National Association of Conservation Districts

Forestry Notes

December 2008
Volume XVIII, Issue 1

| PDF version | Archive of Previous Issues |

1. NWTF Welcomes Forest RPG
2. New Guide Showcases Wood Heat
3. A Healthy Forest May Require Rebuilding the Forest Floor
4. Montana RC&D Does its Part to Dress up D.C.
5. Tree Campus USA Provides New Tool
6. Forestry Briefs

1. NWTF Welcomes Forest RPG
RPG members take close look at forest Farm Bill provisions during annual meeting.

In late October, members of the NACD Forest Resources Policy Group flocked to the National Wild Turkey Federation headquarters in Edgefield, S.C. for their annual meeting.

A large portion of the two-day discussion was devoted to examining the forestry provisions contained in the new Farm Bill.

Ted Beauvais of the U.S. Forest Service stated in his analysis of the new provisions, “It’s a good time for the Forest Stewardship Program and for private landowners to think about forest stewardship planning.”

NRCS National Forester Andy Mason discussed how each of NRCS’s existing programs will change under the new Farm Bill. Mason pointed out that in the last Farm Bill forestry received approximately $100 million of the $3.4 billion going to EQIP; in the new Farm Bill, he said, forestry will have a much larger place at the table.

David Hoag of the Farm Service Agency spoke to the group about the expected changes in CRP. Said Hoag, the 2008 Farm Bill will not only allow cost-sharing for thinning, but also for prescribed burns, pruning and vegetation management. Among the resolutions later discussed by the RPG was to further explore whether to offer support for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, a new FSA program Hoag announced at the meeting.

During the meeting, RPG members also got to see first hand the importance forest industry has on the South Carolina environment. According to South Carolina state forester Gene Kodama, the state’s forests contain 21.5 billion cubic feet of wood, and that number is growing at a rate that is faster than it can be harvested. According to Kodama, the forest industry has a massive influence on the jobs and overall economy of the state.

RPG members took a tour of the NWTF facility, including the warehouse where fundraising items are produced and stored. NWTF raises most of its annual operating budget through the 2,300 banquets its members host nationwide. Bryan Burhans, NWTF director of land management programs, said every state holds at least one NWTF function -- even Alaska, which does not have turkeys.

Forestry RPG Chair Charles Holmes said, “Edgefield might not be the biggest city in the world, but it certainly has a treasure in the National Wild Turkey Federation Headquarters.”

During the field tour, the Group visited a 67-acre plot of land in the Sumter National Forest that had been clearcut by the Long Cane Ranger District to restore a shortleaf pine forest ecosystem. The ranger district intends to burn the site every two or three years to control the sweet gum and red maple, and has begun to hand-plant the shortleaf pine. No longer focused on timber, the management will emphasize wildlife in an attempt to bring back bobwhite quail to the area.

On another stop, RPG members were pulled by tractors through Timberhaven, an 878-acre parcel of forest land that its steward, Brad Thompson, a member of the Association of Consulting Foresters, has helped to restore utilizing conservation easements and an assortment of Farm Bill programs.

Some of the other NACD partners participating at the Forest RPG meeting included the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, the American Forest Foundation, the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, SC DNR, Clemson and University of Georgia extension, local district and county officials.

The National Association of State Foresters were not able to jointly meet with the Forest RPG as the two groups have done in the past, but according to Virginia State Forester Carl Garrison, who represented them, NASF plans to rejoin the Forest RPG meeting again next year.

To view a slide show of the meeting’s highlights, visit the NACD Web site at http://www.nacdnet.org.

2. New Guide Showcases Wood Heat
A research team on the University of Oregon campus is receiving nationwide interest for its recent publication outlining the many benefits of wood heat. The guidebook, entitled “Wood Heat Solutions: A Community Guide to Biomass Thermal Projects,” explains wood’s value as a local and carbon-neutral heating source. The publication also explains how using wood-based fuel can have a positive impact on the neighboring forest. The group has also produced a video, “Keeping Energy Dollars Local: Using Wood to Heat the Enterprise School,” which complements the print publication.

Resource Innovations, a non-profit organization housed within the University’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment produced the 36-page guidebook. According to Resource Innovations’ program manager, Marcus Kauffman, “With multiple benefits, including cost savings, wildfire risk reduction, low emissions and increase local employment, we encourage community leaders and local businesses to consider using woody biomass and talk with those reaping the benefits first hand.”

Graduate teaching fellow Ryan Ojerio researched everything relevant from technical assistance people to tax credits and financing, and wrote much of the guidebook’s content. Another student, Abbie Stillie, designed the publication, which then was sent to a list of partners for careful review.

According to Kauffman, since the release of the publication in March, he has been flooded with requests from the media and those interested in getting copies of the guidebook. “It’s made a major splash,” he said. “I think we hit the pulse of what people are looking for.”

