ISSUE 82: WEEK OF June 1, 2020
Recent News
Regional News

  • Lessons Learned for Using Facebook Live from UMN Extension
  • AR & TX Forestry Team up to Deliver Online Forest Herbicide Meeting
  • Carolinas Regional Adaptation Leadership Award Now Accepting Nominations  
  • Florida Forest Service Signs Agreement to Administer 380 Mill to Hurricane Michael Affected Forest Owners

National News

  • USFS FIA Program Launches Survey
  • Learn how to Turn Wood Waste into an Asset with New USFS Urban Wood Workbook
  • Million Dollar Grants Announced for Innovative Finance for National Forests Program
  • Natl. Network for Ocean & Climate Change Interpretation Strategic Framing Skills Course
  • New Lumber E-commerce Site Goes Live
  • FAO Publishes Key Findings
  • Forest Landowners List Forest Markets as Top concern for 2020
  • Wood Forensics Lab That Helps Fight Crime Moves to New Home at OR State University
  • NASF Shares PR Toolkit for Recreating Safely During Covid19

Funding Opportunities

  • NRCS Announces $5 Million for Wetland Mitigation Banks
  • USDA Announces $15 million for Conservation Innovation Grants
  • USDA Announces State Acres Wildlife Safe Initiative Program (SAFE)
  • USDA Rural Development Launches COVID-19 Resource Webpage

Job Opportunities

  • Asst. Professor Silviculture- U. Of AR
  • Outreach Early Alert - Supervisory Forester (Training Coordinator) Knoxville, TN
  • USFS Outreach Early Alert Supervisory Forester (TN)
  • USFS SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit Forester (LA)
Regional News
Lessons Learned for Using Facebook Live from UMN Extension
Angie Gupta and Andrea Lorek Strauss, U of M Extension natural resource educators, share their thoughts on using Facebook Live to host events. The two Extension educators recently experimented with Facebook Live with a goal to test this outreach method with respective audiences and found that Facebook Live is a fairly fast, user-friendly tool especially if you have a history of engaging with your audience on Facebook. They share information about diving in with the application and tips for making the most of it, including limiting noisy interruptions, accounting for lag, checking the service of the device you’re using, and knowing equipment limitations before starting. They also share information about how using the application compares to working with professional videographers and editors to make informative and educational videos. Download the full article here . 

AR & TX Forestry Team up to Deliver Online Forest Herbicide Meeting
The Arkansas Forest Research Center (AFRC), in collaboration with Texas A&M Forest Service, will be hosting the Forest Herbicide Training Webinar, an online forest herbicide meeting on June 16th, 2020, from 9:45am - 12:00pm at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Online via: Zoom Meeting Application. This is a great opportunity to pick up 2 category 1 CFE units and get up to date on current forest herbicide technologies. There will be updates from the industry on new application methods using drone technology, on forest herbicide applications, and how to use online web resources and how to use the forest herbicide support web tool. The registration fee is $20.00 per registrant, and the deadline for application is June 12, 2020. Please fill out your information here to register for this event.

 
Carolinas Regional Adaptation Leadership Award Now Accepting Nominations 
The Carolinas Integrated Sciences & Assessments (CISA) is partnering with the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) to present the 2nd Annual Carolinas Regional Adaptation Leadership Award (RALA).The RALA recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves in the climate change adaptation field through exceptional leadership and recognizes the fact that deliberate, proactive adaptation, preparedness, and resilience-building is a change process, a deviation from business-as-usual, and a courageous act of doing something new and different. Their focus is on distinguished adaptation leaders who approach their work in a strategic, sophisticated, well informed, inclusive, and effective manner.
CISA strongly encourages nominations by and of people who are minorities, indigenous, lower income, and those who are new to the climate adaptation field. This includes individuals who are early career workers, volunteers, and emerging leaders, leading on the front lines of climate change. The RALA awardee(s) will be recognized at ASAP’s virtual Network-Wide Meeting, October 27-28. Award Prizes include: a year of ASAP membership (valued at $150), complimentary registration to the 2021 Carolinas Climate Resilience Conference, travel assistance to the 2022 National Adaptation Forum, and a year of promotion through ASAP’s Adaptation Voices programs. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, July 3, 2020. Find out more and submit nominations here.

