Local Rancher Named Wyoming Tree Farmer of the Year

Charles Pearson was named the 2014 Wyoming Tree Farmer of the Year. Charles has been a Tree Farm for over twenty years on his mid-sized woodlands and ranch. His main objective is to manage for timber production as a supplemental income to his ranching.  He is a good example of how the American Forest Foundation (AFF) standards of sustainability accomodate the range and diversity of family and small to mid-sized woodlands, in Wyoming. He has been doing sustainable management of his forest even before he was a Tree Farmer. The family has multiple generations involved in sustainable forest management, as early on as his father and grandfather. They did sustainable forest management by utilizing the timber for their ranching and living needs. Charles was the first generation to do thinning of his forest. He is also to be accredited for his son Wade's interest in the forest management industry due to his involvement in sustainable management under the Wyoming State Forestry thinning program. Wade remembers learning to thin with Ray Bergquist as his mentor, a retired Wyoming State Forestry Division forester. Wade is the owner/operator of Pearson Forestry Company and helps other do sustainable forest management as well.