Board of Forestry
Minutes
March 30, 2004
The Board of Forestry met on March 30, 2004, in the Moody Hall Board Room at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia.
Convene Meeting
The formal Board meeting began at 1:00 p.m. on March 30, 2004. Those present were: Mary T. Bates, William T. Carden, McChesney Goodall, Melvin L. Harrell, R. Easton Loving, Michael G. McGlothlin, E. Lee Showalter, Alpheus L. White, and James Garner and Donna Hoy with the Department of Forestry.
Call to Order
Mr. Loving called the meeting to order.
Ms. Hoy called roll.
Mr. Loving reported that Chairman Turner was absent due to being on vacation and Ms. Webster was recuperating from knee surgery.
Changes and Adoption of Agenda
Mr. Loving asked if there were any changes that needed to be made to the agenda. He asked that Board member attendance at the Southern Group of State Forester's meeting be added under Action Items.
Recognition of Guests and Visitors
Mr. Loving welcomed Andrew Smith, Virginia Farm Bureau, Cliff Rexrode, Association of Consulting Foresters, Randy Bush, Virginia Forest Products Association, Michael Mortimer, Virginia Tech, Department of Forestry, Greg Brown, Dean, College of Forestry, Jim Starr, Chuck Hutsell and Kenny Mohler with the Department of Forestry.
Approval of Minutes
Mr. Loving asked if there were any corrections/deletions to the January 27, 2004 minutes distributed earlier. Hearing none, Mr. Loving asked for a motion that the minutes be accepted as published. Ms. Bates made the motion. Dr. White seconded. The minutes will stand approved as recorded.
Hearing of Citizens and Delegations
No comments.
Information Items
The Finance Committee met at the Department of Forestry Central Office on March 23, 2004. Members on the Committee were Ms. Bates, Dr. White, and Mr. Loving. Ms. Bates gave a summarized report of the meeting. Each member was given a two-page summary sheet of information that was obtained from this meeting (copy attached).
Mr. Loving will discuss the outcome of the Finance Committee with Chairman Turner to decide whether any additional work needs to be done by the Committee. If Chairman Turner feels this Committee needs to do further work, it will be added to the Board agenda at a future meeting.
Dr. White commented that it was surprising to him that inflation is not figured for each year's budget. The base budget is based on the previous year's budget.
Mr. Garner reported that the Department of Forestry had 64 vacancies as of the meeting date.
State Forester's Report
Mr. Garner thanked the Board for all they have done in terms of raising the awareness of the needs of the Agency over the last twelve months. Every Board member has been active in interaction with legislators. The Department received a lot of support and back-up from Virginia Forestry Association, Virginia Forest Products Association, Virginia Farm Bureau, Virginia Agri-Business Council, etc.
Mr. Garner gave some additional information on the award that was supposed to be given to Charlie Becker at the January Board meeting, but was cancelled due to weather. The award is given for work with rural economic development projects and is 1 of 3 national awards given. Mr. Becker has also been elected Chairman of the Society of American Foresters of the Virginia Chapter.
Mr. Garner also reported that Mr. Loving had received the "Distinguished Service Award" from the Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting.
The General Assembly has not developed a biennium budget. If a budget is not decided by July 1, there will be no budget. The Senate did propose partial funding to re-establish some of the reforestation cost-share, equipment, and radios. The House removed a contingency clause to our radio funding stating funding was contingent upon the Governor's tax package passing.
Mr. Garner stated that he may need advice from the full Board or a Committee on the fee structure for the Department.
Mr. Garner gave a summary of legislation. The bill to create a cabinet position of Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry passed. It is unknown if/when/how the position will be funded. The timber theft bill passed. The collection of penalties for water quality passed for the Department to collect penalties instead of the Attorney General's Office making collections. Senate Joint Resolution 75 for the Board to study incentives for landowners to keep their forestland in forest rather than converting to other uses passed (discussion covered under Action Items).
The Department has hired a Training Coordinator, Anne Skalski. Ms. Skalski came from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
A small group is developing a Conservation Education Plan for small State Forests. There is a state income tax check-off for individuals to donate money for conservation of state forests. Currently, there are enough funds to start a Conservation Education Program on a smaller State Forest.
Virginia was selected to provide the Capitol Holiday Tree for Washington, DC. Paul Howe is the Chair of the Steering Committee and Jerry Kilgore, Attorney General, is Honorary Chair for this project. The tree will come from National forest land and will be 70 foot tall. There will be a tree cutting ceremony. The transporting of the tree involves 35 stops in various communities along the way. 70 companion trees will go with the Holiday Tree. The Christmas Tree Grower's Association will provide the companion trees (6-25'). There is an estimated budget of $250,000 for this project. There will be lots of opportunity for exposure for those that make contributions. The Department will have two people who will travel with the tree and 2 trucks and 2 people to handle the ornaments. Following the lighting, there will be a reception in DC. Contributors and special guests will be invited.