Florida Forest Service Signs Agreement to Administer 380 Mill to Hurricane Michael Affected Forest Owners
There was recently the signing of a new agreement to administer $380.7 million in grant funding to help Florida’s timber industry recover following Hurricane Michael in 2018. Agriculture Commissioner Nickki Fried had initially announced the awarding of the grant in November 2019, as the first-ever state timber block grants from the USDA. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Forest Service have been integral to negotiating the agreement, and both will help administer the grant alongside the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Under the agreement, the Florida Forest Service will provide technical assistance to individual landowners in the affected area, and personnel will work with timber producers to verify their timber loss and help landowners document their loss. Timber producers may expect to receive funding as soon as this fall. The funding will provide relief for both producers and farmers whose irrigation infrastructure was damaged by Hurricane Michael. Read the full article here.
National News
USFS FIA Program Launches Survey
USFS FIA is inviting you to participate in a 10 min survey about their annual business report for the FS Forest Inventory and Analysis program (FIA), which tells the taxpayers, partners, and clients the program results accomplished with the provided financial resources and the results forecasted for the coming year with budgeted financial resources. This relationship with taxpayers, partners, and clients is integral to FIA’s continued success because accountability demonstrates our commitment to transparently delivering the best value, quality, and array of products demanded by the communities we serve. To start the survey, click here. To download the latest report (FY 2019), currently under review, click here , and access past reports here .

Learn how to Turn Wood Waste into an Asset with New USFS Urban Wood Workbook
The Baltimore Wood Project: A Comprehensive Workbook is now available and captures the full “Baltimore wood project experience” and distills it into lessons applicable to any community attempting to turn wood waste from a liability to an asset. The Baltimore Wood Project is a collaborative effort among the USDA Forest Service, Humanim, the City of Baltimore, Room & Board, Quantified Ventures, and many other partners. Since 2012, the goal has been to develop and support a diversified regional wood economy that promotes sustainability, creates jobs (especially for people with barriers to employment) and improves lives. The project involves capturing the value of wood that is typically wasted. Salvaging wood from the deconstruction of abandoned rowhomes and “fresh cut” wood from urban tree operations can create opportunities for employment and neighborhood greening. This workbook shares lessons learned in Baltimore in an effort to provide a framework to develop a sustainable supply and demand for urban wood nationwide. Access the workbook here.

Million Dollar Grants Announced for Innovative Finance for National Forests Program
$1.8 million in awards were recently announced for the Innovative Finance for National Forests Grant Program, a new five-year, competitive grant program partnership funded and administered by the USDA Forest Service National Partnership Office’s Conservation Finance Program, the National Forest Foundation (NFF), and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment). The ten projects funded were selected from nearly 50 proposals received in the inaugural year of the grant program. The new grants will support local stakeholders partnering with project developers to connect private capital to unfunded environmental challenges in National Forests and surrounding landscapes in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, California, Rocky Mountains, Appalachians, and New England. Find out more here , or for more information contact Peter Stangel at [email protected] . 

Natl. Network for Ocean & Climate Change Interpretation Strategic Framing Skills Course
The National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) is launching a new training opportunity, The NNOCCI Crash Course, a 6-week, 25-hour, fee-based online course for those interested in gaining strategic framing skills. The Summer Crash Course will take place the weeks of July 12th to August 16th, 2020, and the Fall Crash Course will take place the weeks of October 11th to November 15th, 2020. In the Crash Course, participants will learn basic framing elements including why framing matters, values, metaphors, and solutions. These framing techniques are all based on rigorous social science and have been extensively tested across the United States. Participants will create a final project to demonstrate their framing skills and practice critiquing communications with the framing skill rubric. This course is ideal for those who have an interest in learning more about strategic framing to incorporate these techniques into their personal or professional communications. For more information on this course and other NNOCCI Training Offerings and to register, visit here . Course cost is $249/person and discounts are available for organizations that send multiple participants.NNOCCI is a partnership between climate scientists and informal science educators who have public trust and large audiences, dedicated to using platforms to have productive conversations about climate action and operate as a supportive community of practice using and teaching evidence-based tools to inspire hope and action. 

