Reports From The States

[Ron Scott]

Kentucky

Kentucky Acquires 2,500 Acres of Forestland

The Gleaner.com (January 12) - The state of Kentucky has acquired nearly 2,500 acres of mostly woodland in southwestern Union County that is intended for forest preservation, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation.

Located two miles west of Sturgis, the tract includes 2,483 acres of mostly hilly terrain along the Tradewater and Ohio rivers in the vicinity of Kentucky 923 and Kentucky 1508.

The property was acquired for just over $6.6 million and will be jointly owned by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the Kentucky Division of Forestry, according to a deed filed at the Union County Courthouse on Dec. 28.

Federal funds from the Forest Legacy Program and state funds from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund were employed in the purchase.

The E-Forester

[Ron Scott]

Oregon

Logging Rules to Change to Protect Streams

Oregon Public Broadcasting (January 6) - The Oregon Board of Forestry has strengthened the state's logging regulations to better protect water quality in streams. The board voted to revise the state Forest Practices Act to make sure streams on private timberland have enough tree cover to stay cold for fish.

The E-Forester

[Ron Scott]

South Carolina

Lawyers: Clearcutting Hurts Water Quality

Post and Courier (South Carolina, January 18) - Contractors working for the state of South Carolina are clearcutting large timber tracts in the out-of-the-way Santee River bottoms forest across the river from Jamestown in Berkeley County.

Two Mount Pleasant attorneys want it to stop. They have filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the South Carolina Forestry Commission for records pertaining to timber harvests in the 12,000-acre forest the state bought nine years ago.

The dispute drives to the heart of the recurring battle over publicly owned forests: balancing uses. The lands are revenue-producing timber tracts. They are sought-after acres for recreation.

The E-Forester

[Ron Scott]

Texas

According to a preliminary estimate by the Texas Forest Service, 100 million trees with a diameter of five inches or larger have succumbed to the drought-roughly 2 to 10 percent of the state's 4.9 billion trees. This does not include trees in areas not condered forestland or in cities and towns.

The Forestry Source

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

A program that clients, neighbors, local officials, and other forest interests might want to attend. 

Monday, 5 March, 9:00-3:00
MSU Kellogg Center
Link
$35.00, lunch & materials, register by 27 February

From
MSU Extension
Michigan Forest Association
USDA Forest Stewardship Program

Contact:  Georgia Peterson at petersog @msu.edu or 517-335-7383. 

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

The DNR’s Forest Resources Division is currently discussing the potential for a specialty license plate that would support forestry education in Michigan.  Michigan began issuing specialty license plates in 2001 to raise money for several state-supported causes.  A Forestry Education plate would raise awareness and support for education and management of trees and forests throughout the state.  Topics might include, but are not limited to, any of the following: urban & community forestry, forest stewardship, clean and safe forests, arboriculture, Project Learning Tree, forest products, forest health, utilities and more…
 
Specialty plates can only be used on non-commercial passenger cars, pickup trucks, vans, and motor homes.  When purchasing or renewing a license plate, individuals would have the voluntary option to select a plate with a tree/forestry theme.  Each year’s renewal would bring additional funding to be administered for forestry education around the state. 
 
In an effort to assess the potential interest for such a plate among Michigan’s urban and community forestry partners, it would be helpful to hear from you by March 16.  If you/your organization shares an interest and would support further pursuing this initiative, please let me know in writing (preferred) or via email.  Our division will be providing an information packet to the director (Mr. Rodney Stokes) and a letter of support addressed to him would be helpful if you have a chance.

Please email or mail any letters to me at: sayersk@mi.gov or
 
Urban Forestry Program Coordinator
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 30452
Lansing, MI 48909
 
Thank you for your consideration!
 
Kevin S.
 
