ISSUE 97: WEEK OF January 11, 2021
Recent News
Regional News

  • VCE & VADOF Debut New Guidebook on Legacy Planning for Forest Landowners 
  • Southeast Region Prescribed Fire Training Needs Survey
  • GA Forestry Commission Selects New State Forester
  • Extension Experts Team up to Deliver Natural Resources University Podcasts
  • WOW-SC Launches a Winter 2021 Virtual Webinar Series
  • NCSU Shares Notes on How Christmas Trees Can be Turned into Backyard Habitat
  • NCSU Shares Notes on How Christmas Trees Can be Turned into Backyard Habitat
  • 2021 ForestHer Virtual Workshops


National News

  • USFS SRS Debuts New Online American Chestnut Course
  • Survey invitation- How relevant is information provided by wildlife scientists to forest managers?
  • US National Native Bee Monitoring Network Website is Live
  • Call for Associate Editors for Subject Areas for Journal of Extension

Webinars

  • Tribal Natural Resource Management Webinars 5 & 6 of 7-Part Series 
  • Engaging Corporations in Your Watershed- Webinar
  • Virtual Conference on Heirs’ Property & Sustainable Forest Management
  • Project NightHawk Webinar
  • Southeast Climate Monthly Webinars 

Funding Opportunities

  • USDA NIFA RREA National Focus Fund Grants’ RFP
  • 2021 Enviva Forest Conservation Fund Request for Proposals
  • 2021 USFS Wood Innovations Grant 


Job Opportunities

  • Southern Group of State Foresters, Communication Director
  • Biologist (Regeneration Nursery Specialist) GS-0401-12/13, Atlanta, GA
  • Georgia Sentinel Landscape Pilot Project Coordinator
Regional News
VCE & VADOF Debut New Guidebook on Legacy Planning for Forest Landowners 
“Intact, In-forest, In-Family,” that is the motto of the Virginia Cooperative Extension who created this guidebook on legacy planning for private landowners and to accompany their award-winning “Generation Next” program. Successful legacy planning is critical to ensuring that private woodland owners are able to retain their family’s land, however, starting this process can be difficult. Legacy Planning: A Guide for Virginia Landowners, helps to smooth out this process by providing a nine-step process to ensure successful planning and communication. While this guide focuses on VA, it is relevant for a wide audience, and would be a useful resource for natural resource professionals working with private landowners. To access the resource guide, click here. To learn more about Generation Next, click here

Southeast Region Prescribed Fire Training Needs Survey
The SE Regional Strategy Committee for Cohesive Strategy, SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Work Group, Southern Group of State Foresters, NC State University Extension Forestry, Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientist, Forest Stewards Guild, Southern Fire Exchange, and the SE Regional Prescribed Fire Council Coordinating Group have banded together to launch a survey on prescribed fire training needs. This survey includes questions to analyze participants’ training needs and their recommendations for how to improve courses on prescribed burns. The survey also includes questions about how certain programs are working for those that use fire prescribed fire training programs such as the SE Regional Action Plan for Cohesive Strategy, and SERPPAS Comprehensive Strategy for Prescribed Fire to Restore Longleaf Pine. State agents, partners, stakeholders, private landowners, and any others that use prescribed fire training are encouraged to complete the survey. This survey will end on January 26. To read more or take the survey, click here.


GA Forestry Commission Selects New State Forester
Timothy Lowrimore has been appointed as the new state forester and director of the Georgia Forestry Commission. Lowrimore is a registered forester with the Georgia Board of Foresters with more than 20 years of professional experience. He has recently served as the public affairs manager at Interfor, one of the largest lumber producers. Additionally, he is chairman of the Georgia Paper and Forest Products Association, and a member of several other organizations. Along with this, he has been awarded several achievements throughout his career as a forester. To learn more about the new director, Tim Lowrimore, click here

