ISSUE 93: WEEK OF October 26, 2020
Recent News


Regional News

  • FLA & State Agencies Release New Forest Economic Infographic Factsheets
  • Auburn Forestry Team Aims to Develop Innovative Products from Salvaged Wood
  • Measuring Impact & Engagement from Twitter Outreach: #YardFruits
  • Clemson Ext Publication on Homemade Tools for Measuring Basal Area
  • Printed Copies of the Photo Guide for Estimating Fuel Loading in the Appalachians Avail.
  • 78th Professional Agricultural Virtual Conference
  • Printed Copies of the Photo Guide for Estimating Fuel Loading in the Appalachians Avail.
  • Clemson Emeritus Professor Advocates for Forest Recovery Act in Op-Ed
  • Building Capacity to Serve Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Workshop
  • Texas A&M Law Professor Recognized as 2020 MacArthur Fellow for Heirs’ Property Work

National News

  • An Overview of Tribal Natural Resource Management Series Launches in November
  • Extension Educators Assemble Resource Guide for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access
  • Retired Wood Products Specialist Authors Book Connecting Wood Products to Baseball
  • Enviva and Finite Carbon Partner to Protect Southeast Forests
  • National Sustainability Summit/ National Extension Energy Summit- Save the date
  • NIACS & American Forests Team up to Create “Climate & Health Action Guide”
  • Wildfire Risk to Communities: New Features & Data
  • US Endowment Introduces New Mode for BlockChain Technology


Webinars

  • Legal and Policy Issues in Succession Planning for Socially Disadvantaged Farm Families
  • The Jones Center at Ichauway Hosts Webinar on Wildlife Research & Management

Funding Opportunities

  • 2021 USFS Wood Innovations Grant 
  • 2021 REPI PROGRAM CHALLENGE
  • FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grants 


Job Opportunities

  • Regional Forest Health Coordinator- Texas A&M Forest Service
  • UKY- Asst. Director ANR Extension
  • Forester West Virginia Department of Natural Resources 
  • State Forester- Georgia Forestry Commission
  • AL Cooperative Extension Director
Regional News
FLA & State Agencies Release New Forest Economic Infographic Factsheets
Forest Landowners’ Association, in collaboration with many state forestry agencies, forestry Extension units and Southern Regional Extension Forestry created infographic factsheets to highlight the economic and environmental benefits that private forest landowners contribute to their respective states. Launched during National Forest Products Week, these infographics include information on the contributions that forestry and the forest products industry in each of the thirteen states of the South. The private landowners’ sustainable practices of planting, growing, and harvesting trees for domestic wood supply, lead to increased jobs in the forest supply chain and large contributions to the economy. This project is part of a campaign by FLA to emphasize forest landowners and the importance to wood markets. These factsheets also help to illustrate the relationship between privately owned forests and the ecosystem services that these forests provide. Find out more here

Auburn Forestry Team Aims to Develop Innovative Products from Salvaged Wood
Auburn University’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences has a team of researchers examining the potential of using salvaged wood from hurricanes to develop products. The goal of this research team is to create a harvesting machine that is capable of collecting the fallen timber, because the wood decays quickly in the southern heat. Then, using that timber to make commercially viable products, like lumber, wood composites, and wood fibers for construction and packaging. To learn more about this project, click here.

Measuring Impact & Engagement from Twitter Outreach: #YardFruits
Dr. Eric Stafne, a fruit and nut specialist at the Mississippi State University’s South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station, tested an approach for sparking discussion on Twitter about different types of fruit species. He tweeted short blurbs using the hashtag #YardFruits, to see what fruit types sparked a discussion and to see if engagement would increase based or if the fruit type would start the discussion. With COVID-19 guidelines, many normal Extension programs were halted and Twitter serves as a great alternative to engage audiences. This study summarizes that Extension educators can further influence a broad audience with targeted tweets, particularly ones that include hashtags and photos. To read this journal article in the American Society for Horticultural Science, click here.

Clemson Ext Publication on Homemade Tools for Measuring Basal Area
Clemson Cooperative Extension has published a paper describing ways to determine basal area using tools at hand. The most common way to measure basal area is a wedge prism, however, sometimes the tool is not available in the field or in stock from a forestry equipment supplier. You can use a pencil, penny, and even your thumb. To learn how to use these homemade devices, click here.

