Board of Forestry
Minutes
January 11, 2007

The Board of Forestry met on January 11, 2007 at the Virginia Forestry Association Office in Richmond.

Convene Meeting

The formal Board meeting began at 1:00 p.m. on January 11, 2007. Those present were: Anitra B. Webster, David Blount, Judy Guse-Noritake, R. Easton Loving, Marvin P. Wilson, III, E. Lee Showalter, C. Harrell Turner, David Wm. Smith, Floyd H. Miles, Sr., Hillary F. Little, and Carl E. Garrison, III 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. Hearing none, the agenda remained as written.

Recognition of Guests and Visitors

Chairman Turner welcomed Mr. Randy Bush, Virginia Forest Products Association; Mr. Paul Howe, Virginia Forestry Association; Ms. Tammi Belinski, Virginia Forest Watch/WildLaw; Mr. Bud Watson, Model Forest Policy Program; Ms. Ann Duff, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation/Chair, Reforestation of Timberlands Board; John Carroll, Ron Jenkins, and Brad Williams with the Department of Forestry.

Approval of Minutes

Chairman Turner asked if there were any corrections/deletions to the November 13, 2006 minutes. Mr. Showalter made the motion for the minutes to be approved as written. Mr. Loving seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Hearing of Citizens and Delegations

Ms. Tammi Belinski distributed a white paper on “Jurisdictional Conflicts in Forestry, Balanced Local Government Oversight” on behalf of Virginia Forest Watch. The white paper covered potential conflicting interests and rules regarding land-disturbing forestry practices between the Department of Forestry and local governments.

Ms. Belinski stated there is a need for all stakeholders to be involved in discussions about this issue and encouraged that representatives from the forestry and conservation communities be included in future discussions. She felt the presentation was set-up as a lecture, comments and question and answer forum with no opportunity for input from others. Ms. Belinski stated that in order for these to be beneficial, there needs to be dialogue with localities.

Mr. Garrison asked Ms. Belinski to provide feedback to him on what she felt was done right/wrong and to provide him name of those that were not included that needed to be there.

Mr. Wilson stated he attended the December 7 meeting at Germanna Community College with representatives from the Department of Forestry, Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The only recommendation he would suggest is to include the Department of Environmental Quality as a presenter in the future. He felt the presentation was excellent. Attendance included a mixture of local government individuals. He also suggested the presentation be placed on the internet for review, as well as Board members receiving it via e-mail.

Mr. Garrison reported that plans are underway for additional sessions. The Department is currently talking with the Department of Conservation and Recreation staff on how many additional presentations need to be made and the locations. As of the meeting, no dates were set. Additional sessions should be conducted sometime this spring. It was suggested that the Stafford County case study be included in future presentations.

Mr. Bush stated he felt the presentation were very well done and addressed the issue at hand. He felt the agencies involved pointed out areas where the law can be approved.

Mr. Garrison was questioned as to whether he had tried to get an invite to be on the Association of Counties agenda for their annual meetings. Mr. Garrison stated he had asked to be on their agenda, but has not received an invitation to do so. It was suggested that Stafford County might be willing to push to get Mr. Garrison on the agenda and/or even Secretary Bloxom to make the request. Mr. Garrison will work toward getting on the agenda for the Association of Counties.

Information Items

None

State Forester's Report

Each Board member received a copy of the “2006 State of the Forest Annual Report on Virginia’s Forests”. Mr. Garrison gave highlights from the report and pointed out major improvements, as well as major downfalls since the last report. Items highlighted were: forest ownership, fires burned, dry hydrants, timber harvests, statewide audit, and acreage lost to other uses. Mr. Garrison suggested Board members take this publication with then when visiting with legislators and to point out these points during discussions.

The updated “Virginia’s Forests our CommonWealth, an Economic Study of the Forests in Virginia” booklet was distributed to all Board members. Again, Mr. Garrison gave highlights from the report and pointed out items of interest. Items highlighted were: drop in revenue forests provide to Virginia’s economy, reduction in stumpage value for trees, increase in the value added to Virginia’s economy, change in forest land ownership, annual sawtimber value, growth to removal ratio, acres lost to other uses, risk to resources, and harvesting. Mr. Garrison stated that forestry ranks first in market value of crops and first in wages for Virginia’s economy. He also stated this is a very useful book with a lot of good strong, useful information on economics for Virginia.

