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ISSUE 64: WEEK OF JULY 29, 2019
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Regional News
- New Publication about TreeSnap Coauthored by UKY Extension
- Forest Health and Education Center Release Annual Report
- Francis Marion National Forest Studies Impacts of Swapping Longleaf for Loblolly
- VT Forestry Professor Receives NIFA Grant to Research American Chestnuts
- USC Seeking Fire Managers Working With Longleaf Pine
- Registration Open for 2019 Mississippi Forestry Association Annual Meeting
- Registration Remains Open for NC Prescribed Fire Council Annual Meeting
- Texas A&M Forest Service Celebrates 100 Firewise USA Sites
- NC State Extension Releases Publication Detailing Forest Carbon Offset Markets
National News
- SRS Release Publication on the Relationship Between Invasive Species and Forest Fragmentation
- USFS Seeking Applicants for Women in Wildland Fire Bootcamp
- Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP) Opens 2019 Conference Registration
- 2019 FIA Stakeholders Science Meeting: Call for Abstracts
Funding Opportunities
- Fire Map Request for Proposals
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative Conservation Grants
Job Opportunities
- Auburn University: Extension Specialist
- Longleaf Alliance: President
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New Publication about TreeSnap Coauthored by UKY Extension
University of Kentucky Forestry Extension Professor, Dr. Ellen Crocker, and partners released a new publication promoting TreeSnap. TreeSnap is a citizen science project and mobile app created to aid scientists in locating pests and diseases, as well as healthy and resilient tree populations. This app enables citizens to easily submit global positioning system (GPS) locations, photos, and observational information about trees of interest to scientists. Data from TreeSnap will support numerous research activities, including studies about the genetic diversity of tree species, breeding trees, and tree health.
View publication.
Forest Health and Education Center Release Annual Report
The Forest Health and Education Center (FHC) released their annual report. The report details the continued success of FHC, including information on grants received, key partnerships developed, new personnel hires, and research synopses. Highlights include: (1) The development of HealthyWoods; a new mobile app tool designed to help guide landowners in forest health assessment, (2) A partnership with the White Oak Initiative, and (3) Continued research on American / Chinese chestnut varieties.
View the annual report here.
Francis Marion National Forest Studies Impacts of Swapping Longleaf for Loblolly
Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina is restoring Longleaf pine ecosystems across 33,000 acres of national forest lands. Experimental research is being conducted at the neighboring Santee Experimental Forest – a 6,100 acre laboratory on the west side of Francis Marion. Santee is known for hosting long-term research on the effects of fire, hurricanes, and forest management practices on tree growth, streamflow, and wildlife communities. Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists and national forest managers have teamed up to study the impacts of replacing existing loblolly pine stands in Francis Marion with longleaf pine.
Click here to learn more
about the efforts and research taking place to restore Longleaf pine.
VT Forestry Professor Receives NIFA Grant to Research American Chestnuts
Virginia Tech forestry professor, Dr. Jason Holliday of the College of Natural Resources and Environment, received a $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This grant will be used to research methods to utilize the genetic diversity of remaining trees as part of broader efforts to introduce disease-resistant American chestnuts to U.S. forests. Holliday and his team plan to gather and sequence the genomes of the surviving American chestnuts to understand how pre-blight genomic variation across the historical range of the species helped these trees adapt to and thrive in specific environments.
Learn more here.
USC Seeking Fire Managers Working With Longleaf Pine
Researchers with the University of South Carolina are conducting a survey of fire managers working in longleaf pine ecosystems. Survey responses will be used to better understand the combinations of decision-making criteria and constraints to the use of prescribed burning in longleaf pine management and concerns about future pressures on the use of fire across the longleaf range. Survey responses should take no longer than ten minutes to complete and need to be submitted by August 1. The project is supported by the Southeast Climate Adaptation Center, and a report of the compiled data will be publicly available.
Take the survey here.
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Registration Open for 2019 Mississippi Forestry Association Annual Meeting
Registration has been opened for the 2019 Mississippi Forestry Association Annual Meeting. The event will take place October 1-3 in Jackson, MS. Participants can expect ample opportunities for professional networking, including a Golf Tournament and an Emerging Professionals Social. Technical sessions spanning a variety of topics will also be offered. Online registration is available until September 17, 2019.