New Lumber E-commerce Site Goes Live
Two former Chicago lumbermen have teamed with two financial tech services executives to launch a new e-commerce platform for lumber, MaterialsXchange which went live in May with 10 mills and wholesalers active. The creators of this site promised that they had resolved the challenges that caused failure in previous systems. The intention of this site is to keep the staff small and the sales process simple, so buying lumber online is as easy as making an electronic stock trade. It’s the brainchild of CEO Michael Wisnefski, joined by one-time Bloch Lumber colleague Ashley Boeckholt as Chief Risk Officer, 40-year operations solutions manager Joe Campagna as Chief Operating Officer, and as CFO Ian Polakoff, whose 15-year career began with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Materials Xchange’s system is aimed at making buying and selling easy; ensuring free, equal access to a product’s price to everyone; allowing transactions to be made instantly—with just the click of a button; having money transferred quickly and securely; and allowing trackable, hassle-free shipping. Find out more here . 
FAO Publishes Key Findings
The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently released the key findings to its Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) for 2020. The FRA is a comprehensive report produced every five years that provides a consistent overview of the world's forests and how they are changing. The full report will be published later this year. New for this iteration of the publication is an additional interactive resource called "A Fresh Perspective: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020," which allows users to visualize the data at their own pace. FAO has been monitoring the world's forests at five- to ten-year intervals since 1946. The world has lost 178 million hectares (ha) (440 million acres) of forest since 1990, which is an area about the size of Libya. The rate of net forest loss decreased substantially over the period 1990–2020, however, due to a reduction in deforestation in some countries, plus increases in forest area in others through afforestation and the natural expansion of forests. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha (25 million acres), which is down from 12 million ha (30 million acres) in 2010–2015. Find out more here . 

Forest Landowners List Forest Markets as Top concern for 2020
The National Woodland Owners Association (NWOA) listed access to markets
as the #1 concern for 2020, followed by invasive species. Since 1986, NWOA has ranked the top ten family forestry issues with an annual vote by the leaders of NWOA state affiliates—the Alliance of Landowner Associations. Analysis of the responses for 2020 revealed that the Top Ten Forestry Issues are best described as the Top Five Concerns and the Top Five Priorities for family forestry in the U.S. The outlook for 2020 focuses on how worldwide disputes in trade pose serious concerns well beyond markets for timber and wood products. There
is widespread agreement that fair trade with minimum subsidies, no product dumping, and improved security are essential for all US growers and manufacturers of
wood products. For this reason, NWOA has a strong interest in the health of the American forest industry. To be competitive wood product mills need some forms of commitment of a dependable wood supply chain to justify the investment needed to construct and
manage efficient mills. The report goes on to explore other top concerns for 2020, including invasive species; income, estate, and property taxes; the right-to-practice forestry and regulatory creep; and keeping forests as forests. Find the full report here . This story was provided by the NASF Forest Markets Newsletter, subscribe here .

Wood Forensics Lab That Helps Fight Crime Moves to New Home at OR State University
Oregon State University’s College of Forestry is the new home of a forensics lab that fights timber crime, a $1 billion annual problem for the United States’ forest products industry.
 The Wood Identification & Screening Center was previously headquartered in Ashland as a partnership between the Forest Service International Programs office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory. Its move to Corvallis is the result a $4 million, five-year grant from the United States Forest Service International Programs Office. Scientists at the center use a specialized type of mass spectrometry for wood species identification to determine if a truckload of logs, a guitar, a dining room table or other wood products are what they are purported to be. Wood identification technologies are needed to thwart importers who try to skirt the law by intentionally declaring the wrong species, or the wrong place where the timber came from. WISC’s relocation to Oregon State allows the center to expand its work through collaboration with the College of Forestry while maintaining the partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the new partnership with Oregon State will allow the center to expand its reference databases to help law enforcement confirm the species and origin of wood products. Find out more here . 

