www.usu.edu/saf/12-0428-Avalanche Ecology.pdf.) All-in-all, the IMSAF spring meeting was pretty cool. If you didn't make it this year, try to come next time. It's really a good way to support your local student chapter, have some fun and maybe learn a thing or two! INTERMOUNTAIN SAF TOURS UTAH’S BOOK CLIFFS by Frank Roth, Utah Chapter Meetings Chair and Doug Page, IMSAF Communications Chair The afternoon of Friday June 22 was spent at the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge outside of Vernal, UT. The tour included a stop at the Fish Hatchery and then at a scenic overlook. The Fish Hatchery focuses on raising and reintroducing four native species back into the Green and Colorado River Systems. Those species are the: razorback sucker, Colorado Pikeminnow, Boneytail, and humpback chub. The hatchery is having the most success with the razorback



sucker, releasing 15 to 20,000 annually. Large birds and river otter are two of culprits that the hatchery has to outwit in raising the fish. The refuge has about 2,500 acres of riparian vegetation.

The scenic overlook (above) gave a panoramic view of refuge and the issues that the refuge encounters.

The executive summary of the riparian assessment (available on our website: http://www.usu.edu/saf/12-0622-RipariarnAssessment.pdf) describes the key management issues that the refuge has. The issues are invasive plants and regeneration of cottonwood. The use of beetles for salt cedar has worked well in some parts and continues to be used. The refuge is experimenting with various herbicides for the plant species.

Sherel Goodrich (left), a recent USDA Forest Service retiree, was the guest speaker in the evening. He presented an overview of the monitoring he has conducted on the Ashley National Forest for nearly 40 years. His monitoring methodology uses repeat photo work with associated measurements. His work has been instrumental in addressing permit grazing issues and supporting NEPA analysis and documentation. The second day of our meeting was a tour of

BLM resource management in the Book Cliffs, led by BLM’s Vernal Forester, Dave Palmer. We viewed historic gilsonite mining near the ghost town of Watson, excellent vegetative recovery following a recent fire-use fire in pinyon-juniper along the Atchee Ridge road, a small aspen exclosure (below) just north of Bitter Creek, and a ponderosa pine stand in Pine Spring Canyon just off Seep Ridge (this stand was part of the west-wide ponderosa pine genetics study, the subject of a 2010 IMSAF meeting – see http://www.usu.edu/saf/10-0412-presentation.pdf). It’s a good thing we did not wait another week, as the ~20,000 acre Wolf Den fire closed the Atchee Ridge road the following weekend and for some time thereafter.



Aspen exclosure, Book Cliffs.

SAF LEADERSHIP & RELEVANCE! by George Bacon, Snake River Chapter Chair-Elect We were honored to have SAF National President William Rockwell as our guest speaker at our IMSAF April 27/28th Annual Meeting. As President of our Society's national governing council he challenged us with interesting thoughts. The Society of American Foresters has a rich and colorful history. Since 1900 we have been advancing the science, education, technology and practice of forestry. By establishing professional excellence, using the knowledge, skills and SAF conservation ethic we seek to ensure continued health and use of forest ecosystems and work towards ensuring the present and future availability of forest resources to benefit society. Mr. Rockwell's focus was on the future and the future looks very challenging! Since 1900 we have seen vast changes in forestry and natural resource management. Our use and understanding of the forest has changed. Our knowledge of natural systems and how they inter-relate has grown.