Register here.
Registration Remains Open for NC Prescribed Fire Council Annual Meeting
Registration remains open for the 2019 North Carolina Prescribed Fire Council annual meeting. This event will take place August 14-15 in Swansboro, NC. The theme for this year is “Removing Barriers for Burners”. Participants can expect informative and interactive learning sessions that cover a variety of topics including: liability for public and private burners, burning for Longleaf, and research on barriers to prescribed fire. Continuing Forestry Education (CFE) credits will be offered. Early bird registration is now closed, but interested individuals can still
register here.
Texas A&M Forest Service Celebrates 100 Firewise USA Sites
Texas A&M Forest Service celebrated 100 Firewise USA® Sites across the state. Since 2003, Texas has assisted the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA) with the Firewise USA® program. Through this program, Texas A&M Forest Service educates communities on the steps they can take to better protect their homes from a wildfire.
Learn more
about the program's success in Texas. There are currently over 1,500 recognized Firewise USA® sites across the nation that work to protect their homes and communities against the threat of wildfire. Learn more about NFPA’s Firewise USA program
here
.
NC State Extension Releases Publication Detailing Forest Carbon Offset Markets
North Carolina State Extension released a publication that introduces readers to forest carbon offset markets.
Forest carbon is considered as a forest product that can be a viable alternative source of income for forest landowners. The publication provides a detailed look into what carbon offset credits are, as well as differing forest carbon project types. Other subjects that are covered include: carbon marketplaces, carbon credit registries, and carbon project development and implementation.
Learn more about carbon markets
and how they might fit into your land management portfolio.
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SRS Release Publication on the Relationship Between Invasive Species and Forest Fragmentation
The Southern Research Station (SRS) released a publication describing the relationship between invasive species and forest fragmentation. Using national survey data on forest pest richness and fragmentation data across United States forest ecosystems, SRS examined how forest fragmentation and edge types (neighboring land cover) may affect pest richness at the county level. Their results show that habitat fragmentation and edge types do affect pest richness. In general, specialist insects and pathogens were more sensitive to fragmentation and edge types than generalists, while pathogens were much less sensitive to fragmentation and edge types than insect pests. The developed land edge type also contributed the most to the richness of nonnative insects and diseases; particularly along roadways.
Click here to learn more
about this study’s results.
USFS Seeking Applicants for Women in Wildland Fire Bootcamp
The USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region, is seeking career-focused women or other individuals to become temporary, seasonal employees, and on-call wildland firefighters. If selected for this opportunity, the first assignment will be to attend and complete the Women in Wildland Fire Boot Camp. The Boot Camp will provide comprehensive, formal training and orientation. Upon successfully completing this training, each person will receive a Wildland Firefighter certification and be eligible to apply for a temporary position. Application deadlines vary throughout August and September.
Learn more and apply here.
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Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs Opens 2019 Conference Registration
The Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP) opened registration for their annual conference. ANROSP promotes awareness and citizen stewardship of natural resources through science-based education and service programs. The 2019 conference is tailored for professionals and partner organizations that coordinate, administer, and host training / volunteer programs in natural resource conservation. The event will take place October 1-3 in Columbia, Maryland. Registration closes September 6, 2019.
Reserve your spot here.
2019 FIA Stakeholders Science Meeting: Call for Abstracts
The USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program and other partners are pleased to announce the 2019 FIA Stakeholders Science Meeting. This meeting will be held November 19-21, 2019 in Knoxville, TN. The Stakeholders Science Meeting brings together international forest scientists, managers, and stakeholders to share insights on a wide variety of topics, including contemporary issues, science policy, mensuration, geospatial products, and inventory methods. Program facilitators are seeking abstracts for Digital Engagement (DE) sessions. The deadline for DE abstracts is August 30, 2019.
Submit an abstract here.
