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ISSUE 73: WEEK OF DECEMBER 9, 2019
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Regional News
- CRP, Longleaf Stewardship Fund and SFI Community Grants Now Open
- USDA and Georgia Sign Shared Stewardship Agreement
- Forestry Ethics Online Course from Arkansas Forest Resources Center
- New Video Forestry in NC: Got to be Sustainable
- GA Forestry Commission Showcases New Wildfire Viewer
- GA Storm Damage Assistance Program Closing Soon
- USDA Block Grants for Disaster Relief Include Payments for Timber Losses
- UF Extension & FL Forest Service Lead RX Burn Series for Landowners
- Webinar to Learn More About Forest Economic Contribution Reports
National News
- USDA Releases Urban Wood Use Guide
- USDA Releases Career Pathways Action Guide for Urban Forestry Employees
- Forest Farms Needed for Robust Supply Chain for Forest Medicinal Plants
- Tall Timbers Research Station Lead Model Program for Fire Science Collaboration & Co-Production
- Team Safe Trucking Releases New PSA on Driving Around Logging Trucks
- 2019 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year Restored Critical Habitat
- University of AR Created USA's Largest Mass Timber Building
- Urban Forest Webinar Series From USFS
- Understanding Forest Carbon Management Short Course Open for Registration
- Smokey Bear Awards Deadline Approaching Soon
Funding Opportunities
- USDA CRP Sign-ups Open
- Longleaf Stewardship Fund 2020 RFP
- 2020 SFI Community Grants RFP
- NRCS & TNC Partner for Sustainable Forests & Carbon Market Development in KY, TN, & VA
- DOD Accepting Pre-Proposals for REPI Program
- FY20 Forest Service Wood Innovation Grant
Job Opportunities
- Forest Products Technologist, USDA Forest Service
- FL Forest Service Urban Forester
- LSU- Assistant/Associate Professor (Forestry Economics)
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CRP, Longleaf Stewardship Fund and SFI Community Grants Now Open
The Longleaf Stewardship Fund 2020 RFP, SFI Community Grants and the USDA CRP programs are open for application now. Read more below in the Funding Opportunities section.
USDA and Georgia Sign Shared Stewardship Agreement
Last month, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue signed a Shared Stewardship agreement between USDA Forest Service, NRCS and the state of Georgia. The goal of this agreement is to facilitate work between federal and state agencies to accomplish shared natural resource goals.
Read more about it here.
Forestry Ethics Online Course from Arkansas Forest Resources Center
University of Arkansas Forest Resources Center is hosting an online Forest Ethics course December 16th at 1:55pm -3:00 pm Central time. Dr. Vic Ford, Associate Director of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension Service will speak.
Register for this course here.
New Video Forestry in NC: Got to be Sustainable
The North Carolina Division of Agriculture recently released a new video about sustainable forestry in NC.
Access the video here.
GA Forestry Commission Showcases New Wildfire Viewer
The latest information about wildfire activity in Georgia is available via its
Wildfire Activity Public Viewer Portal
.The portal is directly linked to the GFC's wildfire computer-aided dispatch system and software called FiResponse. Viewers will be able to see the fire location, whether the fire is active, contained or controlled, and when suppression is complete. The Wildfire Viewer is supported by smartphone applications, however the display will be different than on other devices.
The Wildfire Public Viewer can also be accessed at GaTrees.org.
GA Storm Damage Assistance Program Closing Soon
Georgia's timber tax credit program is limited to the 28 counties included in the Hurricane Michael Disaster Recovery area. Most of the $200 million in credits is still available, but the deadline is approaching soon, December 31, 2019.
Read more about the tax credit here. Applications must be sent tough the GADOR's Georgia Tax Center.
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USDA Timber Block Grants for Disaster Relief Include Payments for Timber Losses
The USDA announced $380 million block grants for Georgia, Florida and Alabama as part of a broader natural disaster relief package. This includes a timber block which may include cash payments to forest owners who lost their trees.
Read the USDA announcement here. This is the first time that forest landowners will receive aid to help recover some of their lost timber value according to American Forest Foundation. In an
article here, Forest Landowners Association discusses more of the details of the grants and some of the reaching implications for family forest owners. At this time, many details have not been worked out. Florida commissioner Nikki Fried offers
describes what this means for Florida here
UF Extension & FL Forest Service Lead RX Burn Series for Landowners
University of Florida Extension, Florida Forest Service and other partners are leading a series of workshops to teach landowners; how to write prescribed burn prescriptions, about invasive species and fire; and also hosting 'Learn and Burn' events. The Learn and Burn events are live fire events that allow landowners to practice conducting prescribed burns. Events are: Writing a Burn Prescription: Dec. 5th (Crestview, FL) & Dec. 18th (Chipley, FL). Invasive Species Control and RX fire: December 11th, 2020 (Glen St. Mary, FL). Learn and Burn Workshops: Jan. 22, 2020 (Chipley, FL) and Feb. 18, 2020 (Baker, FL).
