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Welcome to the Virginia Department Of Forestry

Board of Forestry
Minutes
September 26, 2005

The Board of Forestry met on September 26, 2005 at Virginia Tech, College of Natural Resources, Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Convene Meeting

The formal Board meeting began at 8:30 a.m. on September 26, 2005. Those present were: Anitra Webster, Judy Guse-Noritake, C. Harrell Turner, McChesney Goodall, R. Easton Loving, Michael G. McGlothlin, E. Lee Showalter, Melvin Harrell, and Carl Garrison and Donna Hoy with the Department of Forestry.

Call to Order

Chairman Turner called the meeting to order.

Ms. Hoy called roll.

Changes and Adoption of Agenda

Chairman Turner asked if there were any changes that needed to be made to the agenda. As there were no changes, the agenda remained as written.

Recognition of Guests and Visitors

Chairman Turner welcomed Mr. Randy Bush, Virginia Forest Products Association; Mr. Andrew Smith, Virginia Farm Bureau; Mr. Gerald Gray, Virginia Forest Watch; Ms. Beth Obenchain, New River Land Trust; Ms. Tamara Vance, Virginia Outdoors Foundation; Dr. Mike Mortimer, Virginia Tech; Mr. James Bowen, Mr. John Carroll, Mr. Edward Stoots, and Mr. Mike Foreman, Department of Forestry.

Chairman Turner stated comments on SJR367 would be taken as the Board holds its discussion on the draft report.

Approval of Minutes

Chairman Turner asked if there were any corrections/deletions to the April 11, 2005 minutes distributed earlier. As there were no changes, Chairman Turner stated the minutes will stand approved as recorded.

Hearing of Citizens and Delegations

None

Information Items

None

State Forester's Report

Mr. Garrison stated the Department of Forestry met all expectations except two, which were progressing toward expectations, on the Governor’s Management Scorecard (2005-06).

Each member was given a copy of the DOF 2014 Strategic Initiative Agency Report Card for July 2004-June 2005 for the Board’s information and review at their convenience.

The State Forester shared a copy of the BMP Effort, Implementation, and Effectiveness Field Audit Report completed in June 2005. He stated that if the Board was interested, he would ask Mr. Austin to attend a future Board meeting to give more detailed information on this report.

The Department has been working on altering DOF’s Strategic Plan to meet the guidelines of the State’s Strategic Plan which ties to our budget. These two plans will be meshed into one document. This plan was submitted to Richmond in mid-September.

All ten Decision Packages submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry were approved. The packages will now go to the Department of Planning and Budget and then to the Governor’s Office for approval and inclusion in the Governor’s Budget Bill. These packages are “Confidential Governor’s Working Papers” and cannot be discussed in detail. Mr. Garrison did state that packages included funding to fill 30 vacant positions, equipment money (fire, IT), etc.

The Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry and the Secretary of Natural Resources will submit a decision package for land conservation to acquire International Paper property in Southeast Virginia. This will be a joint piece of property managed by Department of Conservation and Recreation, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and the Department of Forestry.

Mr. Garrison reported that he is only aware of one piece of legislation pertaining to forestry issues. This is a resolution by Fairfax County supporting a tree canopy proposal to protect existing trees on developable property.

Mr. Garrison gave an update on the Department’s conservation efforts. The Goodall property is being considered for the Department to hold the easement instead of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. This will be a partnership with The Nature Conservancy. The Department is currently working on getting this completed by the end of this year. The paperwork has been submitted to the Governor’s Office for approval. The tract is 1,700 acres and is located in Highland County.

The Department is working to secure an additional 400 acres on the Sandy Point tract, for a total of 2,000 acres. The paperwork has been completed. The Department is also looking at a tract in Essex County (120 acres) to add to the State Forest system. Also in the process of adding 200 acres to the Devil’s Backbone Tract in Shenandoah County.

The Department is still working on the Matthews Tract. It is hopeful that this will be completed by the end of this year.
The Stewardship Council met recently to review the proposed forest legacy projects. Recommendations will be submitted to the U.S. Forest Service by October 1, 2005 for approval. Mr. Garrison stated that once the landowners are notified, the awarded projects will be made public.

The Department of Forestry held its first Forest Resource Academy last week. This training was extremely successful and attendance was good.

A total of 64 Department employees have been dispatched to assist with Hurricane Katrina clean-up in Mississippi, Louisiana and Atlanta. Another crew of 20 was dispatched Monday, September 26, to replace a crew that will be returning home this week.