The Department's Hydrologist, Sam Austin, will start a research project on the State Forest on in-stream monitoring and the best way to handle culverts. Mr. Austin will install/remove culverts upstream and downstream from a crossing. The monitoring will involve in-stream monitoring with and without a culvert to see the affects and determine if culverts are the best method to use.
Title 3 of the Healthy Forest Initiative authorizes the State Forester to work with private landowners and municipalities to improve and enhance targeted watersheds in the state. It has not been fully funded. Title 3 will help State Forester's focus on watersheds throughout the state. This is not a huge program and there isn't a lot of money at this time. Mr. Garner and Mr. Starr were involved on the development committee. The draft has been completed.
Each Board member was given a draft copy of the "DOF 2014 Strategic Plan". Board members were also given a copy of objectives for the first year of the Strategic Plan. Mr. Garner asked members to provide him with their comments on the objectives. The Strategic Plan is at the printers and will be widely distributed. Board members will be given copies of the Strategic Plan to distribute.
There is a problem in the Department's nurseries with seedlings having fusiform rust. Fusiform rust is a naturally occurring disease that affects oaks and pines. This is the first time the Department has had this problem in the nurseries. Fusiform is a serious disease and destroys a lot of trees. The Department has purchased seedlings from other states to cover orders next season. Seed and seedlings in the nurseries will be treated. The cost for this problem is estimated to be $10-12,000 for this year, which will have a significant impact on the nursery budgets. It is not known how many trees were shipped before the disease was detected; however, it is estimated that 10-30% of the seedlings were affected. The Department does not want to cause a panic with landowners and will send a letter to all that ordered seedlings. When reinspections are conducted in the fall, the number of seedlings that will need to be replanted will be determined. The nurseries are doing additional seeding this year to allow for replanting next year. The Reforestation of Timberlands Board has been notified of this problem.
The Emerald Ash Borer, an insect that bores inside ash trees, has been detected in some sites in the Northern Virginia area and some parks. Once established, you cannot eradicate it. Trees have to be cut and burned. Suspect that the Emerald Ash Borer was shipped in from a neighboring state.
Sudden oak death has been detected in California. California did not inspect nurseries in the southern part of the state and two of the largest plant nurseries were infected. These two nurseries ship to locations all over the United States. They have back traced all shipments from these two nurseries for 2003 and 2004. All plants out of California have been quarantined. There are a lot of trees in the pipeline that are not traceable. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is heading up the efforts. Mr. Garner stated he would keep the Board informed as information is received. Virginia has quarantined these products.
Action Items
Nominating Committee Report/Election of Officers: Mr. Showalter reported that he and Ms. Webster had asked Mr. Turner and Mr. Loving to serve another term in their respective capacities as Chair and Vice-Chair. Both have agreed to serve another term if approved by the Board. Mr. Showalter made a motion to nominate Mr. Turner and Mr. Loving to serve another term in their capacities. Mr. Carden seconded the motion. All members were in favor.
Replacement for Sandra Whitmore: At the current time, no word has been received about a replacement for Sandra Whitmore. The Secretary of the Commonwealth does the research and makes a recommendation to the Governor's staff. (Note: Donna called Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office on April 7 to check on status of replacement for Sandra Whitmore. Recommendations have been received and should be forwarded to the Governor's office within the next week for approval. The contact at the Secretary's Office felt a replacement should be announced within the next several weeks). Mr. Showalter recommended that a letter be drafted from the Chair and Vice-Chair to the Governor about a replacement for Ms. Whitmore. Mr. Loving will discuss with Chairman Turner.
Planning for Senator Ticer Study Request: Mr. Loving reported that he, Mr. Turner, Mr. Garner and Mr. Carroll happened to recently be at the same meeting and had the opportunity to discuss the Ticer Study. From that meeting, Mr. Loving developed an Action Plan that he sent to each member prior to the meeting for their review. Mr. Garner and Mr. Carroll had met with Tonya Denckla, Center for Environmental Negotiations, for guidance/suggestions/advice on how to handle the hearings. The first comment from Ms. Denckla was to call them information gatherings and not public hearings. The purpose of the meetings will be to gather information and to get an idea of what people think of the need for and ideas of how to provide incentives for landowners not to convert their forestland to other uses. Her second comment was the time crunch for these information gatherings. Trigger questions would need to be developed to ask the public in order to keep them focused on the resolution and goals. Depending on the size of the group, it may be necessary to breakout into smaller groups for management purposes. It may be necessary to hold two rounds of information gatherings. One being a smaller group to compile the responses to the questions and a second group focused to help develop recommendations for inclusion in the report. Mr. Garner stated that Ms. Denckla would try and locate two interns to help with this project.
Mr. Garner has contacted the U. S. Forest Service in Atlanta about this resolution. The resolution is in-line with the Forest Legacy Program. There is a possibility of using legacy money to help fund this resolution.
