March 2013

Max BraswellAFA Executive Vice President

Note: AFA sends a weekly email Legislative Update, which provides up-to-date information about the General Assembly and bills of interest to the forestry community. If you would like to receive this newsletter, send your email address to aswaim@arkforests.org.

AFA has been working with a coalition of organizations in

support of legislation that would strengthen the law around the transportation and release of feral hogs in Arkansas. The bill—HB 1478— is likely to be heard in the House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday, March 13, at 10 a.m. The bill is garnering expected opposition from hog hunters, those who sell hog hunts and individuals who like to run dogs to hunt feral hogs. This is a small, but vocal, group. If you or your organization support this legislation, I urge you to reach out to the members of the committee and/or your representative to voice your support. You can find committee members and their contact information online at www.arkansashouse.org/committees. Remember, for more information about bills, legislators and committee meetings, look on the General Assembly website at www.arkleg.state.ar.us. If you have a question or need additional information on an issue during the session, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the AFA office at (501) 374-2441 or mbraswell@arkforests.org.

Feral hog bill to be heard in committee

Regional membership meeting,Tree Farm tour set for April 11Regional membership meetings provide

a unique opportunity for members and guests to network, meet face-to-face with the staff and tour an AFA member’s property. Join AFA for a membership meeting and Tree Farm tour at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 11, at Bobby Johnson’s Tree Farm in Cherry Valley, located in Cross County.

The tour includes lunch, so please contact AFA at (501) 374-2441 or jlambert@arkforests.org by April 4 to register. There is no charge to attend.

Bobby and Kathy Johnson moved to Cherry Valley from Marion to enjoy the benefits of rural life. When they purchased the 129.86 acres on Crowley’s Ridge in 1996, it had been cut over and high graded, with no restoration or regeneration work. Since that time, Bobby has worked with the Arkansas Forestry Commission to develop a forest management plan and enroll in the Tree Farm and Forest Stewardship programs.

Today, the Tree Farm is a mosaic of pine stands, food plots, hardwood stands, watering holes, roads and trails, and wildlife habitat. Bobby has done most of the work himself. Contractors have done injection work and mechanical planting.

“I want to do whatever is good for stewardship, so my kids and grandkids can be second-and third-generation Tree Farmers.” To ensure that it is taken care of for future generations, the Johnsons placed their Tree Farm property in a trust. Their family enjoys the many benefits the Tree Farm provides—hunting, fishing, gardening and other outdoor recreation.

The Johnsons live on the Tree Farm in a home that Bobby had built in 90 days. In addition to Tree Farm work, they garden, raise animals and spend time with their

Bobby and Kathy Johnson will host an AFA Regional Membership Meeting and Tree Farm tour on their property on April 11.

grandchildren. Bobby is a retired plant manager for Proctor & Gamble and Kathy, a registered nurse, works in Memphis. Bobby also serves on the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

Food plots are an important part of Bobby Johnson’s Tree Farm management plan.

CALENDAR

March 18AFA Legislative Reception

for 2nd and 3rd Congressional District Legislators

4:30 p.m. - AFA Office, Little Rock

March 27AFA Executive Committee

10 a.m. - AFA Office, Little Rock

March 28Log A Load For KidsCampaign Kickoff

10:30 a.m. - Arkansas Children’s Hospital

April 2Program Committee

10 a.m. - AFA Office, Little Rock

April 11Tree Farm Tour and AFA Regional

Membership Meeting10 a.m. - Bobby Johnson Tree Farm

Cherry Valley, Cross CountyCall or email the AFA office to

register or for more details

April 24-27Four-State Forestry Conference

Texarkana, Texas4stateforestryonthegrow.org

May 1-2Spring Board of Directors Meeting

River Market DistrictLittle Rock

June 17-21Teacher Conservation Tour

Monticello

October 1-368th AFA Annual Meeting

Embassy SuitesLittle Rock

First forestry legislative receptionat AFA office well received, attendedOn March 4, legislators from the First and

Fourth Congressional District Caucuses, and House and Senate staff members joined representatives from the forestry and logging community at the Arkansas Forestry Association office in Little Rock for a reception. Fifty-seven people attended the event.

“We were pleased to host this event at the AFA office to let legislators know where we are located and to showcase our facility,” said AFA Executive Vice President Max Braswell. A second reception will take place Monday, March 18, for legislators from the Second and Third Districts. These receptions continue a long tradition of hosting events during the regular session that provide an opportunity to build better relationships

with members of the General Assembly.

These events could not be possible without the support of these great partners: Arkansas Forestry AssociationArkansas Forest and Paper CouncilArkansas Timber Producers AssociationBibler Bros. LumberClearwater PaperDeltic TimberDomtarGeorgia-PacificGreen Bay PackagingInternational PaperPlum Creek TimberPotlatch Forest HoldingsWeyerhaeuser See the online photo album on the AFA Flickr site at flickr.com/photos/arkforests.

