National Association of Conservation Districts

National Association of Conservation Districts

NACD's mission is to serve conservation districts by providing national leadership and a unified voice for natural resource conservation.

Forestry Notes

September 2008
Volume XVII, Issue 10

| PDF | Archive of Previous Issues |

  1. A "Wise" Defense against Fire
  2. NACD Visits with Urban and Community Forestry Representatives
  3. Northern Plains Prepare for EAB
  4. Exploring "Value-Added" Forestry
  5. Forest Briefs

1. A "Wise" Defense against Fire
Washington district uses Firewise to help landowners safeguard their properties
The Spokane County Conservation District (SCCD) in western Washington has used the Firewise program to help educate local landowners on ways to safeguard their homes and properties from wildfire.

According to Garth Davis, district forestry program manager, for the past few years the district has offered homeowners a free home site assessment to rate each home’s ability to withstand a wildfire and examine the property’s defensible space and home construction. This past spring, SCCD officials worked to bring a 40-parcel Park Hills development up to Firewise Communities/USA standards.

Firewise Communities/USA standards include these requirements …

SCCD was contracted to conduct the community assessment. Not long after district forester Alan Hawson completed his individual home site inspections in June the Valley View fire tore through the area, affecting 11 of the 40 homes.

“Unfortunately,” said Davis, “there wasn’t enough time for all of the folks to implement the defensible space plans.”

Following the fire the district partnered with the Washington Department of Natural Resources—the state’s lead fire fighting agency—and Spokane Fire District No. 8 to host a workshop for local homeowners.

The workshop provided attendees with information on cost-share programs, how to work with a contractor to remove dead wood, and why it would be advantageous to avoid bringing noxious weeds back into the landscape.

“It was the perfect time, with all of the contractors already there, to explore defensible space and other options, and band together to deal with contractors to get the best price they could,” said Davis.

SCCD also offered to send Hawson back out to each of the parcels to conduct a post-fire assessment. According to Davis, 25 of the 40 found value in the assessment. “Some were interested in reclaiming value from their standing timber, others were interested in finding out how to provide long-term protection for their property.”

Said Davis, “Another good thing to come from this fire is that it caused others not in the fire’s path to get a hold of us and assess their homes so that if something like this comes their way they’ll be better prepared.”

The district’s Firewise Communities/USA efforts were made possible by way of a $15,000 Washington Conservation Commission grant obtained with the help of the Skagit Conservation District. The grant, which will last through October 2009, allows for the district to conduct individual and community home assessments, host Firewise workshops, and give demonstrations on defensible space and fuels reduction projects.

In late August, Skagit Conservation District officials brought new Firewise Communities/USA district participants to the Valley View fire site for training.

Davis stated he is a proud Firewise advocate after seeing the program’s many benefits filter throughout his district.

“It’s cheap insurance to have a professional come out and show you how to protect against wildfire,” said Davis. “At least you’re informed of where your high-risk areas are and how to attack them and improve your home’s ability to defend wildfire.”

For more information on the Firewise Communities/USA program, visit the Firewise Web site at http://www.firewise.org.


2. NACD Visits with Urban and Community Forestry Representatives
The NACD Urban and Community Resource Policy Group (RPG) met in Washington D.C. in July to evaluate the next steps in the implementation of the National Urban and Community Strategy, which was adopted by the NACD Board in February 2007. The work entailed reviewing the Urban and Community (U&C) inventory data, prioritizing the next steps, and reconnecting with key partners for districts on different U&C issues.

One of those issues, or areas of focus, is urban and community forestry. Trees, shrubs and other vegetation planted in developed and developing areas serve a critical role for water, air, energy and wildlife, offering environmental and economical benefits, including increased property values. Districts have much to offer homeowners, developers, citizen groups and communities in this area, such as technical information and assistance.

The RPG members met with several partners on urban and community forestry. Alice Ewen Walker, executive director of the Alliance for Community Trees, spoke about local citizen groups and her organization’s efforts to help them in tree planting and management activities. Walker also shared ideas about ways to partner at all levels and work together to bring resources to the local level.