Today, it takes a village of disciplines to raise a forest. Foresters, biologists, hydrologists, engineers, recreation specialists and now even climatologists all have contributions to make in the management of forests. Mr. Rockwell asks, "who is a forester?" Just as important, how does SAF meet the needs of professional managers into the future? Over the years, SAF has played a key role in meeting the needs of professional foresters through accreditation of forestry colleges and their curriculum. But that influence is waning. Forestry schools are shrinking, merging. Some have totally disappeared! Why is this happening when forests and forestry is more important, loved, and perhaps, endangered than ever before? Universities recognize forestry is only a piece of a larger puzzle, and that puzzle is "natural resources management". As interdisciplinary management grows, so does more general natural resources management curriculums. Currently, no one scrutinizes or accredits "natural resources management" and there is a need to fill that void. Mr. Rockwell believes SAF needs to be part of the answer, especially since forestry is such an important discipline in the management of natural systems. Should we form a coalition of disciplines to accredit colleges and universities? Should we do things as we have always done them? Or, should we just step in and take over? If so, how? Mr. Rockwell wants to start and maintain a dialogue on such questions and invites your thoughts, comments and recommendations! In the trinity of "lead, follow, or get out of the way" we want SAF to lead! How we lead will determine SAF's future, our relevance, and the management of forests in America and the World. "The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for the future." Gifford Pinchot

SAF COUNCIL DISTRICT IV REPORT by Johnny Hodges, District IV SAF Council Representative New Policy Statement on Public Land Timber Harvest, SAF Strategic Plan for 2012-2017, National Awards & Fellow Selections, Acceptance of Task Force Report on Terrestrial Ecosystem Management/Natural Resources Accreditation Highlight Actions at June 2012 SAF National Council Meeting

SAF President Bill Rockwell led our SAF Council meeting in Bethesda, MD on June 1-3. Friday was devoted to Council Committee meetings. Council commended Dr. Bob Malmsheimer, SAF's National Policy Committee Chair for excellent work by this committee in preparing Congressional testimony, task force reports and positions statements. They expressed appreciation for the excellent work by SAF policy staff, Kelsey Delaney and John Barnwell. Council approved a new national position statement on public land timber harvesting.



Council approved 2012 National Award recipients and list of SAF Fellow nominees for each of our 11 SAF voting districts. Congratulations to new SAF Fellows from Districts 1,2 and 4 who will be recognized at our 2012 Spokane National Convention! The new SAF Fellows are, District 1-LawrenceNS. Davis, Stephen R. Ricketts, CF, and Norm P. Schaaf, CF. District 2 Fellows are; Mark A Buckbee and Michael J. Cloughesy, Jr. District 4 Fellows are James A. Allen, Timothy G. Love and James A Youtz. National SAF Award recipients will be notified by SAF's National Office in the month of June and will be honored in Spokane SAF 2012. SAF membership continues to decline about 2% per year. But the new tiered dues structure has been very successful. 79% of members signed up for gold level, 19% the Silver level, and 2% the Platinum level. Current paid membership is 10,500. Delinquent members are being contacted and asked to pay their local dues assessment. As of June 1, 2012, SAF has received more in dues payments than for the entire year of 2011! All SAF members should actively encourage friends and colleagues to join SAF! An active membership program is currently underway. The new membership incentive and recruitment program provides as much as a $100 discount on dues ($20 per year for 5 years) for new member recruitment, and the new recruit gets a 30% discount if they maintain membership for at least 5 years. Contact Christopher Whited [email protected] for questions about this program or go to www.safnet.org then click on "join" on the top of the page bar for more details. To date about 100 members have taken advantage of this opportunity. Nearly 750 members, nationwide, have not paid Chapter, Division or State Society dues. This is causing financial difficulties for local SAF Units, including those in SAF Districts 1,2, and 4. SAF Executive Vice-President Michael Goergen has sent letters and invoices to each of these members requesting payment of local dues. Local SAF units are also contacting these individuals to encourage their renewal and payment. Chapter Chairs should check Chapter rosters for accuracy. Improved SAF membership invoices should minimize this problem next year. Council approved the Task Force Report on Terrestrial Ecosystem Management/Natural Resources and recommended actions continue toward adoption of new accreditation standards for a "natural resources" related degree program. Council initiated action to launch a new revenue development program at the Spokane 2012 National Convention. The Pinchot Founders Circle will be launched then, where members and friends of SAF may donate $1,900, or more (to commemorate our founding year) over the course of four years for programs that enhance SAF's financial position. This will grow the Foresters Fund, increasing local SAF unit opportunities to do projects and public outreach. As an organization that is largely funded by membership dues, SAF's declining membership has placed significant stress on our financial resources, so new revenue is needed to grow SAF capacity. In Spokane the SAF House of Society delegates will discuss this proposal and an information table will be set up for convention participants to be among the first to sign up.