Printed Copies of the Photo Guide for Estimating Fuel Loading in the Appalachians Avail.
The Photo Guide for Estimating Fueld Loading in the Southern Appalachians which was revised at the end of 2019 is now available as a paper copy. The guide, which can be found here, in digital form, has been printed on a spiral bound notebook style for easy use in the field. To obtain a free print copy, email helen@cafms.org

78th Professional Agricultural Virtual Conference
The Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) hosted by Tuskeegee Univeristy, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, and the US Forest Service is a 3-day web-based conference promoting equal access to information and technology for sustainable development of communities and natural resources.  Farmers, government representatives, land-grant faculty and staff are encouraged to attend. The virtual conference will be held Dec. 6-8th. To learn more and register, click here.
Printed Copies of the Photo Guide for Estimating Fuel Loading in the Appalachians Avail.
The Photo Guide for Estimating Fueld Loading in the Southern Appalachians which was revised at the end of 2019 is now available as a paper copy. The guide, which can be found here, in digital form, has been printed on a spiral bound notebook style for easy use in the field. To obtain a free print copy, email helen@cafms.org

Clemson Emeritus Professor Advocates for Forest Recovery Act in Op-Ed
Professor Thomas Straka from Clemson University  wrote an article titled, “Wildfires, Hurricanes and Private Forests.” This article describes the struggle of being a private forest owner after a natural disaster. If timber is destroyed by wildfire, storms, or any other natural disaster, the private landowner would not be allowed to claim casualty losses for timber taxes. Private landowners usually cannot get relief funding, nor do they receive any tax deductions, since there is typically no annual income derived from the timber. This can keep landowners from reinvesting in timber. Dr. Straka advocates for the Bi-Partisan Forestry Recovery Act, which is in congress now, and could provide some assistance to the landowners by providing a casualty loss for fair market value of the destroyed timber. To learn more, click here.

Building Capacity to Serve Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Workshop
Auburn University, Tuskegee University, Land Loss Prevention, and Rural Coalition are hosting a 3-part workshop describing challenges for underprivileged farmers and ranchers and how professionals can better serve their needs. This virtual three-day workshop is targeted towards land-grant professionals, 2501 grantees, and non-profit organizations. The goal of the workshop is to provide professionals serving socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers with a set of tools to help them build capacity amongst their clients. This workshop will focus on extension and service provider strategies, farm financial literacy and how to navigate land management when several heirs are a part of managing the land or farm. These virtual workshops will be held Nov. 10- 12th from 10 am- 2 pm CT. To learn more or register, click here.

Texas A&M Law Professor Recognized as 2020 MacArthur Fellow for Heirs’ Property Work
Dr. Thomas Mitchell has been selected as one of the 2020 MacArthur Fellows. Dr. Thomas is a property law scholar at Texas A&M University, whose work focuses on reforming longstanding legal doctrine that deprive Black and other disadvantaged American families of their property. Mitchell was the main drafter of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which was enacted into law in many states over the past five or so years. This act provides guidance for courts to apply economic and non-economic considerations to resolve partition action, improves fair market value to allow more families to avoid disposition in their real estate. Mitchell continues to work to create tools for many more disadvantaged property owners throughout the country to secure their land and real estate wealth and help mitigate the racial wealth gap. To learn more about Thomas’ work and that of the other 2020 MacArthur Fellows, click here.

National News
An Overview of Tribal Natural Resource Management Series Launches in November
Learn more about the full scope of land management approaches used by Native Americans across the country in this webinar series hosted by Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, the US Forest Service Southern Research Station and Southern Regional Extension Forestry. More than 56 million acres of land across the United States are owned and managed by Native Americans, however many natural resource professionals are unaware of the unique history, legal status and management of these lands. To learn more about this webinar series, click here.

Extension Educators Assemble Resource Guide for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access
Extension professionals from Cornell and University of Connecticut have assembled numerous resources for inclusion, diversity and equity in a guide called “Anti-racism in the Outdoors: Resources Related to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Parks in and Greenspaces.” Green spaces have positive health benefits, however access to outdoor spaces has not been equitable. This guide, which the creators envisioned as a growing resource is a collection of information that can help individuals to learn more about inclusion in those green spaces. The organization recognizes that it is not a completely comprehensive listing of resources but encourage others to email suggested additions. To learn more, click here

Retired Wood Products Specialist Authors Book Connecting Wood Products to Baseball
Dr. Stephen Bratkovich, a former Utilization and marketing Specialist for the USDA Forest Service, Extension Forester, and an adjunct faculty member in forests products has authored a book combining trees and baseball. His book, “The Baseball Bat: From Trees to the Major Leagues, 19th Century to Today” connects the history and the future of wooden bats in connection to forestry and manufacturers of bats. Baseball bats are produced from hickory, maple, birch and ash wood. In fact, Major League Baseball players often prefer bats made with certain types of wood, for example, NY Yankee Aaron Judge prefers maple. Insects, disease, and climate change pose challenges for the quality supply of these trees. In addition, there are challenges in the durability of bats that came to light during a surge in broken bats in the early 2000s, because the ash bats cracked and flaked more easily than other types of wood. To learn more, or order this book, click here.