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Fire Map Request for Proposals
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities is accepting proposals through August 9 at 5:00 PM ET for the scoping phase of a newly proposed mapping effort for prescribed burns and wildfires in the Southeastern U.S (SE Fire Map). The purpose of the Scoping Phase is to provide the background, specifications, and recommendations necessary for an entity to build and maintain the SE Fire Map spatial database. A separate RFP will be issued to develop the SE Fire Map database. Those interested should review the
full RFP
and
application
.
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Sustainable Forestry Initiative Conservation Grants
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is accepting proposals for its Conservation Grants Program through 11:59 PM ET on September 30. These projects provide the science-based data needed by resource professionals to improve forest management and to assess conservation values. SFI is placing a priority on projects which measure, demonstrate, or establish methodologies to demonstrate, the conservation-related values of SFI-certified forestlands, or such values which result from application of the SFI Fiber Sourcing standard. Ideally such projects will be scalable to a regional, or bio-regional scale (e.g., Ponderosa Pine forests, Boreal Plains, Longleaf Pine ecosystem, the central hardwood forest, etc.).
Learn more and submit an application here.
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Auburn University: Extension Specialist
The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University is seeking applications for a full-time, 12-month tenure track Extension Specialist position. The successful candidate will develop an extension and outreach program (75%) to educate landowners, natural resource professionals, and other stakeholders in topic areas of applied wildlife management, wildlife damage management, habitat and population management, and/or habitat restoration. The candidate will also teach and advise (25%) undergraduate and/or graduate level courses in wildlife ecology and management and engage in some limited applied research relevant to their area of extension programming. The deadline to apply is September 1, 2019.
View job announcement and application requirements.
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Longleaf Alliance: President
The Longleaf Alliance (LLA) is seeking a President to lead the organization. The mission of LLA is to ensure a sustainable future for the longleaf pine ecosystem through partnerships, landowner assistance and science-based education and outreach. This mission is accomplished through partnerships with forest landowners, wildlife biologists, foresters, state and federal forestry, wildlife and natural resource agencies, other non-governmental conservation organizations (NGO) and corporate partners. The deadline to apply is August 16, 2019.
View job announcement and application requirements.
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Upcoming Events:
August 14-16, 2019 | Woodworth, LA
The West Central Louisiana Ecosystem Partnership and the Longleaf Alliance are hosting the Fire and Longleaf academy.. SAF credits, and some financial assistance is available to cover this 2.5 day course for landowners and natural resource professionals of all experience levels.
Fall 2019 | Atlanta, GA or Online
Skills for Engaging Effective Dialogue (SEED) is a facilitation course being offered by Laura Calandrella Consulting in fall 2019. This blended platform course is being offered via five weekly online training sessions, as well as a 3-day in-person training session. The focus of this course is to help natural resource professionals gain the skills needed to achieve collaborative results, take collective action, and strengthen sustainability leadership. Registration closes August 23, 2019.
September 8-10, 2019 | Orange Beach, AL
Join the Alabama Forestry Association (AFA) at their annual meeting at Perdido Beach Resort, AL. Participants can expect exciting and relevant presentations, as well as ample opportunity to network with landowners across the state. Continuing education credits will also be available. Registration closes September 8, 2019.
September 19 - 21, 2019 | Providence Forge, VA
2019 Beginning Landowner Retreats
This retreat is hosted by the Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Forestry. It is specifically designed to meet the needs of new landowners, and will provide information on both hardwood and pine management.
October 22 - 24, 2019 | Athens, GA
This workshop is sponsored by the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. The field of forestry is often described as a mix of science and art. Blending the needs of landowners, industry and society with the characteristics and potential of the land is a complex endeavor. The history of forestry in the Southeastern United States is rich and exciting, and has led to one of the most ecologically diverse and economically important regions in the country. These two courses will provide an introduction to forest management concepts, practices and relevant issues. Registration opens July 22, 2019.
November 18 - 22, 2019 | Tuscon, AZ
The 8th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress will be hosted by the Association for Fire Ecology in cooperation with the Southwest Fire Science Consortium. Workshops will cover a variety of fire-related topics, but will revolve around the theme of ecological pyrodiversity.
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