NASF Shares PR Toolkit for Recreating Safely During Covid19
The USDA Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council today announced a new public service advertising PSA campaign to help Americans recreate safely and responsibly outdoors. The new PSAs include wildfire prevention and safe recreation tips for families and individuals to keep in mind while enjoying public lands or their own backyards and will encourage viewers to visit BeOutdoorSafe.org for additional safe recreation resources, including tips to consider before taking a trip outside – like checking for park and trail closures, packing soap or hand sanitizer, and confirming that the destination park or trail offers enough space for social distancing. BeOutdoorSafe.org also highlights the ways we can all help prevent wildfires while recreating, including by following fire restrictions, properly extinguishing campfires, and avoiding parking on tall, dry grass – even if the parking lot is full.
The new safe recreation PSAs, created by production studio BGSTR, will run nationwide in time and space donated by the media. Creative assets will be available for broadcast TV, online video, out of home, and social media. This new campaign is an extension of the USDA Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters, and Ad Council’s ongoing partnership to prevent human-caused, unwanted wildfires and protect our nation’s public lands. To learn more about recreating responsibly outdoors, visit here or BeOutdoorSafe.org. 
Funding Opportunities
NRCS Announces $5 Million for Wetland Mitigation Banks
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced up to $5 million in funding, available through the Wetland Mitigation Banking Program, for wetland mitigation banks to help conservation partners develop or establish mitigation banks to help agricultural producers maintain eligibility for USDA programs. Wetland mitigation banking is the restoration, creation or enhancement of wetlands to compensate for unavoidable impacts on wetlands at other locations. The Farm Bill’s wetland conservation provisions, commonly called Swampbuster provisions, aim to remove certain incentives to convert wetlands or to produce agricultural commodities on converted wetlands. Through the Wetland Mitigation Banking Program, the NRCS is working with experienced wetland mitigation partners to give farmers another option to meet Farm Bill requirements. This competitive grant program helps states, local governments and other qualified partners develop wetland mitigation banks to restore, create or enhance wetland ecosystems, and NRCS is accepting proposals from eligible Indian Tribes, state and local units of government, for-profit entities and nongovernmental organizations. Find out more here , and applications must be submitted here through grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 6, 2020
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USDA Announces $15 million for Conservation Innovation Grants
NRCS has announced a $15 million investment through the Conservation Innovation Grants program to help support the adoption of innovative conservation approaches and inspire creative problem-solving solutions on agricultural lands and private forests and to improve natural resources. CIG is a competitive grants program that supports development, testing and research of conservation technologies, practices, systems and approaches on private lands, and have helped spur new tools and technologies to conserve natural resources, build resilience in producers’ operations and improve their bottom lines. This year’s priorities are water reuse, water quality, air quality, energy and wildlife habitat, and this year will be the first time water reuse is offered as a priority. Grantees must match the CIG investment at least one to one, and all U.S.-based non-Federal entities and individuals are eligible to apply. CIG applications must be submitted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 29, 2020.
USDA Announces State Acres Wildlife Safe Initiative Program
The USDA Farm Service Agency’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has announced the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program, which allows producers to install practices that benefit high priority State wildlife conservation objectives by using targeted restoration of vital habitat. This cooperative conservation effort is based on locally developed conservation proposals that address highest priority wildlife objectives, with the goal of restoring vital habitat in order to meet high-priority state wildlife conservation goals. Through this program, landowners establish wetlands, grasses, and trees, and these practices are designed to enhance important wildlife populations by creating critical habitat and food sources and by protecting soil and water health by working as a barrier to sediment and nutrient run-off before they reach waterways. SAFE proposals may be developed and put forth by a Federal, State, or local agency, or by a private organization, and ideally, all partners will develop proposals under a cooperative and collaborative agreement. Submit proposals by June 19, 2020. Please direct questions to Amy Roller at [email protected] , view this fact sheet here to learn more, or visit here to find your local service center and USDA Farm Service Agency office.