Find inks to all events and sign-ups here.
Webinar to Learn More About Forest Economic Contribution Reports
Forest economists from North Carolina State University (Dr. Rajan Parajuli), Mississippi State University (Dr. Shaun Tanger) and Lousiana Tech University (Dr. Eric McConnell) will demystify forest economic contribution reports in this webinar hosted on the forestry webinar portal. This webinar covers practical guidelines for report users to better understand the terms and numbers in those reports, so that they can communicate the economic importance of the forest sector to their clienteles. Specifically, we will discuss the terminology of input-output modeling, aspects of IMPLAN software and modeling, and interpretation of numbers in the reports.
Register for the webinar here. Catch it live December 17, 2019 at 1 pm ET, or see the archived version later.
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USDA Releases Urban Wood Use Guide
The new Urban Wood Use Action Guide is live on the Vibrant Cities Lab!
Wood is an abundant, renewable resource. Yet each year over 78,000 tons of urban wood is wasted in Baltimore alone —about 3,900 truckloads. Throughout the country, more than 28,000,000 tons of urban wood waste may be available annually for recovery in the U.S. — from clearing for development, demolition of abandoned buildings, removal of dead or diseased trees. But when you treat wood as waste, you spend money you needn’t, and miss opportunities you shouldn’t. Baltimore took advantage of these “invisible” assets and moved their community closer to its vision of a sustainable future.
Visit the new Urban Wood Use Action Guide
to learn how your community can do the same.
USDA Releases Career Pathways Action Guide for Urban Forestry Employees
Across the country, urban forestry employers face an unprecedented labor shortage. More than 7,000 positions are projected to open in tree maintenance and plant health care through 2026, not including another 95,000 positions in landscaping. Who will fill these slots? Well, the right people may already be right around the corner from where more trees and tree maintenance are needed most.
Learn more in the Career Pathways Action Guide, recently launched on the Vibrant Cities Lab.
Forest Farms Needed for Robust Supply Chain for Forest Medicinal Plants
Certain types of plants that are desirable as medicinal can only be found in Appalachia, however, most of these plants are wild-harvested. The plants are collected, and then aggregated by suppliers, but the supply chain is not very transparent or very well-studied. A recent report highlighted the need for a shift towards more forest farming production practices.
Read more here. Want to learn more about forest farming in Appalachia?
Access publications, videos and more from Virginia Cooperative Extension's website.
Tall Timbers Research Station Lead Model Program for Fire Science Collaboration & Co-Production
Kevin Hiers of Tall Timbers and Morgan Varner of USFS led a national strategic workshop targeted towards improving and institutionalizing scientist-manager co-production of actionable fire science. The workshop's goal was to combine scientists and fire managers in order to collaborate on scienctific questions, experiments, ideas, results
and to more smoothly translate science to action. Read more here.
Team Safe Trucking Releases New PSA on Driving Around Logging Trucks
Team Safe Trucking (TST) is excited to announce the release of their new Public Service Announcement. This PSA will be broadcast across the United States pointed specifically at the general driving public in order to improve their interactions with log trucks, and other heavy rigs on the road. Working together with the Virginia Loggers Association to produce this timely PSA, TST hopes to have an impact on how people drive around log trucks by sharing valuable steps they can take to improve their level of safe interactions with them.
View the ad here.
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2019 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year Restored Critical Habitat
The New family worked with their local conservation district to to restore a stream channel for coho salmon on their land. In addition to engineering the channel that allowed the fish to spawn, they planted 3,000 trees to prevent erosion and filter the water.
Read more here
.
University of AR Created USA's Largest Mass Timber Building
America's largest mass timber building recently opened at the University of Arkansas. The 200,000 square foot residential project is composed of cross-laminated timber. Mass timber manufacturing continues to grow in Arkansas and the U. of AR's School of Architecture conducts wood-based construction research and education.
Learn more here.
Urban Forest Webinar Series From USFS
Scaling up Your Urban Wood Opportunities: A Role for Everyone will be presented December 11, 2019 at 1:00 pm ET. Speakers include Katie Fernholz from Dovetail Partners and Jennifer Alger from Urban Salvaged and Reclaimed Wood. This webinar is part of a monthly series offered on the second Wednesday of each month by the USFS. Upcoming webinars will be offered January 8th and February 12th, 2020.
Access them here.
Understanding Forest Carbon Management Short Course Open for Registration
This course was developed by Michigan State University in partnership with the USDA to provide natural resource professionals a solid introduction to forest management specific to carbon. Areas covered in this course include carbon cycle and storage science, policy overview, project case studies, management considerations, measurement basics, and available tools and support.