The 2012 SAF National Convention, Spokane, WA registration is now open, see www.safconvention.org or call 866-897-8720 for assistance and information. Make yours an early registration, prior to August 26th for savings on air fares, convention hotel rooms and meeting registration fees. 2012 Convention organizers are seeking Northwest area SAF State Society volunteers for short durations shift jobs spread from pre-convention activities through the end dates (October 23-28). Volunteer jobs include greeting arrivals at the Spokane airport, registering attendees, exhibitors and poster presenters, setting up and helping the SAF Store, stuffing registration bags, raffle and auction assistance, Ouiz Bowl, and timers at sponsored technical sessions. To volunteer please send 1) your name, 2) mailing address, 3) cell phone number, 4) e-mail address, 5) dates and times available to work, 6) list of volunteer jobs you are willing to do and 7) your "T-shirt" size to Kirk David, National Volunteer Convention Chair at [email protected] or call his cell at 208-262-1371. A new SAF Student liaison was introduced replacing Jarett Cook. She is Tess Pinkey, a junior at the University of Idaho. Contact her by phone 253-217-2270; e-mail: [email protected]. Tess and other student leaders will be busy this summer organizing student activities for our upcoming convention. This SF Council report is a cooperative effort of District 1 (Washington State, Alaska and Inland Empire), Council member John Walkowiak; District 2 (Oregon), Council member Bob Alverts, and District 4 (the Intermountain West from Canada to Mexico) Council member Johnny Hodges. As always we are interested in your thoughts for improvements, concerns and issues related to SAF governance and operations. Contact us at: John Walkowiak, 360-534-1303 or [email protected]; Bob Alverts, 503-639-0405 or [email protected]; Johnny Hodges, 970-226-6890 or [email protected]. ACROSS THE WESTERN LANDSCAPE: PRIORITY ISSUES & STRATEGIES FOR WESTERN FORESTS http://www.wflcweb.org/ The Western Forestry Leadership Coalition (WFLC), a state-federal government partnership, strives to be "a clear voice on western forestry which seeks to strengthen our ability to address pertinent issues and help meet the needs of society". They support a collaborative approach across jurisdictional boundaries focused on sustainable forest management. Their recent publication titled "Across the Western Landscape: Priority Issues and Strategies for Western Forests is a plan which seeks to *reduce wildfire risk to communities and mitigate wildfire impacts; *secure clean, sustainable flows of water through forest management; *reduce impacts to forest health from insects, disease and invasive species threats; *improve forest ecosystem resilience in the face of a changing climate and insure forests are recognized contributors to climate change; *support new and existing forest based industries and programs that provide for the economic, social, and environmental needs of society.