Participants at the information gatherings will include landowners, associations, groups, public, etc. Public announcements will be made 30-days prior to the meeting dates. The Action Plan has the meetings starting in Northern Virginia with Senator Ticer present to kick-off the sessions. The Action Plan slated eight information gatherings from May until July. At this point, there is no planned program for the information gatherings, but an outline of topics to be covered within a two-hour timeframe. Mr. Garner stated that the program would be based on guidance from the Board. Although not included in the Action Plan, written comments will be a mechanism for individuals to use if they cannot attend the information gatherings.
Mr. Loving stated he liked the idea of doing a first round of information gatherings and then a follow-up with a focus group. He also stated that the month of June was intentionally skipped because of the involvement of the Department in the Southern Group of State Foresters meeting which will take place in Charlottesville during that month.
Dr. Mortimer, Virginia Tech, stated that the Ticer Study is very closely related to research that Virginia Tech has been doing. He is currently looking into several different funding sources for Virginia Tech to carry out the data investigation to see what types of conservation mechanisms are available to use. They would also like to do a survey of Virginia forest landowners to gauge their receptivity to these different approaches. He has submitted two requests for funding and is hoping to know something soon on whether they are approved. Regardless of funding, Virginia Tech would like to stay involved in this assignment.
Mr. Garner stated the Department will handle logistics for the meetings, but would need support from Board members in hosting the meetings. Mr. Carden recommended that each member be trained prior to the actual meetings so they will know what to do, how the meetings will be conducted, etc. Mr. Harrell questioned the necessity of having eight information gatherings. He stated the Board's charge is to collect comments/recommendations from citizens and he feels there are other ways to accomplish that. It was also suggested that the sessions need to be pushed back to the end of summer or early fall to allow enough time to prepare the program and gather adequate information for these sessions. Mr. McGlothlin recommended that law schools be asked to assist with the research.
Several members felt that without a better idea of what the program will involve, they did not feel comfortable in agreeing to host the meetings. They would feel better if the program was developed and they were given a "dry run" so they can see if the program is headed on the right track and have the opportunity to comment before the actual meetings. The Board questioned how much time the Department and Dr. Mortimer needed to put the PowerPoint presentation and program information together. Mr. Garner reported that the Department could quickly put together a PowerPoint presentation on the issues based on FIA data, landowner transition, fragmentation, etc. Dr. Mortimer stated the options/alternatives could also be done fairly quickly.
Due to concerns expressed by Board members and the lack of information at this time, it was decided the Board would meet again on May 25, 2004 at the Department of Forestry office in Charlottesville. They would like to see a draft of the full program for the information gatherings and a revised Action Plan so they will have a better idea of what the meetings will involve and what their role will be in hosting the sessions. Each Board member was asked to send their thoughts and suggestions to Chairman Turner and Mr. Garner on what should be included in the program, how many meetings should be held, and in what part of the state.
Board Member Attendance at Southern Group of State Forester's Meeting: Mr. Turner and Mr. Loving had discussed Board member attendance at the Southern Group of State Forester's Meeting. It was decided that three members would be approved for all expenses to be paid for their attendance at this meeting. This offer is on a first-come-first-serve basis. If members are interested in attending, they need to contact Donna Hoy.
Committee Liaison Report
The Virginia Forest Products Association will hold their annual Logging Expo at the fairgrounds in Richmond on June 4 and 5.
The Virginia Forestry Association will hold its annual meeting on April 23-25 in Virginia Beach.
The Water Quality Task Force will meet April 21 at the Holiday Inn on Rt. 29 North, starting at 10:00 a.m.
Other Business
No other business.
Scheduling of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Board will be May 25, 2004, 9:00 a.m. at the Department of Forestry Central Office in Charlottesville. The purpose of this meeting will be to continue discussion on the Ticer Study.
The summer meeting will be held in the Front Royal area on Wednesday, July 14, 2004. Dr. White discussed his offer for members to come in on the 13th starting with lunch, going on a tour that afternoon, and having the official Board meeting at 9:00 a.m. on the 14th. More details will be forthcoming.
Mr. Loving mentioned the fall meeting would be a joint meeting between the Board of Forestry and the Game and Inland Fisheries Board at Cumberland State Forest. This meeting will be held at Cumberland State Forest on October 19-20, 2004. Details will be sent at a later date.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Mr. Loving made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was officially adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Hoy
Recording Secretary
c: Board Members
Dr. Gregory Brown, VPI
Mr. J. R. Bush, VFPA
Mr. Paul Howe, VFA
Mr. Cliff Rexrode, ACF
Ms. Maxine Kenny, WMMT News
Mr. Steve Brooks, Virginia Forest Watch
Ms. Ann Duff, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation
Mr. Jim Mooney, Virginia Loggers Association
Mr. Gerald Gray, Virginia Forest Watch
Ms. Donna Pugh-Johnson, Virginia Agribusiness Council
Ms. Martha Moore, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation
Mr. Roger Sherman, MeadWestvaco Corporation
Ms. Staci Henshaw, Auditor of Public Accounts
Mr. Charles F. Finley, Jr., Forest Landowners Association
NOTE: Tapes of Board meetings are on file in the Office of the State Forester.
Last modified: Friday, 07-Mar-2008 19:13:22 UTC