--------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Sayers
Urban Forestry Program Coordinator
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 30452
Lansing, MI 48909
P:  517.241.4632
F:  517.373.2443
sayersk@mi.gov


MDNR News

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

It is with heavy heart that I write of the passing of our editor – the only editor we have ever had for Michigan Forests magazine – Don Ingle. Don and his wife, Jean, died in a tragic house fire on March 9. Don took on the responsibility of putting our magazine together in January, 1980. He, in turn, enlisted the services of Sally Koon at Jack Pine Business Centers in Manistee. Sally is still with us and still doing the work of printing, assembling and shipping the magazine; she also does much of the layout work. Don was quite proud of this long-term relationship with MFA and the Jack Pine Press. Not many such business relationships last this long he said.

Don was already known for his outdoor writing and television appearances when he agreed to do the magazine for MFA; many in our organization considered it a great coup to have someone of his stature working with and for us. He was unusual – an outdoor writer who understood and wrote about forestry. We were glad to have him in our camp.

Prior to his work on Michigan Forests Don illustrated the MFA publication Oil & Gas and Your Land, with his cartoons. His drawings often showed up in Michigan Forests as well.

In addition to his skills as a writer and cartoonist, Don was a very talented musician. He led a jazz band called the Michigan Nighthawks for many years, playing music from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s. You can find video clips of his music on the internet by searching for Michigan Nighthawks. There you will find a site called "Jazzman Joe Presents MICHIGAN NIGHTHAWKS June 1988.

Don participated in several MFA annual meetings, including one in which he served as auctioneer at the RA MacMullan Conference Center at Higgins Lake. His auctioneering antics were more than amusing. Someone had donated an old axe to the auction; Don demonstrated how Abe Lincoln split fence rails with this axe, handed down through the ages since George Washington chopped a cherry tree with it. Another time, he brought his cornet to a meeting in the Pigeon River Country and joined a jam session with the late Don Zimmer and others. All this was done in a spirit of fun, but always with the understanding that our forest resource and the work of MFA is highly important.

Don was stunned and rendered (temporarily) speechless when MFA awarded him the Woodland Honors Award at the 2010 annual meeting at Cole Canoe Base. Thirty years’ work on the magazine seemed worthy of note; it still is.

In his opening column in Volume I, Number 1 of Michigan Forests, Don talked about his plans and hopes for this new magazine. After all the preparation had been made, he quoted an old Scottish motto, Having done all, stand! Having done all, Don Ingle now stands as one of the great MFA members and contributors.

At this writing, we have no information on funeral or other arrangements.

Sadly,

Bill Botti

Executive Director
Michigan Forest Association
6120 S. Clinton Trail
Eaton Rapids, MI  48827
517-663-3423

[Ron Scott]

Maine

Plum Creek Development Gets OK from State Supreme Court

Bangor Daily News.com (March 21) - Maine's highest court has ruled that regulators were on safe procedural ground when they approved Plum Creek's Moosehead Lake housing and resort plan, ending one of the costliest and most contentious development battles in state history.

The state Supreme Court supported the Land Use Regulation Commission's rezoning of nearly 400,000 acres in the Moosehead region. The concept plan allows Plum Creek to create up to 975 house lots and two large resorts on roughly 16,000 of those acres over the next 30 years.

The E-Forester

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

USDA FIA "MICHIGAN'S FORESTS 2009", NRS-66

The latest five-year report from FIA, Michigan's Forests 2009 (Resource Bulletin NRS-66), is available on the web at
[ http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/40471]. 

Printed versions will be available in approximately one month.
 
Scott A. Pugh
U.S. Forest Service
Northern Research Station
Forestry Sciences Lab
410 MacInnes Drive
Houghton, MI 49931
phone: 906-482-6303 x. 17
http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/spugh

[Ron Scott]

Maine

Historic Conservation Easement in Maine's North Woods Announced

WLBZ Bangor (May 15) - Environmentalists and town officials in Greenville are celebrating a massive conservation easement that will protect a huge swath of forestland for wildlife, recreation, and forestry.

The 363,000 acres of land in the Moosehead region will be protected from future development, while still being harvested for timber and open to the public for hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities.

The E-Forester