Find out more here. The self-paced course opened mid-November and closes in mid-February.
Smokey Bear Awards Deadline Approaching Soon
Individuals, agencies, teams, or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to prevention of human-caused wildfires for at least two years are eligible for nomination. Advertising campaigns, informational programs, training, wildfire risk assessments to prevent ignitions, committee leadership and more are examples of these types of wildfire prevention services.
Find out how you can nominate yourself or others here. Deadline is December 15, 2019.
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USDA CRP Sign-ups Open
The USDA Farm Service Agency opened signups for the Conservation Reserve Program December 9
th
. The deadline for agricultural producers to apply is February 28, 2020.
Farmers and ranchers who enroll in CRP receive a yearly rental payment for voluntarily establishing long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat on marginally productive agricultural lands.
Learn more here.
Longleaf Stewardship Fund 2020 RFP
The national fish and wildlife foundation (NFWF) opened a request for proposals (RFP). The RFP is focused on proposals that expand and enhance longleaf pine ecosystem restoration and management across longleaf pine's historical range, in addition to restoration and enhancement of bottomland hardwood forests. Up to 5.5 million dollars in grant funds will likely be available.
Longleaf Pine-Related Hurricane Recovery
2020 SFI Community Grants RFP
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) announced its request for proposals for its Community Grants program recently. These grants are designed to support local communities' understanding of the benefits of sustainably managed forests through collaboration with the SFI network. Grants will be awarded for collaborative community-based projects, activities, or events that are in line with SFI's mission.
Priority projects, partnership requirements and funding levels can be found here. Deadline to apply is January 31, 2020.
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NRCS & TNC Partner for Sustainable Forests & Carbon Market Development in KY, TN, & VA
The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Nature Conservancy (TNC) are working together to develop carbon markets in targeted areas of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee through the Health Forest Reserve Program (HFRP). The HFRP provides conservation easement payments for specific conservation actions on private forest and tribal lands. Eligible landowners need to apply by December 20th, 2019 to be elegible for funding.
Find out more about VA's programs here
. For Tennessee, contact
NRCS Easement Program Manager Allen Persinger, 615-277-2593, or by email at: allen.persinger@usda.gov.
DOD Accepting Pre-Proposals for REPI Program
The Department of Defense (DOD) is accepting pre-proposals for the 2020 Readiness Protection Integration (REPI) Program Challenge. The deadline for pre-proposals is 8 pm, Jan. 24, 2020. The REPI Challenge includes awards up to $15 million that fund land conservation or management activities that help to prohibit development that is incompatible near DoD installations, ranges or bases. Partners should coordinate closely with staff at local installations or ranges before developing the proposals. The REPI challenge is also working to encourage private sector sources to use market-based approaches to advance program goals.
Read more on the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities website here.
Access the REPI website here.
FY20 Forest Service Wood Innovation Grant
The US Forest Service Wood Innovations Grant is now open and final grant applications are due to regional coordinators by 5:00 pm ET on January 15, 2020. The U.S. Forest Service requests that proposals 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.Interested grant applicants are highly encouraged to engage with the Regional Wood Innovation Coordinator, Kevin Naranjo, (kevin.naranjo@usda.gov) early in the grant process for technical guidance and review, prior to final submission. The Southern Region was successful in having 11 grants awarded in FY19. All of the grant awardees reached out for assistance. The application and instructions are available on the
Wood Innovations web page. Find out more details about the grant from USFS Region 8 Grants Coordinator Kevin Naranjo
here.
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Forest Products Technologist, USDA Forest Service
FL Forest Service Urban Forester
Florida Forest Service is seeking a senior forester for Bradenton, FL to provide technical assistance in urban and community forests. The candidate will provide technical assistance to a variety of municipalities, commissions and more, in addition to assisting in wildland fire response, when needed. Posting closes December 18th,
View full posting here.
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Louisiana State University- Assistant/Associate Professor (Forestry Economics)
This twelve-month tenure track position carries both extension (80%) and research (20%) responsibilities. Extension duties include the development and implementation of a statewide education program in forest economics and management targeted at landowners and professional foresters, with potential emphasis in the areas of financial management of timber resources, understanding timber markets, and price trends. Application deadline is December 31, 2019.
View full job description and apply here.
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Upcoming Events:
February 23-25, 2019 | Panama City Beach, FL
The Southeastern Society of American Foresters will host its annual meeting in Panama City Beach, FL February 23-25, 2020. The focus of this year's meeting is on reviewing the recovery from the Hurricane Michael Storm and looking at what the future holds.
May 3-6, 2020 | Bend, OR
The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals bi-annual conference will be held in Bend, OR and hosted by Oregon State University Extension team. The conference will include field trips, interactive sessions, presentations and more.
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