Outstanding Tree Farmers –1997

It was on a late snowy afternoon in 1960, when Dr. Farrar "Doc" Howard first caught sight of his beloved Mapsico. While hunting on the adjoining property and braving the falling sleet, Doc looked up at the towering pines across the field with awe. He later wrote of that day, " As if bewitched, I began walking toward her like the village idiot with shuffling gait, mouth open in awe, and eyes looking skyward at the treetops. In the midst of this captivating moment, I lost all of my dignity by falling in a stump hole."

Thus began a love affair with the Mapisco Tree Farm that would weave itself through the lives of "Doc", Jeanette and their five children for the next 38 years.

Today, Mapsico Tree Farm serves as the embodiment of multiple use management. While timber management remains the primary objective of the 624-acre woodland located along the James River below Richmond, Virginia, other uses are cultivated to fill the varied needs of the Howard Family. These include; hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, archaeological preservation, camping and family gatherings to name a few.

Doc is considered a "missionary" for sustainable forestry. He has hosted countless landowner and media tours, been the subject of scores of newspaper articles and has been to Richmond and Washington on more than one occasion to spread the word of sustainable forestry.

Doc sums up his love and commitment of Mapsico and its forest in these words, "As temporary owner, I insist that when it leaves my hands, I'll not be ashamed to admit I was its custodian."