The Department hosted three legislative tours: Franklin, Covington and Emporia. These tours were designed to make legislators aware of the importance of forest resources. These tours were very successful. Some staff from Appropriations attended one of the tours. Will try to do these legislative tours annually in the future.

The U. S. Forest Service will hold its Cooperative Management Review of the Department’s programs in early October.

Members were given a 2006 Department of Forestry calendar. The format for this calendar is different from previous years that focused on Smokey Bear. This calendar focuses on the resources of the agency as a whole. Mr. Garrison welcomes any suggestions/comments for future calendars from the Board.

Mr. Carroll discussed an improved retirement package for Department firefighters to be included in an early retirement option plan. This effort was triggered because of our aging workforce and the implementation of a physical fitness standard for employees. The Department has 178 sworn special forest wardens that assist with hurricanes, ice storms, floods, etc. in addition to their fire responsibilities. Special forest wardens are fully recognized as firefighters in the Code. There is a high rate of disability and early retirement for special forest wardens. The current state employee retirement plan is not able to provide a suitable retirement program for special forest wardens.

Draft legislation has been reviewed by the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. It will take special legislation to get this passed and will likely be 2007 legislation at the earliest before this will be introduced. An improved retirement package is important to employees. We have talked with other agencies and plan to partner with them. The passing of this legislation would mean a monthly supplement which would be close to their health insurance coverage until the employee reaches the age to draw social security benefits.

Mr. Turner questioned the damage to forests in Louisiana and Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Garrison reported that the last he had seen the damage was $5 billion to the forests in Louisiana and Mississippi. This damage will have a critical impact on fire control and the potential of severe fire occurrence is extreme. He also stated that both compacts (Southeastern and Central Fire Compacts) have been activated. The Department is on the bubble for supplying equipment (tractors, hummers, etc.) and manpower. Three of the heaviest hit counties in Louisiana have the most active arson fires.

Mr. Garrison reported that Virginia is dry and we will likely have a major fire season this Fall as well. Virginia is drier than in the Fall of 2001 when we had one of the worst fire seasons in the history of the Department. The potential exists for a serious problem with fire in Virginia.

Action Items

Forest Policy Statement

Each member received a copy of the draft (version 9-22-05) DOF Forest Policy Statement. Stakeholder meetings were held in Blacksburg and Charlottesville for input on the Draft Forest Policy Statement. The groups were diverse and members shared their concerns, comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. on a Forest Policy Statement for Virginia.

Chairman Turner questioned what will happen with this draft forest policy statement this year. Mr. Garrison stated that the draft version will be sent to the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for additional comments and to Division of Legislative Services for final review. He also stated that he did not know if this statement will be considered in this year’s legislation or held until next year’s session. The Department will suggest that this statement be placed between §10.1-1100 and §10.1-1101 in the Code.

After some discussion/comments from the Board, Mr. Loving recommended that the Board accept the work of the committee to this point and get back with the forest community as a whole for input and comments (to the Department of Forestry) prior to the December meeting. Ms. Webster motioned that the Board accept the committee’s recommendations on the Policy Statement and proceed with the next steps to include public comments and a review from legislative services. Mr. Showalter seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion carried. The Board will discuss the policy statement at the December meeting.

The Board recommended that the Draft Policy Statement be distributed to attendees of the stakeholder meetings and ask for their written comments by November 15, 2005. The Draft Policy Statement should also be posted on the Department’s web page, as well as released to the press stating the deadline for public comment is November 15, 2005.

SJR 367 Study Report

Each member received a copy of the Senate Joint Resolution 367 Draft Study Report, which was a continuation of SJR75 Study recommendations. Mr. Foreman gave the Board an overview of the five recommendations and comments for each are listed below.