Mr. Garrison stated it would be good for the Board to distribute copies of these two booklets when making contacts with individuals. For additional copies, contact Donna Hoy.

Each member was also given a copy of “The State of Chesapeake Forests, Executive Summary”, distributed by The Conservation Fund from this booklet. Mr. Garrison pointed out the goals and key strategies for preserving Chesapeake Forests. He also stated that according to this report, the Chesapeake percent of forestland expected to increase in residential development for Virginia is 26-76 percent by 2030.

Mr. Garrison announced the 2007 legislative tracker for significant bills affecting the Department of Forestry will be added to the Department’s home page under “New and Noteworthy”/ “Legislative Bill Tracking” link. At the time of the meeting, there were five bills that directly related to the Department.

• HB2339 – Delegate Watkins M. Abbitt, Jr. - authorizes the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Forestry, to sell permits for hunting and trapping in state forests. The bill also removes obsolete sections that give the clerks of courts the authority to sell such permits.
• HB2486 – Delegate David L. Bulova - conservation of trees during the development process for air quality improvement in certain localities.
• HB2825 – Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr. - establishes a threshold that determines how the unrestricted funds in the Virginia Land Conservation Fund will be expended.
• SB939 – Senator Patricia S. Ticer - conservation of trees during the land development process for air quality improvement in certain localities.
• SB942 – Senator Patricia S. Ticer - Virginia Land Conservation Fund disbursements.

Ms. Noritake and Mr. Wilson had met with Senator Ticer to discuss SB939 prior to the Board meeting. They recommended the Board support this bill and requested a letter be written on behalf of the full Board in support of this bill to the Chair of the Local Government Committee and Senator Ticer. Mr. Little made the motion for a letter to be written stating the Board supports this bill. Mr. Loving seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Ms. Noritake also suggested that the Board support funding for SB942. After some discussion on details of the bill, Mr. Loving made the motion that Chairman Turner write a letter of support to the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance committee on behalf of the Board expressing support for funding. Ms. Webster seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Mr. Garrison shared the operating budget summary for the Office of Agriculture and Forestry with the Board. Except for one budget amendment of $245,000 for enhancement/development of the Department’s Integrated Forest Resource Information System (IFRIS), the Department will have level funding, if approved by the General Assembly.

Mr. Garrison reported that in April 2007 he will need to provide a target acreage figure for new forest protection to the Governor. He asked for the Board’s help in developing the target figure. Mr. Little and Mr. Brooks from the Water Quality Committee will work with the Department on this. Mr. Williams and Mr. Poirot will be the Department representatives. They will be in touch with Mr. Little and Mr. Brooks via teleconference, e-mail, etc. for their input/help in developing this target figure.

At the request of the Board, a calendar of upcoming meetings, events, trainings, etc. has been loaded to the Department of Forestry’s website (www.dof.virginia.gov/info/calendar.shtml). This calendar will be updated as information is received.

Mr. Garrison stated each legislator would receive a limited edition Jamestown Oak seedling. The Department collected the seed from Jamestown Island from cherrybark oak acorns and grew the seedlings in the nursery. These seedlings will be sold on the Department’s website in the on-line store. Each Board member received a Jamestown Oak seedling.

Action Items

None

Committee Liaison Report

None.

Other Business

Chairman Turner discussed logistics of the legislative breakfast with the Board and gave them an overview of his past experiences from attending the breakfast.

Ms. Webster expressed her appreciation and thanks for the Regional staff taking time out of their schedules to meet with her.

Chairman Turner also was appreciative for Mr. Zimmer and Mr. Slack taking time to meet with him. He encouraged Board members that have not already met with their Regional staff to do so. Most Board members had already met with their Regional staff.

Scheduling of Next Meetings

The Board will meet on April 10, 2007 in conjunction with the 2007 Environment Virginia Conference at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, on April 10-12. The official meeting will be held at 1:00 p.m. on April 10 in Niekirk Hall.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Chairman Turner made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was officially adjourned at 3:40 p.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. Tammi Belinski, WildWood
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 19:13:29 UTC