Concurrent Sessions
All Concurrent Sessions will take place on the second day of the Convention, July 26th. Check back for more information on exact times and locations and new sessions.
Healthy Woods - Creating Forest Brews -Non -Timber Forest Products |
Healthy Wildlife
- Timber Management for White Tailed Deer |
Healthy Future
-Intro to Geocaching |
Women's Track
- How to Win Forestry Friends and Influence People |
Healthy Woods
Creating Forest Brews
Speaker:Al Robertson and Mike Burns
Your forest may contain the key ingredients for delicious all-natural beverages. Learn how to tap into some non-traditional forest products to create hot, cold, and even adult refreshments.
Al Robertson is a semi-retired professional engineer from Sheffield, Vermont. He spent many years in Germany early in his career working for the US Army, touring castles and breweries, and drinking hundreds of different beers and ciders. He began experimenting with making hard cider upon his return to Maryland in 1978 while working at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and planted his ancient cider apple orchard on the woodland parcel he purchased in Vermont in 1980. He began making hard cider from this orchard in 2001 when he retired and today ferments approximately 30 -40 gallons of hard cider every year. His presentation will cover cider apples, storage, fermenting, bottling, and the results…
Michael J. “Mike” Burns has been the American Tree Farm System’s Program Resource Manager since June 2011. His main area of responsibility is the implementation of pilot programs to increase professionalism of services, build capacity for outreach and education, and create financial sustainability with four distinctive state programs.
Prior to joining Tree Farm, Mike was the Deputy Director of the Empire State Forest Products Association, an independent consulting forester, hardwood sawmill procurement forester, and started his career with the USDA Forest Service.
Hiking Trail Design
Speaker: Dr. Mel Baughman, Professor Emeritus University of Minnesota
Forest owners will learn how to design, construct, and maintain sustainable hiking trails that hold up to intensive recreational use and severe weather conditions. It will cover all steps in trail design, including how to: determine trail uses, select the trail corridor, establish trail design standards, mark exact trail location, clear the trail, and construct the tread, install structures to cross obstacles (e.g., a hillside, slopes and cliffs, wet soil, waterways and gullies, roads and fences), sign the trail, and install facilities that support the trail.
Dr. Baughman is a Professor Emeritus from the University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources. He taught a three credit class on trail design at the University of Minnesota for several years and provided dozens of seminars and field trips on trail design for family forest landowners and the natural resource professionals who advise them. He also does free consulting on trail projects for public agencies and nonprofit organizations.
Restoring Oak on Private Lands; a landscape approach
Speakers: Mike Finlay and Carol Nielsen from WI DNR
Forest
owners and managers will learn about the importance of oak on the landscape and
how they can help address the decline in oak stands. Focus will be on the
importance of landowners deeply understanding oak silviculture and how it
relates specifically to their oak regeneration attempts. Once landowners have
developed their understanding, we will present the tools to help them reach out
to their neighbors and deliver a proper and effective forestry message based on
finding from an innovative outreach attempt in Southwest Wisconsin.
Carol Nielsen graduated from UW Stevens Point with a bachelor’s degree in Forest
Management. She has been a forester with the WDNR since 1984. Her
career has spanned the state from north to south and field to central
office. Her field experience includes working with private woodland
owners in both Sawyer County and Iowa County. In her current position she is responsible for the administration
of the Wisconsin Forest Landowner Grant Program, the Cooperating Forester
Program and interaction with a wide variety of private forestry partners
including the Wisconsin Tree Farm Committee and the Driftless Forestry Network.
Mike Finlay is a forester for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
servicing private landowners in Richland County, WI. He specializes in helping
landowners manage their forests for high quality sawlogs while providing
wildlife, ecological, and social benefits. Mike has a B.S. in Forest Management
from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.
Non-Timber Forest Products
Speaker:
David Wilsey, University of Minnesota
Participants in this session will be introduced to a new publication, the Minnesota Harvester Handbook. The Handbook is the culmination of several years of collaborative work among educators, forest resource managers and harvester communities in Minnesota. It provides a framework for exploring and learning about non-timber forest products that includes product biology and ecology, markets, policy considerations, and social factors. Moreover, it offers users multiple points of entry to more meaningful incorporation of natural resources into their lifestyles and livelihoods. This is a great resource for forest owners and resource users!