  1. Institute non-perpetual Land Protection Agreements as a method to conserve forest land. This new program would be called the Virginia Rural Landscapes Protection Program.
    • Ms. Obenchain stated she thought this recommendation received the most opposition from the focus group meetings and was surprised to see it included in the draft report.
    • She pointed out that with limited funding available, pressure should be kept to fund perpetual conservation easements first.
    • Mr. Foreman stated the minimum timeframe considered would be multiple decades, 30-100 years.
    • Conservation tax credits could not be used for short-term conservation easements.
    • Any proposal would likely require private sector funding.
    • Mr. Gray suggested the Board make this a study proposal in lieu of a recommendation.
    • Mr. Goodall stated the problem is “perpetual easement” and there needs to be a way to fill the void and reward people for practicing good forestry and protecting their streams.
  2. Establish separate “farm and forestry” categories within the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) funding scheme and ensure independent equitable funding amounts.
    • Mr. Goodall commented that the criteria used for the scoring seems to be biased toward agriculture. A tract of forestland will naturally, if important for conservation purposes, come up on the low end because the scoring is geared towards agriculture.
    • Mr. Loving questioned what percentage of the VLCF funds are used for fee simple acquisition versus easements. Mr. Foreman stated very little.
    • The first 25 percent of funds go to Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), with the remaining 75 percent split equally among the four categories: farm and forestry, natural area protection, open space and parks, historic area preservation.
  3. Support the continuing strong role of the Virginia Conservation Tax Credit in increasing Virginia conservation efforts.
    • Ms. Noritake stated there is very little money available for land conservation in this state. She also stated she has a lot of problem with the specifics in this recommendation. She felt if the forestry community doesn’t go hand in hand with the land trust community to the legislature, they will not get very far with this recommendation.
    • This is a very complex issue and involves a lot of players.
    • General agreement seemed to be the Board of Forestry should support this proposal.
  4. Amend the Right to Practice Forestry Act (10.1-1126.1).
    • Mr. Foreman stated that additional information will be included on this recommendation in the final report. The Board agreed that more detailed information was needed in order to discuss.
    • Dr. Mortimer reported his inventory work is complete and he is currently working on conducting the GIS analysis. He is looking at data for four counties in particular: Clarke, James City, Prince William and York. The current plan is to have a draft ready for review the first week in October. Dr. Mortimer stated the final report should be available to the Department of Forestry no later than November 1.
    • Dr. Mortimer’s report will include recommendations that apply to the Right to Practice Forestry Act.
  5. Adopt a statewide Use-Value Taxation Rate for Agriculture and Forestry Lands with a payback program for lost county revenue. It is recommended that the General Assembly allocate $50,000 for this statewide land use study. Participation in this one year study should include the Secretariats of Agriculture and Natural Resources along with the Virginia Association of Counties and Virginia Municipal League.
    • Virginia is weak in terms of conservation and lags behind other states.
    • Landowners in a lot of cases are not aware that land-use tax rates are available in their county.
    • The county knows, but won’t adopt a reduced tax rate due to loss of income.
    • Mr. McGlothlin stated he is not in favor of the state setting tax rates for localities (this is not currently a part of the recommendation).
    • There is inconsistency from county to county on land-use classifications, tax rates, and criteria for qualifying for the tax reduction.
    • Ms. Noritake stated that open land and open space (urban areas) cannot be excluded from the discussion.

A SJR367 sub-committee comprised of Ms. Noritake, Mr. Turner, Mr. Loving, Mr. Goodall, and Mr. McGlothlin was formed to review these recommendations. They will work with Mr. Foreman to define details for the recommendations and report back to the full Board. The SJR367 sub-committee will meet on November 18, 2005, 9:00 a.m., at the Department of Forestry Central Office in Charlottesville. Written public comment is invited on these recommendations to the Department of Forestry prior to the November 18 sub-committee meeting. These comments will be considered for inclusion in the final report discussion at the December 7 Board meeting to be held in Charlottesville.

Committee Liaison Report

Chairman Turner reported that the Virginia Loggers Association will meet the middle of October.

Other Business

No other business.

Scheduling of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Board will be December 7, 2005, 9:00 a.m., at the Department of Forestry Central Office in Charlottesville.

Tentative meetings were scheduled for January 13, 2006 and March 17, 2006. Chairman Turner asked all members to come prepared to confirm these meetings for next year and schedule additional meetings for 2006.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Chairman Turner made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was officially adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Donna Hoy
Recording Secretary

c: Board Members
Dr. J. Michael Kelly, Dean, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Tech
Mr. J. R. Bush, Virginia Forest Products Association
Mr. Paul Howe, Virginia Forestry Association
Mr. David E. Anderton, Jr., Association of Consulting Foresters
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
Mr. Andrew Smith, Virginia Farm Bureau

NOTE: Tapes of Board meetings are on file in the Office of the State Forester.

Last modified: Friday, 07-Mar-2008 19:13:24 UTC