Jeff,
I don't see how what I said would make a landowner mad... I was trying to stick up for them. I'll see you guys later.
Good Feller,
As a land owner, I feel that I can clarify the statement that Jeff made. It was some good advice, and here is why.
Foresters, of late, have been having a really tough time making a living. Part of it is the economy. Part of it is the lack of Foresters promoting themselves as an industry. Part of it is regulations imposed by "environmental" groups who's agenda diametrically opposes good Forestry. Part of it is competition by people who claim to be Foresters who aren't. And, part of it is caused by Foresters, who have no "bedside manner" stepping on their own toes.
I'm not a Forester, I'm a landowner. I'm educated, somewhat, in Agriculture so I have some mighty good Forester friends and rub shoulders with them in seminars and coffee shops. Some, usually the youngest, have formed cliques that are filled by Foresters who think it is "smart" to demean landowners and loggers. By doing so, they have alienated themselves from the business end of the industry.
There are some instances where a Forester can make demands. Those jobs are usually found in Large paper companies or Government. Even those may find that a negative attitude will affect their ability to get ahead, or even hold a job.
Those who are in the open market, trying to consult, and trying to obtain and keep clients, find out, in time, that "the landowner is where the money is". You build a base of clientele by educating those who don't know about Forestry and recognizing the worth of those who do. Most landowners, with the gumption to hire a Consulting Forester, either know a pretty good bit about Farming trees, Forestry in general, or are looking for help. None of them appreciate being downgraded. Contrary to popular belief, the agricultural community is a small society where word gets out quickly. If you want to succeed in this community, you don't talk about any of its members in a degrading way, regardless of what you think. I'll guarantee you that a slip of the tongue in the coffee shop will not only find its way back to the person who was demeaned, but will be all over the community in a week. You will find yourself to be an outsider in no time flat.
If you want a career dealing with the public, you have to learn that it's not like robbing banks. You can't just go take it when you want, you have to woo your customers into accepting you as both an authority and a friend. You should realize that there is really a lot of intelligence and knowledge out there. Even if a lot of it was gathered through age and experience, it is as good as that which was learned from a textbook in an educational facility. You can't make the assumption that a non-Forestry-school-educated land owner is more ignorant than you are. That would be demeaning to the land owner and business suicide to the Forester.
As an elderly land owner, I stay away from people who think they know everything and who believe that I know nothing. It might be fun to stand in the corner with your buddies, slapping each other on the back and laughing about ignorant/dumb landowners, but it does nothing but alienate you. Your Forestry friends who have developed a "bed-side manner" will leave you in their dust.
Given freely as friendly advice.