David Wilsey, Ph.D. is a lecturer and program coordinator for the Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) degree program at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Prior to joining the Humphrey School this July, Dave was an Associate Extension Professor / Educator in Forestry. His program and research efforts focus on socio-economic aspects of natural resource management such as natural resource livelihood strategies, natural resource enterprises, market-based conservation, and community-based development. His specific areas of expertise include non-timber forest products, value chains, and certification.
Healthy Wildlife
Timber Management for White-Tailed Deer
Speaker: Matthew Ross from the Quality Deer Management Association
Timber management can produce income for the landowner; however, it can also be the major reason for quality wildlife habitat. This presentation will discuss sustainable forest management as it relates to even and uneven-aged silvicultural techniques, as well as how managing hardwood and coniferous stands of trees may differ under a quality deer management program. Learn more about what Quality Deer Managment really means to tree farm management here.
Matthew D. Ross is a native of upstate New York, he received his B.S. in Wildlife conservation from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of New Hampshire. He has worked as a wildlife biologist and forester in southeastern NH before joining the Quality Deer Management Association in 2006. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, a NH Licensed Forester and an American Tree Farm inspector.
Manage your Woodlands for Songbird Habitat
Speaker: Brad Hutnik and John Nielsen from Wisconsin DNR
We will
discuss forest interior songbird habitat from a landscape perspective down to
the influence individual woodland owners have on habitat. We will present
specific habitat needs of individual bird species and how landowners can
contribute and understand how their actions can improve forest interior song
bird habitat. We will also present a landowner perspective on the impact
20 years of active woodland management has had on the songbirds on their
property in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin.
Brad Hutnik is a Forest Ecologist / Silviculturist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources, stationed in Madison. As
silviculturist, Brad serves statewide forest ecology and silviculture programs
with responsibility for developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating
both programs and policies. Brad
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in forest management from The University of
Wisconsin – Stevens Point in 1994. Before joining the DNR, Brad interned with
Consolidated Papers (now New Page) and worked for the Lake County Forest
Preserve District (Lake Co., IL) and Clark Forestry (Baraboo, WI) as a staff
forester. He lives in Spring Green, WI with his wife and family.
John Nielsen received a Forestry Degree in 1982 from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.
John has worked as a forester for the DNR for over 28 years and is currently
the Southern District Forestry Leader where he coordinates Wisconsin’s forestry
efforts in the southern 27 counties of Wisconsin, including the Driftless
Area. He is a member of the Driftless Forestry Network steering
committee. He and his wife Carol practice forestry at their Tree Farm in
Richland County, Wisconsin. John and Carol have two children in college, Mathew
and Kristina. They reside in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.
Healthy Future
Use Geocaching to Explore and Monitor your Forest
Speaker: Stephen Connolly, VP Minnesota Geocaching Association
Geocaching is an individual or family activity which millions of outdoors enthusiasts enjoy worldwide. This presentation will give a brief overview of this game which combines the high technology of global positioning systems with the thrill of an old fashioned treasure hunt.
Stephen Connolly is a production specialist at UPM/Blandin Paper Company in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. UPM/Blandin is a forest industry leader in the manufacturing of high quality magazine grade printing papers. Mr. Connolly has been geocaching since July of 2005, and currently serves as Vice President of the Minnesota Geocaching Association.
Free the Trees: Policies to get rid of pests
Speaker: Christine Cadigan, AFF Public Affairs Manager
Emerald Ash Borer. Asian longhorned beetle. Sudden oak death. Cogongrass. What’s next? Will it ever end? Learn what federal policies are protecting our forests from these seemingly endless threats and how you can help ensure these policies are working as effectively and efficiently as possible. Also help us work to spread the word to other landowners, so they can be ready to stop the spread, too.
Christine Cadigan is a Public Affairs Manager at the American Forest Foundation. She first joined AFF in February 2011 as the Public Affairs and Conservation Coordinator and then moved into the Manager role shortly thereafter. Prior to AFF, Christine completed Masters’ degrees in both Forestry and Environmental Management from Duke University, concentrating her studies on woody biomass supply and demand in the Southeast. Christine has brief experiences working with the USFS Southern Research Station, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Virginia Department of Forestry. She is originally from Richmond, Virginia and completed her undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Virginia.
Changing the Wood Conversation
Speaker: Melissa Moeller, AFF Public Affairs Manager
Wood is good—good for the environment, for conservation, and for the economy. However, we have seen policies pop up at the federal, state, and local level that discriminate against the use of wood and even forest products more broadly. Learn about efforts to change public policies and the broader conversation around wood and how you can be an effective advocate.
