Tree Farmer Bulletin: Summer 2013

Tools

Turn Your Pond or Stream to an Angler's Dream

Many woodland owners have a lake, pond or stream on their property—sometimes more than one. Whether or not you like to cast a line, turning your pond or stream into an angler’s dream can be a welcome recreational activity that increases your property value and boosts your bank account by producing income and lowering your tax bill.
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For the Future

A Tribute to Ernest and Alberta Angevine

On a beautiful fall day near bethel, Maine, last September, 180 people gathered to celebrate the annual Maine Tree Farm/Small Woodlands Owners’ Association “Maine Field Day” on Ernest and Alberta Angevine’s impeccably managed Tree Farm. Ernest Angevine, who had passed away the week before at age 92, was a Maine forester who seemed to have walked out of a storybook.
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Washington Update

Flying in to Oust Our Forest Pests

In a recent nationwide survey of Tree Farmers, more than 50 percent rated forest pests and pathogens as one of the top threats to their woodlands. This concern translated into action in May, when Tree Farmers from across the country traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for programs to combat forest pests and pathogens
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Free The Trees

Keeping Our Woods Free of Bugs, Weeds and Disease

The Free the Trees campaign is one way AFF is working to protect woods. It’s a new way for Tree Farmers and other woodland owners to get involved in helping protect trees from harmful pests, weeds and disease. Through the Free the Trees campaign, you can write your repre- sentatives in Congress and ask them to support funding for programs that work to reduce the threats to woodlands.
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Policy

Supreme Court Rules on Forest Roads Regulations

On March 20, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) long-standing policy to not require Clean Water Act permits on forest roads. The ruling confirms that family forest owners with runoff from forest roads are not required to do more than the current approach of using best management practices (voluntary in some states, mandatory in others) to protect water quality.
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From the Field

It Takes a Diverse Village

In many ways, what makes the American Tree Farm System® so unique is the “system” part of the equation: A system of unique state committees and on-the-ground partners that works within a larger national program to advance sustainable forestry across America.
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Markets

Renewable Energy, Sustainability Standards Increasing Demand for Certified Wood

Markets for certified products have developed slowly and inconsistently, and are challenging to predict. However, recent trends both overseas and here at home suggest a growing demand for American Tree Farm System® (ATFS)-certified material in the coming months and years.
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Partner Profiles

South Carolina and Missouri

Meet our partners in Missouri and South Carolina, the Forest and Woodland Association of Missouri (FWAM) and the South Carolina Forestry Association (SCFA)
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Best Management Practices

Riparian Areas

Whether your woodlands are home to an occasional stream or a roaring river, your careful stewardship of these riparian areas can make a big difference not only to your bottom line, but also to the quality of the water on which both people and nature depend.
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Tree Farmer Profile

Ken and Lois Carpenter

Ken and Lois Carpenter's 193 acre pine-spruce forest has been through many changes over the years, including a catastrophic wildfire in 2001, but Pine Song endures.
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Inspector Profile

National Leadership Award Winner Andy Fast

Not many professional foresters come to their careers by way of an undergraduate English degree, but that’s the unusual path followed by this year’s winner of the American Tree Farm System® 2013 National Leadership Award.
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