Enviva and Finite Carbon Partner to Protect Southeast Forests
Enviva is a global energy company specializing in sustainable wood bioenergy, and Finite Carbon is a developers of forest carbon offsets, are working to engage small forest landowners to participate in a global greenhouse emission reduction program.  This program can generate new annual income for landowners based on forest stewardship. This free program incentivizes because they offer access to a new source of carbon offset revenue. To learn more, click here.
National Sustainability Summit/ National Extension Energy Summit- Save the date
The National Extension Energy, an initiative which provides Extension educators with resources for energy education, and the National Network for Sustainable Living Education, which serves to connect people that work in sustainability education are co-hosting an in-person summit in 2021. The summit will focus on the latest in sustainability and energy, innovative Extension programs, and new practices. The program will include keynote presentations by energy and sustainability leaders, panel sessions, workshops, presentations, posters, and tours. The event will be held Oct 4-6, 2021, at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Stay tuned for more information. 

NIACS & American Forests Team up to Create “Climate & Health Action Guide”
The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science and American Forests created an action guide to promote people’s health and climate benefits of urban landscapes while minimizing climate change risks. This sustainable five-step process provides a semi-structured approach for integrating climate change and human health into urban forestry projects. Nature plays a vital role in human health by encouraging exercise and reducing stress. To learn more about this action guide or access it, click here.

Wildfire Risk to Communities: New Features & Data
“Wildfire Risk to Communities” is a resource created by USDA Forest Service to help communities all over the US learn more about wildfire and how to reduce its associated risks. Their website houses interactive maps, charts and resources relevant to all regions of the US. Now, the website has been updated to include even more features such as new map views and GIS data now available for download. To check out the website’s updates, click here.

US Endowment Introduces New Mode for BlockChain Technology
The US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, IBM, and other stakeholders have introduced ForesTrust, LLC, which provides proof of origin and certification for wood. ForesTrust is a network that gives the forestry industry the ability to trace wood products from forest to consumer, while ensuring authentic import declaration forms. Because illegal logging costs forestry $15B annually, building a reliable documentation trail for wood product sources enhances customer confidence, and ensures more success for legitimate logging companies. For more information on ForesTrust, click here.


Webinars
Legal and Policy Issues in Succession Planning for Socially Disadvantaged Farm Families
The Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center is an organization that started based on allocations from the 2014 Farm Bill and specializes in policy research for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Members from the Center, which is based at Alcorn State University, will host a webinar detailing public policies surrounding accessibility to credit and heir’s property, and that will include speakers with personal experience with these issues. In addition, members of the center will discuss the policy work they have developed in anticipation of the 2023 farm bill, and how that could impact socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. This webinar will be held Oct. 28th from 3- 4pm ET. To learn more about this webinar, click here.
The Jones Center at Ichauway Hosts Webinar on Wildlife Research & Management
The Jones Center is hosting a webinar titled, “How Both Short- and Long-Term Wildlife Research can Inform Management,” in an effort to highlight the importance of how both time scales  should inform natural resource management. The speaker is Dr. Lora Smith from the Jones Center, and she will discuss the value of follow up surveys for different species’ conservation along the Flint River. This webinar will be Nov. 10th from 3- 4 pm ET. To learn more about the webinar or register, click here.


Funding Opportunities
2021 USFS Wood Innovations Grant 
The U.S. Forest Service requests proposals to substantially expand and accelerate wood energy and wood products markets throughout the United States to support forest management needs on National Forest System and other forest lands. This Request for Proposals focuses on the following priorities to: Reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health on National Forest System and other forest lands, reduce costs of forest management on all land types, promote economic and environmental health of communities. Project types include, but are not excluded to means for developing manufacturing capacity and/or other necessary wood products infrastructure, creating markets for wood products that support forest ecosystem restoration, showcasing quantifiable environmental and economic benefits of using wood as a sustainable building material in an actual commercial building, establishing statewide wood utilization teams and statewide wood energy teams and more. The intent of the Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity is to stimulate, expand, and support wood products markets and wood energy markets. Proposal submissions are due Jan. 20, 2021, to learn more, click here. 