Melissa Moeller has been a Public Affairs Manager for the American Forest Foundation since February 2010. She manages grassroots advocacy programs and influences public policy issues important to family forest owners. Prior to joining the staff at AFF, Melissa worked for the National School Boards Association (NSBA), where she increased engagement in grassroots advocacy programs and supported federal education policy initiatives. Prior to NSBA, Melissa also worked for the United Motorcoach Association. Melissa received her MA in Political Communication from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and her BS in Psychology and Political Science from Furman University in Greenville, SC.
SFI: Connecting Conservation and Community
Speakers: Barry Graden, Director of Southeast Community Outreach
SFI Inc. is an independent, non-profit organization responsible for maintaining, overseeing and improving a sustainable forestry certification program that is internationally recognized and is the largest single forest standard in the world._ SFI certification also extends to the market. When they see the SFI label on a product, consumers can be confident they are buying wood or paper from certified forests or certified sourcing – whether it is reams of paper, packaging, or lumber products._As a non-profit organization, SFI Inc. thrives on the energy and collaboration of diverse groups that help it promote sustainable forest management in North America and responsible procurement globally, beginning with its interaction with 35 SFI Implementation Committees, or SICs._ This presentation will be co-presented by SFI Inc. and a state SIC to discover – and uncover - the breadth of the SFI Program._
Please see the Speaker Bio below.
SFI: Partnerships for Progress
Speakers: Barry Graden, Director of Southeast Community Outreach
This presentation will focus on the SFI Forest PartnersSM Program and the progress to date of this multi-year program to increase the certified forest acres and small mills to SFI Standards beginning in the U.S. Southeast. Several state-wide projects have yielded new partnerships with state agencies, private land owners and the forest products industry. World markets continue to trend toward certification and product labeling to provide assurances of sustainable procurement and support for sustainable forest management. Founding Partners of the program have made five-year commitments to support it financially with the expectation that market leadership will encourage growth of forest management, fiber sourcing and chain of custody certification.
Barry Graden is currently the Director, Southeast U.S. Community Outreach for Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI Inc.) program, a third-party forest certification system in North America. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry from Iowa State University, Barry began working for Bowater Incorporated in the summer of 1980. He subsequently received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Winthrop University.
Over the next 31+ years with the company (renamed AbitibiBowater, Inc. through a 2007 merger with Abitibi Consolidated) he held various positions in land management, landowner assistance, communications, and corporate forest management and chain of custody certification to multiple standards. Through these positions he gained valuable experience linking certification to the supply chain by promoting the values of certification to the marketplace while assisting Sales as forestry liaison to the company’s customer base. In November, 2011 Barry began employment with Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc. where he oversees the SFI Forest PartnersSM Program aimed at growing SFI certification among medium sized landowners and mills.
Barry is an SAF Certified Forester and a SC Registered Licensed Forester. He is located in Greenville, SC.
Women's Track
How to Win Forestry Friends and Influence People
Speakers: Melissa Moeller and Christine Cadigan, AFF Public Affairs Managers
Whether we like it or not, public policies play a role in our woodlands, impacting the health of our woods and the future for our families. Learn how you can play a role in influencing public policies. Often it’s not about being an expert on the policy details—it’s about building relationships and sharing your Tree Farm’s story.
See Healthy Future for speaker bios.
Sharing Your Woods Online
Speakers: Emily Patterson, AFF Website Manager
You love your woods. And when you love something, you want to share it. This session looks at how you can use new online tools to share photos and stories with friends, family, ATFS and other woodland owners. First, get familiar with the latest trend in social media, the image sharing site Pinterest, where women worldwide share beautiful photos and delicious recipes. Then, check out our Facebook page and tell us how we can make it more relevant for you. Finally, learn about how you can share your stories with other woodland owners on My Land Plan and the Tree Farm System website.
Emily Patterson comes to marketing and web design from a background in journalism. After graduating from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism, Emily took a copy editing position at China Daily, China's largest English-language newspaper. She worked with an international team of journalists to start Asia Weekly, a magazine with news and features from across Asia.
After returning to the US in 2008, Emily turned her eye for writing and design to the field of website design and management. She worked as the web content manager for the Better Business Bureau headquarters, where she wrote, designed graphics and oversaw analytics for a website that receives nearly 7 million visitors a month. She is currently the Web Communications Manager for American Forest Foundation where she has been instrumental in growing traffic, enhancing usability and increasing conversions on the organization's four websites.