Jennifer Hinrichs, a convener/facilitator for the Sustainable Urban Forest Coalition spoke about SUFC’s work to enhance collaborations among the U&CF, municipal and related organizations. One of their primary policy initiatives is to restore U&CF program appropriations for the U.S. Forest Service to needed levels. The SUFC recommendation is $50 million to ensure adequate funding for local grants, pilot projects, and research.

Before adjourning, RPG members accepted the opportunity to visit with the U&CF staff at the U.S. Forest Service. Information and ideas were exchanged about district activities, USFS resources, and efforts to work more closely with local entities including counties, municipalities, planning boards and conservation districts. A key point of discussion was how to ensure districts are represented on each state’s urban and community forestry advisory committee/council, which guides programs and grant-making. NACD has long encouraged state associations to seek a seat at that table.

Following the meeting, NACD Board Member and RPG Member John Peterson of Virginia attended the Green Infrastructure Community of Practice meeting. This is a network of government agencies and nonprofit organizations committed to promoting green infrastructure through education, training, and collaboration.

RPG members will continue to advance district interests in urban and community forestry, as well as other areas of U&C, through partnerships and representation in relevant meetings and initiatives.

For more information, contact Debra Bogar of NACD at deb-bogar@nacdnet.org, or visit any of the following websites: the Alliance for Community Trees at http://www.actrees.org; the Sustainable Urban Forest Coalition at http://www.urbanforestcoalition.org; Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry at http://www.fs.fed.us/ucf; or Green Infrastructure at http://www.greeninfrastructure.net.


3. Northern Plains Prepare for EAB
Emerald ash borer (EAB) is a highly invasive, exotic insect that attacks and kills all species of North American ash trees. Since its introduction from China in the early 1990s, EAB has killed more than 50 million ash trees in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Ontario, Canada. Across the United States, hundreds of millions of more ash trees are at risk.

Ash concentrations are higher in the northern plains than anywhere else in the United States. Ash populations average 25 to 35 percent of the total tree resource for most communities in Kansas and Nebraska and increase to as much as 60 percent in some North Dakota communities. In rural landscapes, green ash dominates riparian ecosystems, native forests, woodlots and conservation plantings, such as windbreaks. In fact, estimates show more than 50 percent of windbreaks or farm sites in the northern plains contain green ash.

EAB is spread primarily through the transport of firewood and infested nursery stock. Trapping and eradication efforts have not been successful. Insecticide injections provide some protection from EAB, but do not eradicate the insect. Most EAB experts believe it is only a matter of time before this pest is found throughout eastern and central North America; however, as of April 2008, EAB has not been detected west of Illinois. 

The Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative—a multi-state cooperative effort for education, mitigation and utilization—has been formed through a U.S. Forest Service seed grant of a half-million dollars to prepare for the arrival of the EAB. The U.S. Forest Service National Inventory and Monitoring Center in Newtown Square, Penn. designed an inventory and determined the plots to visit in order for foresters to prepare for the expected arrival of EAB. 

Steve Rasmussen, district forester with the Nebraska Forest Service and Great Plains Initiative Coordinator explained, “The summer inventory work is rapidly coming to a close. We will have visited 1,200 plots (100 rural and 200 urban plots in each of the four states – Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and North Dakota).” 

“The survey will provide a clearer picture of species composition and distribution within Nebraska, helping identify areas most at risk to different invasive species,” said Rasmussen. “This will allow forestry professionals to target efforts toward areas most at risk when invasive species arrive.”

Each plot is one-sixth of an acre, and the number, species, diameter and height of trees and the use of the land within the plot will be recorded. Observations will also be made about tree health based on the percent of canopy dieback within each tree. Information about distance from buildings will be recorded for energy computations. For rural plots the function of trees, such as windbreaks, will be recorded. Plots without trees will not be surveyed.

According to Rasmussen, “This has been a huge project to get up and going and completed by summer’ end with help from many partners.”

Conservation Districts have been among the partners participating in this effort. In Nebraska, two Nebraska Forest Service foresters in shared positions with districts—Rich Lodes with the Lower Platte South Natural Resource District and Cory Schmidt with the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resource District—have helped identify the local landowners and have helped inventory crews during field visits.  In South Dakota, local conservation districts have helped identify the plot locations and ownership contacts for the inventory crews. 