Representatives from the forestry and logging community welcomed legislators from the First and Fourth Congressional District Caucuses to a reception at the AFA office on March 4.

(Left) Rep. Don Dale (R-Dover) asks AFA Education Foundation Director of Forestry Education Rob Beadel (right) about Project Learning Tree during a legislative reception at the AFA office on March 4.

TCT set for June 17-21 in Monticello; Teachers, sponsors neededThe 2013 Teacher Conservation Tour—

sponsored by the AFA Education Foundation (AFAEF) —has set its dates for June 17-21 in Monticello. The focus of this five-day workshop is on the environmental and economic benefits of Arkansas’s forestlands and forest products industry. If you know an educator who would like to attend TCT or if you would like to provide a scholarship for one or more teachers, please contact AFAEF Director of Forestry Education Rob Beadel at (501) 374-2441 or rbeadel@arkforests.org. There is a $125 application fee. Lodging, meals, transportation during the tour, materials and other expenses are covered by AFAEF through generous sponsorships and donations from companies, organizations and individuals. This educational tour provides teachers 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

AFA members, staff in the news...

>> Anthony Timberlands Inc. added second shifts in three departments at its flagship plant in Bearden. The addition of the shifts required hiring about 65 new employees. The shifts will be added to the planer, green sorting and small log processing departments, and the result will be an increase of some 70 percent in production of finished lumber production to an annual level of 175 million board feet.

>> AFA Education Foundation Director of Forestry Education Rob Beadel has been appointed to serve a three-year term on the Education Operating Committee of Project Learning Tree, the national environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation. He attended his first meeting in Boulder, Colorado on February 11-14.

>> Tommy Maxwell, of Monticello, has been appointed to the Hardwood Federation board of directors. He has 35 years of experience in the flooring business and is the president and CEO of Maxwell Hardwood Flooring. Maxwell is also the owner of Townshend Inc. in Warren and serves on the boards of the Arkansas Forestry Association and Union Bank & Trust Co.

>> Gov. Mike Beebe reappointed Mary Elizabeth Eldridge, with The Ross Foundation, to an eight-year term on the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

>> AFA Executive Vice President Max Braswell and Director of Administration Jennifer Lambert recently attended the National Tree Farm Leadership Meeting in Philadelphia, along with Arkansas Tree Farm Committee Chairman Caroll Guffey, with the UA Cooperative Extension Service, and Vice Chairman John Cook, with the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

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. “This is not your typical 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. classroom workshop,” stresses Beadel. “Our days are long and packed full of field activities keeping the participants engaged throughout the week.” Teachers will earn 30 professional development hours including six technology hours and two hours of Arkansas History approved by the Arkansas Department of Education. Although the five-day workshop provides professional development hours for classroom teachers, any formal or informal educator may apply for the tour.

The workshop will be based at the School of Forest Resources at the University of Arkansas – Monticello campus. Lodging will be provided at the Holiday Inn Express in Monticello. Participants must provide their own transportation to and from Monticello. Space is limited to 25 participants and selected on a first-received, first-reserved basis.

During the 2012 Teacher Conservation Tour (TCT), the group visited an active logging operation on land owned by Plum Creek. TCT provides educators with an opportunity to learn about the forestry community’s positive environmental and economic impact.

Weyerhaeuser dedicated to sustainable forestrySince 1901, Weyerhaeuser has owned and

managed private forests for sustainable production of wood while protecting the environment. Today, the company manages more than six million acres in the United States, all on private land.

Weyerhaeuser’s timberland is located in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, North Carolina, Texas and Washington. In some locations, the company is now planting its third generation of trees. Most of its U.S. timberland is intensively managed for timber production, but more than 700,000 acres are conserved for environmental, historical, recreational or cultural reasons. Through sustainable forest management, Weyerhaeuser provides products that meet a wide range of human needs while preserving a healthy environment. As one of the world’s largest owners and managers of softwood forests and a major purchaser of fiber and products derived from wood, the company has both a responsibility and an economic interest in the long-term viability of forest resources.

Weyerhaeuser agrees with a vision emerging among governments and nongovernmental organizations that the best way to sustain forest resources globally is through a balance of three approaches:

• Protect one category of forests for biological diversity, recreation, and other social and environmental values.

• Manage another category intensively to produce as much wood and fiber as possible while protecting the environment.

• Manage a third category less intensively to maintain more natural qualities, both to meet global needs for wood and to sustain local communities.

We are inspired by trees.

Their strength, vitality, and unlimited potential have guided our approach to business for more than a century.