Archuleta County Tree Farmers

Thursday, September 30th – 9a.m. until Noon   (this had been scheduled for Sept 14 and had to be rescheduled)

There will be an Information Session “GPS for Forest Landowners” at the Archuleta County Fairgrounds, followed by practice and a field tour at the Ron & Windsor Chacey Tree Farm.  The session will provide training on the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) application. How to use GPS receivers and how to use the collected data to aid in planning and implementation of your forestry activities will be covered.  After a one hour classroom session at the Fair Grounds, we will car-pool to the Chacey Tree Farm to practice using GPS receivers and for field tour and discussion of the Chacey’s forestry activities which earned them the 2009 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the district award.

The primary instructor for this course will be Christina Ferner, GIS specialist with the Colorado State Forest Service.

Call Dan Wand at 970-247-5250 for further information and to RSVP if you have not already done so.

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Surveys for Tree Farmers

Two years ago, Congress made a commitment to supporting good stewardship on America's private forest lands by opening up Farm Bill conservation programs to forests for the first time.  In the coming year, the American Forest Foundation will be leading the Forests in the Farm Bill Coalition to ensure that these programs are strengthened and expanded in the next Farm Bill.  But to to do this, we need to know how the programs are currently working for family forest owners.   We need your help—tell us how you have used (or not used) Farm Bill programs.

If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to complete this survey.  Your answers and stories will help shape our agenda for the next Farm Bill.  Whether you have participated in Farm Bill programs or not, we want to hear from you.  You can complete the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/usdaconservationprograms   Your answers about your experiences, how your land has been improved, or even your reasons for not participating will help us figure out what our agenda should be; you can help us know how to make the programs easier to access and more useful for landowners; and how to use the programs to better conserve and manage America’s private forests.   Please forward the survey to other Tree Farmers and family forest owners as well—we need as large a sample as possible. If you have any questions, do not hesitate write or call me for assistance.  

Many thanks,   Dan Conant  
Public Affairs Manager
American Forest Foundation
1111 Nineteenth St NW Suite 780
Washington, DC 20036  
phone: (202) 463-2431
email:  dconant@forestfoundation.org    

PS—Don’t forget to complete our Farm Bill program survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/usdaconservationprograms

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2011 National Leadership Conference Location Confirmed!

We are excited to the announce that the 2011 National Leadership Conference will be held February 22-25, in Englewood, Colorado, outside of Denver, at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center. Pre and post conference optional workshops and registration information will be announced soon!  Room rates are $138/night for single/double rooms. To make your resservations, call 800-346-4891 and mention American Forest Foundation to secure this group rate. For more information on the location, visit http://www.invernesshotel.com. Stay tuned for more information!

The 2011 National Tree Farmer Convention will be held near Albuquerque, NM

on August 9-11 at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort & Spa in Santa Ana Pueblo.  Stay tuned for more information.