USDA Rural Development Launches COVID-19 Resource Webpage
The USDA’s Department of Rural Development has launched a COVID-19 resource page to keep customers, partners, and stakeholders continuously updated on actions taken by the Agency to help rural residents, businesses, and communities impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. This webpage includes links to pages covering the latest news and information updates from the CDC and the USDA on their actions and/or responses to COVID-19, as well as factsheets and FAQs relating to this ongoing crisis and notifications for stakeholders. Click  here to access the COVID-19 resource page.  
Job Opportunities
Asst Prof Silviculture U. Of AR
The University of Arkansas at Monticello College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Arkansas Forest Resources Center are seeking an individual to contribute to and lead the development of a dynamic silvicultural research program in Arkansas forest ecosystems and to educate the next generation of forest and land managers in the mid-south region.
The successful candidate will be expected to establish an innovative and dynamic, nationally recognized, research program in managed forest ecosystems; develop grant proposals and secure funding, and publish in peer-reviewed, nationally recognized scientific journals. Teaching duties will include undergraduate and potentially graduate courses in silviculture and related courses in support of the program. The tenure-track, 12-month position will carry the rank of assistant professor with an approximate appointment of 70% research and 30% teaching. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in silviculture or forest ecology. Applications should be submitted electronically to Rhonda Parris, [email protected] and applicants must also complete an Employment Application. Find out more and submit an application here . Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until position is filled. Job posted May 20, 2020.

Outreach Early Alert - Supervisory Forester (Training Coordinator) Knoxville, TN
The Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit located in Knoxville, TN will soon be advertising to hire a full-time Supervisory Forester position with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Work Unit located in Knoxville, TN. FIA conducts forest inventories on forestlands of all land ownerships and is a multi-million-dollar research program that provides comprehensive, timely, and accurate analyses of the changing forest resource situation in the South in collaboration with State Foresters from the 13 Southern States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Training Coordinator works under the direction of the Data Acquisition Section Head and is responsible for all formal training of both internal and external partners to conduct the annual forest inventory. This position is also responsible for supervising 6 to 8 employees and oversee the field data recorders and the data collection software. If you have an interest in this position, please open the link below and click on the “Respond” tab, complete any required information. When the official advertisement becomes available you will automatically be forwarded the usajobs.gov link. Find out more here . Contact Angie Rowe with any questions regarding this position at 865-862-2052 or email at [email protected] . Responses due By: June 11, 2020
USFS Outreach Early Alert Supervisory Forester (TN)
The Southern Research Station (SRS), Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program anticipates advertising a full-time Supervisory Forester, GS-460-11/12, with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Work Unit, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The program conducts forest inventories on forestlands of all land ownerships. This position works under the direction of the Data Acquisition Section Head and is responsible for all formal training of both internal and external partners to conduct the annual forest inventory and will also supervise 6 to 8 employees and oversee the field data recorders and the data collection software. The position identified in this “Outreach Notice” is expected to be advertised in early July, 2020. All interested individuals should use the link here to review the position information. When the official advertisement becomes available you will automatically be forwarded the usajobs.gov link. If you need additional information regarding this position please contact Angie Rowe, Data Acquisition Section Head at (865) 862-2052 or by email at [email protected].

USFS SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit Forester (LA)
The Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit located in Knoxville, TN will soon be advertising to hire multiple Forester GS-0460 5/7/9 positions in Louisiana. Applicants interested in applying for these positions should visit here to respond to this outreach notice, and will be notified when the positions are advertised in USA Jobs. Information regarding these positions is included in the notice and the attachment in the notice. Angie Rowe can be contacted with questions or for additional information at [email protected].


Southern Regional Extension Forestry | www.sref.info | [email protected]