WFLC seeks to achieve though this plan; *strengthen partnerships, *build adequate, flexible capacity and funding, *capitalize on the co-benefits, *actively manage all forestlands, *support research and informed science based decision-making and *gain support from many thru effective engagement. Each state has developed a "Forest Action Plan" which you can tap into based on your interests to learn more and participate, track progress. These actions plans are at: www.forestactionplans.org OUTBACK ANGEL-WHERE IS WALDO? by Darrel Kenops, IMSAF Newsletter Editor Recently a colleague sent me a note, a resource which you, your family, friends and co-workers could find useful. Planning outdoor adventures in the summer and in fact any time of the year is fun to do and something we all look forward to. But we understand that events, weather, and uncertainty can work into, affect any plan. And knowing that someone has your back and has your travel information is key if someone needs to come looking for you! A paramedic from the Maricopa (AZ) County Search and Rescue Team has developed the "Outback Angel" service which is free and can be used to alert families and friends of their plans – just in case they have an unexpected happening, rescue efforts can begin as early as possible. It is a free and nationwide service. He recently made an "Outback Angel" briefing at a REI store in the Phoenix area. More information available at http://www.rei.com/event/40412/session/51165 IMSAF EDITOR IN-BOX BITS & PIECES-POTENTIAL USEFUL LINKS AND INFORMATION by Darrel Kenops, IMSAF Newsletter Editor *Sustainable Forest Bioenergy-With USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service support, the Forest Guild and Pinchot Institute recently announced "a new website presenting video's about forest biomass harvest and guidelines" You can view the video's at http://www.forestbiomassguidelines.org. Contact Zander Evans [email protected] and/or Brian Kittler [email protected]. *Administration Releases 10-year Global Change Strategic Plan-This 2012-2017 plan has four goals: 1) Advance scientific knowledge on the interrelationships of nature and human elements of the earth's system so as to indentify helpful priorities and prepare for changes in the global environment; 2) Inform decisions by providing "the scientific basis to inform and enable timely decisions on adaptions to and mitigation for global climate change; 3) Conduct, build, sustain assessments which improves our Nation's capacity, ability to understand and respond; 4) Communicate, educate so people, leaders understand global change to support a scientific workforce skilled in earth-systems sciences. More information at: http://library.globalchange.gov/thenational-global-change-research-plan-2012-2017- *USDA Agroforestry Strategic Framework, Fiscal Year 2011-2016-"Enriching Our Lives with Trees That Work" is this June, 2011 publication which outlines agroforestry opportunities. New opportunities that can help: *sustainable farms, ranches and woodlands, *diversify income on farms and ranches, *provide for clean air and water, *provide for wildlife habitat, * improve soil



health, *provide for safe and healthy food, *help on energy conservation, *help on bioenergy production, and * increase wealth in rural communities. Agroforestry practices can resemble a living patchwork quilt across entire watersheds and landscapes and provide many benefits. "The key concept in agroforestry is "working trees"-putting the right tree, in the right place, for the right purposes" Further information is available from USDA's National Agroforestry Center at www.unl.edu/nac. UPCOMMING 2012 MEETINGS AND EVENTS (more may be posted on our website as meetings develop) September 18-20 - Southern Utah Biomass Days - Beaver, Utah 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 am - Snake River Chapter meets in Boise at Elmer's

Restaurant October 8-12, 2014 - SAF National Convention - this event is currently being planned to be held

in Salt Lake City, Utah and to be jointly hosted by IMSAF and IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations, http://www.iufro.org/.

INTERMOUNTAIN SAF ON FACEBOOK IMSAF has a new Facebook page. You don’t have to have a Facebook account to visit this site, but you do to interact. http://www.facebook.com/IntmtnSAF.Main PHOTOS OF PAST INTERMOUNTAIN SAF MEETINGS A number of photos of past IMSAF meetings dating back about 20 years can be viewed @ https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=11dca2b8ac95589e&resid=11DCA2B8AC95589E!136&parid=root. If you have other photos (digital, print, or slides) you would like see included, contact IMSAF at [email protected].



Demonstration of aerial firefighting at the

1946 SAF National Convention in Salt Lake City. Photo courtesty University of California’s

Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/fmpc/).

A newly digitized historic photograph collection is available at the University of California’s Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library. The Fritz-Metcalf Photograph Collection provides a valuable visual record of forestry, conservation, and lumber industry activities, mostly in California. Emanuel Fritz and Woodbridge Metcalf, two longtime faculty members at the School of Forestry at UC Berkeley, established the collection. The two were avid amateur photographers who amassed a collection of nearly 9,000 photographs documenting forest research, forestry education, logging operations, and fire protection over the first half of the twentieth century. The SAF National Convention returns to Salt Lake City in 2014.

Documents

Intermountain Society This conserves IMSAF operating of ... · published January, April, July, and October each year. Please submit materials at least 6 weeks in advance. GREETINGS