Extension Experts Team up to Deliver Natural Resources University Podcasts
A team of Extension experts from across the nation have leveraged funding from a USDA National Institutes of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA) grant to create “Natural Resources University.” Natural Resources University is a podcast network focused on delivering science-based natural resource management information for landowners and natural resource managers. The four podcasts are (1) Deer University that focuses on the science of deer ecology, biology, and management. It was developed and is hosted by Drs. Bronson Strickland and Steve Demarais from Mississippi State University. (2) Fire Universitycovers the latest research on fire ecology in connection to wildlife and plant management and has been developed and hosted by University of Florida’s Dr. Marcus Lashley. (3) Habitat University focuses on wildlife habitat management. It will be hosted by Jarred Brooke from Purdue University, and Adam Janke from Iowa State University. (4) Pond University, which debuted in early December 2020, connects aquatic scientists, landowners, and pond professionals to discuss pond habitat, fish stocking, vegetation control, and pond construction. Pond University has been developed and will be hosted by Drs. Mitchell Zischke, Purdue University and Megan Gunn from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. 
WOW-SC Launches a Winter 2021 Virtual Webinar Series
Women Owning Lands (WOW) of South Carolina is launching a webinar series as part of Clemson University Extension, starting mid-January, and focusing on forest pests, invasive plants, inheritance issues and taxes. The first webinar in the series focuses on the latest tax law changes that affect timber transactions. WOW South Carolina is part of a national Women Owning Woodlands Network, that focuses on engaging female landowners to connect them with resources, professionals, and a larger network of peer landowners. Although WOW focuses on female stewardship, they invite anyone to join this series. This is a 4-part webinar series that starts on Tuesday, January 19 at and continues every other Tuesday until March 2nd. All WOW webinars will be from 7 pm to 8:30 pm. The series costs $10 for registration with no CFE credits, and up to $50 for registration that includes 5 hours of CFE credits. To learn more about this series, check out the flyer here. To register, click here

NCSU Shares Notes on How Christmas Trees Can be Turned into Backyard Habitat
Instead of throwing out a Christmas tree after the festivities, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Extension foresters recommend taking it outside to create a habitat for wildlife. Once the lights and ornaments have been removed, strings of popcorn, grapes, raisins or other types of food listed in the flyer linked below can be added to the tree as a giant bird/wildlife feeder. The Christmas tree can also be used as cover for small animals like rabbits or even can be used as an artificial reef for fish. To learn more about ways to recycle Christmas trees, click here.

2021 ForestHer Virtual Workshops
ForestHer NC supports and educates female landowners and natural resource professionals in conservation and land stewardship. ForestHer is supported by the USFS, NC Forest Service, NC Tree Farm Program, NC Wildlife Resource Commission, Audubon North Carolina, NC State Extension, Wildlife Turkey Federation, USDA, and Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project.The 2021 ForestHer Virtual Workshops will be held once a month from January until July covering topics such as; trail cameras, agritourism, property taxes, and more. The first virtual workshop will be January 14 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET. It also includes an optional 30-minute discussion afterwards. To learn more, click here.


National News
USFS SRS Debuts New Online American Chestnut Course
A free online course – An Introduction to the American Chestnut – is now available from the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station. The course covers chestnut taxonomy, silvics, historical importance, ecology, and the demise of the iconic tree due to chestnut blight. For a hundred years, researchers from multiple organizations have been working to restore the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) to its native range. The course is designed for a wide audience, including natural resource managers, researchers, college instructors, and students, and is available to everyone through a simple registration process. It includes videos, historical photos, a glossary, dendrology tables, and links to scientific papers and other webpages. It has closed captioning and other accessibility features and qualifies for one Continuing Forestry Education credit with the Society of American Foresters. 

Survey invitation- How relevant is information provided by wildlife scientists to forest managers?
Share your thoughts regarding the usefulness of information provided by wildlife scientists for your forest management activities! A group of wildlife scientists that study interactions between birds and forest management from all over the world are interested in obtaining the perspectives of foresters and forest planners on the value of information that is provided to them by wildlife scientists. Results of this survey will be used to develop criteria that they will address in a paper titled: “Do review papers on forest bird-vegetation relationships provide actionable information to forest managers in eastern North America?” that will be submitted for a special issue of the journal Forests titled: “Evidence synthesis in forest management.” Results may also be used for a future publication that describes survey responses in more detail. If you would like to participate in the survey, please click on the link below and you will be directed to the informed consent page of the survey.  Feel free to forward this invitation to other forest managers in your network. To take the survey, click here.