That “pulse” may just be the growing desire to consider wood as a legitimate fuel source. Two recent projects in Oregon -- a high school in Wallowa County and the 55,000-sqare-foot Harney County District Hospital in Burns – are examples for how a good neighboring fuel supply and an open mind can lead to the use of wood as an alternative fuel source. The school estimates it will save in excess of $100,000 each year by switching from oil to wood chips, and the hospital’s conversion to wood pellets showed instant savings through a cleaner, more efficient process.

For more information on this project, contact Marcus Kauffman at (541) 346-0661, or email him at marcusk@uoregon.edu. To view the guidebook and the video online visit the Resource Innovations Web Site at http://ri.uoregon.edu. The video is also housed at the University of Oregon Channel at http://media.uoregon.edu/channel where it is available in high-resolution formats.

3. A Healthy Forest May Require Rebuilding the Forest Floor
AZ alliance aims to ensure the availability of native grasses

The Northern Arizona Native Seed Alliance (NANSA) has fed off the collaborative efforts of its more than two dozen non-profit and agency partners to advance the native grass seed market in the Southwest. The group’s aim is to help establish a local industry so that native seed can help to replenish post-wildfire forestlands.

According to Scott Harger, the range conservationist with the Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District in central Arizona, most landowners and resource professionals are educated on how to refurnish the forest with trees, but it’s the understory that is often neglected or difficult to replace when quickly rebuilding a healthy forest. “It’s the part of the equation that’s been missing,” he said.

“As a conservation district, our particular interest in NANSA is to reduce the cost and risk of reseeding with natives for private landowners,” said Harger. Coconino NRCD serves as the contract administrator for NANSA.

Through a grant from the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts and matching funds from Northern Arizona University, NANSA used part of its initial $25,000 seed money to complete a massive study on the supply and demand of seed. “We felt if we were going to convince entrepreneurs to get into this business that we should start with an understanding of the scope and the variety of the market,” said Harger.

Due to a rising number of wildfires there has been a spike in the demand for available seed. “You need a lot of seed to restore grass when you’ve had a forest fire,” said Harger. “After the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire of 2002, even the commercial sources couldn’t support the need for seed.”

According to Harger, agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service use so much seed each year in restoration efforts that it drives the price up, and ultimately that can result in the need to pull seed, including non-native, from outside areas. The issue resource professionals face when restoring forest lands, he said, is both the high cost of seed and the low success rate of the commercial seed coming from those other regions compared to local genotypes from nearby sources.

“More local genotypes are another key,” said Harger. “Monitoring shows the closer the seed source, the higher the success rate.”

It is the belief of NANSA that a local seed industry can exist based on the high demand for seed. Locally grown seed would also offer private landowners a more reliable product to restore their forestland acreage, making re-seeding more affordable.

NANSA meets every other month and works closely with the NRCS Plant Material Center in Los Lunas, N.M. Said Harger, “They turned out to be a treasure trove for us. They’ve helped us to learn how to get the seed to work better on wildlands. It’s helped eliminate one huge section from our timeline.”

One new technique NANSA is exploring to improve the success rate is the mowing of forest understory to create a hay which serves both as a seed mix and mulch.

In addition to its $25,000 startup funds, NANSA has since added $175,000 in grant money from the U.S. Forest Service to extend its Region 3 operation through 2010. The USFS and BLM had similar native seed projects in Utah and Colorado but shrinking budgets have eliminated one and slowed the other; now, said, Harger, those partnerships look to NANSA in helping to advance the native seed industry.

NANSA now plans to develop five acres of seed beds to yield approximately 160 pounds of all seed varieties. Said Harger, “What we’re really teaching ourselves are practical propagation techniques.” NANSA has identified 40-plus species of interest for the region; of them, Harger said the group plans to learn to produce 24 varieties, with as many as a dozen species in production at any one time.

One obstacle, said Harger, could be defining what is local. “How do we anticipate where the seed needs to come from when we don’t know where the fire is going to be? That’s something we’re still working on.”

Soon, NANSA’s focus will shift from the science to a search of farmers willing to grow native seed for southwestern forestland restoration.

According to Harger, to grow seed it takes about a half-acre per species. “When you add fertilizer and water to these native forbs it’s like growing wheat,” he said. “They’re very lush, and easy to manipulate.” The City of Flagstaff has land that it is considering enrolling in the project, as does the Hopi Indian Tribe and other private landowners.

In October, NANSA celebrated its first year of existence. Harger admits he has been excited by how fast the alliance has grown.

“Our struggle now is try to organize all of this,” said Harger. “We parlayed our little seed money into a multi-year effort. It’s turned out to be an overwhelming response.”

For more information about NANSA, contact Scott Harger, range conservationist for the Coconino Conservation District, at (928) 527-9050, or email him at cannonbone@msn.com.