2021 REPI PROGRAM CHALLENGE
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it is accepting pre-proposals for the 2021 Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program Challenge. The REPI challenge includes up to $15 million for land conservation or management activities that limits incompatible development, enhances military installation resilience, or relieves current or anticipated environmental restrictions at locations hosting key capabilities identified in the National Defense Strategy. Competitive proposals will demonstrate actions that improve military readiness and build a more lethal joint force by protecting investments to assets and platforms in support of one or more key capabilities listed in the Request for Proposals. Partners are strongly encouraged to coordinate closely with local installation or range staff to verify the presence of key National Defense Strategy capabilities prior to proposal development. The REPI Challenge seeks to engage the private sector to access and tap unconventional and high-leverage sources of funding, attract additional philanthropic support, and take advantage of market-based approaches to advance program goals. The Request for Proposals, downloadable PDF pre-proposal form, list of awards from the previous grant cycle, and other information are available on the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Community’s webpage. The deadline for pre-proposal submission is 8 p.m. EST, Monday, November 23, 2020. Up to $15 million is available for one or multiple awards. Final awards are planned to be announced in May or June of 2021.

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grants 
The application period for FEMA’s fiscal year 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants under the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programs is now open. Eligible applicants must apply for funding through the FEMA Grants Outcomes (GO) system. All applications must be submitted no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 29, 2021. These two competitive grant programs provide states, local communities, tribes and territories funding for eligible mitigation activities to reduce the risks they face and the impact of future disasters. For FY20, a total of $660 million in funding is available for FMA and BRIC. FEMA will distribute up to $160 million through the FMA grant program, and a record-breaking $500 million of pre-disaster mitigation funding is available through the new BRIC program. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered for funding.
Job Opportunities
Regional Forest Health Coordinator- Texas A&M Forest Service
This position serves as a Regional Forest Health Coordinator with additional duties and responsibilities based on knowledge and experience. In addition, this position is tasked with developing and implementing a strategic plan for forest health program delivery in the regions of Central and West Texas, which includes providing program leadership and technical assistance on regional forest health issues, establishing and maintaining relationships with key internal and external program partners and coordinating and supporting education and outreach programs related to forest health issues. For more information on this job opportunity, click here.

UKY- Asst. Director ANR Extension
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service is seeking its next Assistant Director for Agriculture and Natural Resources. This colleague provides statewide leadership for Extension programs in agricultural and natural resources. We expect our colleague to bring thoughtful and innovative contributions by being a part of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service leadership team while being responsible to the Director and Associate Director of the Cooperative Extension Service. This is a 12-month position based in Lexington, Kentucky with travel within and out of state as needed has an expected distribution of effort (DOE) at approximately 75% Administration and 25% Extension. The annual DOE will be aligned with the colleague’s strengths and college needs.

Forester West Virginia Department of Natural Resources 
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources is advertising for a position to perform professional forestry and biological work at the expert level. Position serves as the agency's Staff Forester and administers the agency's Forest Management program and works in consultation with district game management staff and other DNR forestry staff on issues relating to forest/wildlife management projects on state's wildlife management areas. Work requires interpretation of scientific theory and principles, investigative methodology and operational procedures associated with forest and/or wildlife management practices. Coordinates with district wildlife personnel in preparation of timber/wildlife management plans, provides training, assistance and expertise in the design, development and monitoring of timber sales and oil and gas exploration activities on State wildlife management areas. Conducts timber appraisals on public lands as needed, serves in a leadership role in our prescribed fire program. Find out more here. 

State Forester- Georgia Forestry Commission
Applications are being accepted for the position of State Forester at the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC).  The GFC is seeking a visionary Director who personifies the mission: to provide leadership, service, and education in the protection and conservation of Georgia’s natural resources. The Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission holds a myriad of critical responsibilities that directly impact millions of people. For more information, click here. Application deadline is October 30th
 
AL Cooperative Extension Director
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) invites applications for a nationally recognized leader to serve as the Director of ACES at Auburn University. ACES is the primary outreach and engagement organization for two land grant universities, Alabama A&M University and Auburn University. The strengths of two universities come together in one public agency under the joint leadership of the Director at Auburn University and the 1890 Administrator at Alabama A&M University. The Director reports jointly to the Presidents at Alabama A&M University and Auburn University and will be responsible for providing innovative, joint leadership to more than 700 faculty and staff located on two university campuses and in 67 counties across the state. The Director will oversee an annual budget of approximately $65 million. This environment is rich with possibilities for further innovative leadership. For more information, or to apply, click here.


Southern Regional Extension Forestry | www.sref.info | lboby@sref.info