US National Native Bee Monitoring Network Website is Live
The US National Native Bee Monitoring Research Coordination Network (RCN) is a USDA-funded project to bring native bee biologists together and develop a national plan to conserve the native bee fauna. RCN has recently created a website to share updates on the ongoing efforts and process of organizing for bee conservation. The website has only recently been set up and current content is limited, but over the next few months there will be more information and resources added. To learn about the early efforts of the National Native Bee Monitoring Network, click here.
Call for Associate Editors for Subject Areas for Journal of Extension
The Journal of Extension (JOE) is making big changes, including moving its base to Clemson University Press. The JOE signed a publishing agreement with Clemson University Press in order to reduce overall costs, reduce the time for publication, increase visibility, and increase its resources. This move will allow JOE to increase visibility and make it easier to publish more articles. Anticipated increases in number of articles published also means that JOE would like to increase the number of volunteer associate editors that work in specific subject areas. To learn more about how you can take on an editorial leadership position at JOE, and to access the application, click here




Webinars
Tribal Natural Resource Management Webinars 5 & 6 of 7-Part Series 
Southern Regional Extension Forestry (SREF), the University of Georgia and the USFS Southern Research Station are launching the fourth and fifth webinars of a seven part series title, “An Overview of Tribal Natural Resources Management,” this month.   “Eastern Band of Cherokees collaborative Research & Managment of Culturally Important Forest Products” will be held January 15th, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm ET.  This webinar will include information on how collaborative research and forest management of culturally important plants in traditional Cherokee homelands is done. Presenters will also be introducing an integrated platform that they use to improve access, harvesting and ecological conditions for culturally important plants. To learn more about this webinar, and obtain a calendar reminder click here. On January 28, from 1:00 to 2:00 ET, Jonathan Gilbert, of the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, will present information on “State/Tribal Fisheries Co-Management in Shared Fishery Lakes.”  This webinar will focus on the implementation of court-affirmed treaty fishing rights in the upper Great Lakes region. Learn more about how fishery biologists have developed ways to work together to accomplish common goals and more through this link. To find the other webinars in the series, download this flyer, which includes links to the archived webinars.  

Engaging Corporations in Your Watershed- Webinar
Learn more about how some corporations think about their companies and ecosystem services in this  webinar hosted by Keeping Forests and titled: “How to Engage Corporations in your watershed.” Keeping Forests works is a diverse coalition of forest advocates, conservation experts, business leaders and more, working to retain southern timberland. This webinar includes speakers from three US- based corporations who will discuss their perspectives on why ecosystem services are important and how they work with partners to make positive changes that influence forests and water. The speakers work in various roles at Georgia-Pacific, EY, and Coca-Cola. This webinar will be held January 14 from 12:30- 2:00. To learn more about this webinar, click here.

Virtual Conference on Heirs’ Property & Sustainable Forest Management
Register for this free virtual conference to learn morea about Heirs’ Property and Sustainable Forest Managment in early February.  Presenters from a variety of organizations will share insights, perspectives and updates on legal developments regarding heirs’ property. Whiel the main focus of this conference is African American forest landowners in the South, and Georgia, in particular, information is relevant to all coping with heirs’ property issues.  This conference will also include results from two research and outreach initiatives. The purpose of this conference is to share information with natural resource professionals to help them better serve forest landowners struggling with heirs’ property and to inform policymakers on the social complexities of heirs’ property. Registration is required before February 1st. The workshop will be held on February 8th from 8 am to 5 pm, with breaks throughout. To learn more about this webinar, or register, click here


Project NightHawk Webinar
The Internet of Water (IoW) is sponsoring a webinar on North Carolina’s Project Nighthawk. The purpose of this webinar is to discuss outcomes from Project NightHawk which focuses on improving drought-relevant information, specifically for North Carolina decision-makers. Information gathered from participants in Nighthawk is to present to policy makers. The information comes from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, Cooperative Extension Agents, and public water supply managers. Project Nighthawk is working to improve existing resources, and increase understanding of how drought is monitored, environmental conditions that cause drought, and how drought impacts agriculture, forestry and water resources. This webinar will be held on Thursday, January 28 from 3:00 to 4:00 ET. There will be a password required to enter the zoom meeting. To learn more, and register for this webinar, click here

Southeast Climate Monthly Webinars 
The Southeast Climate Monthly Webinar Series is intended for stakeholders and others that are interested in the current and developing weather conditions and the impacts of those conditions on wildfires, agriculture, disruption of water supply and ecosystems as well as El Nino and La Nina conditions. This webinar series was created by the Southeast Regional Climate Center, NOAA, National Weather Service, and NIDIS. The first webinar of 2021 will be January 12th from 9 am to 9:45 CST and is titled “Living with Fire in the Southeastern US.” Presenters are Christopher Holmes and Holly Nowell of Florida State University. This To learn more about this webinar, see the upcoming climate webinars, or register, click here.