4. Montana RC&D Does its Part to Dress up D.C.
Kit Sutherland has been engaged in a number of important tasks during his tenure as coordinator for Montana’s Bitter Root RC&D -- everything from assisting local firefighting leaders during the devastating Bitterroot fires of 2000, to helping landowners to learn the values of defensible space. In November, Sutherland represented the RC&D on another task -- joining the 26-stop, 4,000-mile trek as the 2008 Capitol Christmas Tree made its way from the Bitterroot Valley to Washington D.C.

Each year the Capitol Christmas Tree comes from one of the country’s many national forests; the tree that was selected for this year is a 100-foot-tall subalpine fir from the Sapphire Mountains of Western Montana on the Bitterroot National Forest.

Bitter Root RC&D worked in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and other various partners to develop and utilize funding to help transport the tree. In all the RC&D collected more than $40,000 in cash donations and $100,000 of in-kind funds. The theme of the campaign is 'Sharing Montana's Treasures.'

According to Sutherland, in addition to assisting with the travel plans, the RC&D also participated in planning meetings and worked on the agreements with many of the folks who donated money, services and time to make the event happen.  

In December of each year, the speaker of the House of Representatives lights the Capitol Christmas Tree, housed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. The first tree was a live Douglas-fir purchased in 1964 for $700 from Buddies Nursery in Birdsboro, Penn. The U.S. Forest Service has been a partner in the program since 1970.

For more information on this year’s tree and its journey from Montana to Washington D.C., visit http://capitolchristmastree2008.org.

5. Tree Campus USA Provides New Tool
For conservation professionals, the Tree Campus USA program is a valuable tool to help achieve educational and stewardship objectives. Engaging college campuses provides a rich opportunity to share a specific perspective and potentially broaden the network of participants in taking sound conservationist action.

The program furnishes colleges and universities with a foundation for enhancing the trees that occupy their campuses. Modeled on the proven Tree City USA program, it recognizes that healthy community trees require numerous resources to flourish. Its standards of tree care and community engagement were crafted with that in mind.

The Tree Campus USA initiative will help educate students, campus administration and communities on the benefits of trees, best practices in tree care, and how collaboration among numerous participants results in a healthier and more sustainable environment for everyone in both rural and urban settings.

The program offers conservation professionals and colleges a framework for effectively managing tree resources on campuses and engaging the student population. Five core standards of tree care and student involvement apply:

1. Establishing a Campus Tree Advisory Committee composed of students, faculty, grounds management, and someone from the surrounding community.
2. Creating a Campus Tree Care Plan that contains clear goals to meet the needs of the institution. Tree protection and preservation policies, undesirable practices, and an effective communications plan provide clear and concise direction for all involved in tree care.
3. Administering a Campus Forestry Program with Dedicated Annual Expenditures ensures campus commitment to the core objectives. 
4. Celebrating Arbor Day provides the opportunity to educate and involve the campus and local area as to the benefits of trees on the campus and throughout the community.
5. Instituting a Service Learning Project to engage the student body in meaningful projects that enhance the campus and support neighboring communities.

Consistent with the National Association of Conservation Districts’ own principles, the Tree Campus USA program views education as a crucial building block of its effectiveness. Interested professionals can directly affect the course of the Tree Campus USA program by spreading the word among conservation-minded colleagues and volunteers alike. For more information, visit http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCampusUSA.

6. Forestry Briefs

USFS Releases Another 'Forests on the Edge' Report
The U.S. Forest Service is pleased to announce the release of another ‘Forests on the Edge’ report entitled “A Closer Look at Forests on the Edge: Future Development on Private Forests in Three States”.

The report examines conditions and trends influencing residential development in three case study areas: northwest Washington, northern Georgia, and southern Maine. The case study areas were selected because each was projected to experience significant increases in residential development on privately-owned forests in the coming decades. Although “A Closer Look” focuses on just three areas projected to undergo rural residential development, the commonalities and differences in the factors influencing development in these three regions can be used to inform open space conservation and resource management efforts elsewhere.

Collectively, more than 1,500 square miles of privately-owned forest in the case study areas are projected to experience significant increases in residential development by 2030. Several key factors influence the rate and pattern of residential development and its impact on forest resources in the three areas: population growth from domestic migration, forest land ownership changes, historical settlement patterns and topography, and land use planning mechanisms and forest conservation programs.

To learn more about “A Closer Look” visit http://www.fs.fed.us/openspace/fote/closer.html. The report can be viewed or downloaded to create hard copies.

For additional information, contact Eric White at emwhite@fs.fed.us.

Old Forests May be Better at Sequestration than Thought to Be
Findings in the latest issue of Nature challenge the long-held assumption that trees older than 150 years are “carbon neutral” and not as effective as absorbing greenhouse gas as their younger siblings. Research from a group of forest scientists found that most forests between 15 to 800 years old store more carbon dioxide than they release, and the total amounts to about 10 percent of the net carbon uptake worldwide. The results may bolster arguments in favor of including credits for preserving old growth forests in the Kyoto Protocol and cap-and-trade schemes for controlling greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.