The Great Plains Initiative group has sent out more than 1,000 EAB awareness packets to county, district and regional natural resource offices. The natural resource districts in Nebraska and the conservation districts in Kansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota were part of the targeted group and now have a complete packet of reference material on EAB and invasives, and are part of the early detection and awareness effort.

For more information on emerald ash borer, visit http://www.emeraldashborer.info.

The Continental Dialogue on Non-Native Forest Insects and Diseases has created the website, http://www.dontmovefirewood.org. The National Association of State Foresters provides operational support for the Web site and plays an on-going role in overseeing the content.


4. Exploring "Value-Added" Forestry
R. D. Coonrod is a professional chainsaw carver who also serves as a talent agent for LogHoggers, a group of the country’s finest demonstrating chainsaw artists. LogHoggers donates all of the sculptures created back to the event to be sold in a fundraising auction. 

Carving since 1992, his demonstration and competition season runs from April through September and then his booking and convention season begins for the next year. 

When not performing or demonstrating, he works on projects for individuals. Recently Coonrod completed a sculpture resembling Chief Illini for Spring View Acres co-owner Tom Doubet, who first learned of Coonrod’s talents at the Forestry Field Day in 2006 on the Spring View Acres property.

“There are many ways to make money from timber and they involve more than selling firewood. ‘Value-added’ forestry is a term used to describe getting more value and more jobs for every tree cut. ‘Value-added’ forestry enterprises such as Coonrod’s do offer improved returns for rural small businesses and communities,” said Doubet.

“A lot of the large trees in our communities are dying due to lack of sufficient space, water or nutrition. Some are dying due to various illness, disease or old age,” said Coonrod. “When these large yard trees are removed, finding a use or proper means of disposal is often difficult.”

Coonrod’s solution for putting some of this waste wood to use is chainsaw-sculpting events. These can be conducted as single artist shows, multi-artist competitions, fundraising events or artist symposiums.

The sculptures created can be left on location for décor, donated, or sold by auction for fundraising purposes. Multi-artist competitions consume tons of logs and produce very large sculptures. These types of events can be real media attention grabbers.

To learn more about this program, contact Coonrod at loghog@loghoggers.net.


5. Forestry Briefs
From Wood Waste to Renewable Energy: A Summary Report of Wood Utilization
“Efforts in Heating Systems in the Western United States and Territories,” was just published by the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition (WFLC). To gain a better understanding of the success elements of wood biomass systems in the west, the WFLC’s Forest Resource Management Committee surveyed western states and territories looking at their Fuels for Schools projects as well as other wood heating systems and the potential for future projects. The summary shows that most western states have embraced using wood fuel for heat.

The success of these projects, their significant annual cost savings, and the rising price of fossil fuels should continue to support the viability of this renewable fuel alternative into the future. As the program expands into less forested states, the motive in pursuing these wood fuels projects becomes less about managing excess biomass supply and more about utilizing renewable energy sources. The Farm Bill (PL - 110-234) provides opportunities for wood-to-energy programs within the forestry and energy titles. If those provisions are funded, there would likely be an opportunity for wood heating efforts to be expanded.

To read “Efforts in Heating Systems in the Western United States and Territories,” visit http://www.wflcweb.org/infomaterials/reports.php.


NWTF Conservation District Partner of the Year Award Application
Purpose of Award: To recognize an outstanding Conservation District Partner that has joined with a National Wild Turkey Federation local chapter(s) or staff to raise public awareness of conservation and wildlife management issues, improve wildlife habitat, and increase hunting opportunities.

Selection Process: NWTF staff and partners will provide nominations for consideration.  Nominations can be a district under the group category at the state, regional or county level or an individual that represents a district at the state, regional or county level.

Selection Deadline: October 15, 2008

Presentation: Award will be presented at the National Association of Conservation
Districts annual meeting in February.

What to include:

Return nomination form by October 15, 2008 to:
Bryan Burhans
P.O. Box 530
Edgefield, SC  29824
Phone (803) 637-3106
Fax (803) 637-9180
Bburhans@nwtf.net