Funding Opportunities
USDA NIFA RREA National Focus Fund Grants’ RFP
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) are seeking applicants for the Renewable Resource Extension Act (RREA) grant. There are two main categories for this grant; 1. regional/national projects: The Nexus of Critical Forest and Rangeland Resources Issues and 2. Innovative Approaches to Program Delivery, and Current Knowledge about Nonformal Adult Education.  Proposals for this grant should also consider the following information, does the project: 1) Broaden the scope of a locally produced Extension program by active participation (planning, delivering, evaluating) of Extension agents, specialists and advisors that stretch across a minimum of three states; 2) Directly support forest and rangeland owner issues and needs; 3) Either be new and unproven, but theoretically sound, or represent a significant change to an existing national or regional project; and 4) Address one or more of the forest and rangeland resource issues in the current RREA Strategic Plan, FY 2018-2022. The application deadline is February 8, 2021. To access the Request for proposals, click here.


2021 Enviva Forest Conservation Fund Request for Proposals
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities today released a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund. The purpose of this fund is to protect environmentally sensitive bottomland/wetland forests. Counties and project within those areas that include partially adjoining counties in Virginia and North Carolina will now be considered too, for the purposes of this proposal. To read more about Enviva’s Forest Conservation Goals and criteria, click here. Not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and tribes are eligible to apply for grants. The deadline for proposals is January 29, 2021. The RFP and additional materials are available on the Endowment's website. To learn more about the RFP criteria, click here
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. 
Job Opportunities
Southern Group of State Foresters, Communication Director
The Communications Director will serve as the organization’s lead in the design and implementation of communication strategies and promotion of Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) activities to internal and external audiences. Promoting current media campaigns, such as Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives, will be a priority. The Communications Director reports to the SGSF’s Executive Committee. A bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations or equivalent field and six (6) years of experience in communications, public relations, public information or other relevant field OR a master’s degree in communications, public relations or equivalent field and four (4) years of experience in communications, public relations, public information or other relevant field. Knowledge of forestry industry or other natural resource industry is preferred. Excellent communications skills and demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with and motivate others to achieve results in a team setting are required. You can learn more about this position by clicking here. If you are interested in this position, submit your resume and cover letter to Wib Owen, Executive Director, at wib.owen@southernforests.org


Biologist (Regeneration Nursery Specialist) GS-0401-12/13, Atlanta, GA
USFS Southern Region is recruiting applicants for a Regional Regeneration Nursery Specialist, who will serve as the subject matter expert and liaison responsible for advising state, industrial, tribal, private and conservation nursery managers, and growers on forest plant production related topics. Additionally, the position cooperates with other experts to advise clients on plant genetics, germplasm conservation, forest health, and climate change issues in the Region. The incumbent serves as a member of the National Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources Team (RNGR), working at regional, national, and international levels in providing technical expertise for forest plant and conservation nursery production and field establishment practices. The Southern Region is conducting outreach about the Regeneration Nursery Specialist in preparation for filling the position in the next few months.  If you are interested in the position, please take a moment to fill out the Applicant of Notice, click here

Georgia Sentinel Landscape Pilot Project Coordinator
The GA Sentinel Landscape Pilot Project Coordinator will be focused on increasing prescribed fire within the Georgia Sentinel Landscape (GSL) as part of a 3-year pilot project. The GSL Pilot Project Coordinator will play a key role in supporting the existing prescribed fire cooperative in West Georgia, establishing a prescribed fire cooperative in Southeast Georgia, improving communication between agencies and private landowners, and increasing local capacity needed by landowners. Applicants must have, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree in forestry or other natural resource field, and at least three years of experience in prescribed fire application and/or the management and restoration of longleaf. The ideal candidate would have working knowledge of and/or experience in longleaf forest management and ecology, building and/or working within diverse partnerships, working with private landowners, sharing science-based information with partners and landowners through outreach, and prescribed fire operations. The GSL Pilot Project Coordinator must have a passion for the longleaf ecosystem, an excellent personal and professional reputation, and demonstrated credibility in the community. You can learn more about this position by clicking here. If you are interested, you can submit your resume, cover letter, and at least three references to job@longleafalliance.org. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Lord at lisa@longleafalliance.org. 



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