2013 Annual Report

WHATCONNECTSYOU?

2013ANNUAL REPORT

President’s Message

In 2013, both the Arkansas Forestry Association and the forest products industry

saw positive developments. It is an honor to serve as AFA president during this time of recovery and opportunities for growth. In the pages that follow, you will read about the successful advocacy, communication, networking and education efforts that connect our forestry community and position AFA as the voice of forestry in Arkansas.

Just as in any operating environment, we are concerned about improving the association’s productivity and efficiency. There’s always something to be done and the AFA leadership and staff work hard to meet members’ needs while using resources wisely. We want to ensure that members see a return on their investment in the association. This approach has translated into a stable financial picture for AFA and will allow us to be prepared for new challenges and opportunities that may arise.

During the 89th General

Assembly, the association had a significant presence at the State Capitol and held two successful legislative receptions at the AFA office. On the local, state and national levels, AFA has been involved in and influenced progress on a variety of issues that affect our forestry community. This representation and policy work is the association’s hallmark and makes it possible for Arkansas to retain and grow a productive forest products industry.

At the end of 2013, statistics indicated housing starts improved throughout the country. That’s true here in Arkansas as well. Increased lumber shipments translate into rising operating rates for producers and, eventually, into higher stumpage prices for forest landowners.

As we begin 2014, we can look at the glass being more than half full. AFA and the forestry community are prepared for opportunities to serve members and meet market demands as the economy improves,

which we will hope will result in a favorable operating environment for all of our members. The AFA leadership, staff and membership are resourceful and resilient and I am confident in our ability to adjust and succeed.

It is an honor to serve as AFA president and I am optimistic about the association’s prospects for the year ahead. There are a variety of ways you can be involved in and connected with the association—everything from serving on a committee to making a contribution to the Forest Express Political Action Committee—that will strengthen our voice and impact and increase our connections.

Please contact the AFA office or look online at www.arkforests.org for opportunities to get connected and take part in AFA’s vision to be the respected leader and credible information source for all issues related to forestry.

Ray DillonAFA PresidentCEO, Deltic Timber Corp.

AFA Connects Community

Through all of its efforts and activities, AFA strives to be

THE organization that connects all segments of the forestry community. The 2013 membership survey indicated that advocacy, communication and networking continue to be the most valuable benefits of belonging to AFA. In 2014, we hope that each of you will find ways to connect through the association and strengthen our voice. Following is a review of a few of AFA’s activities in 2013.

AFA worked on a rural volunteer fire department dues issue to clarify with several Hot Spring County departments that fire dues may only be applied to rural residences and businesses with an occupiable structure under Arkansas Code Ann. 14-20-108. The departments were charging timberland owners on a per-parcel basis and placing those dues on property tax bills.

AFA reached out to the state’s Congressional delegation and participated in industry coalitions that are involved in important issues. Activity included urging support for a comprehensive Farm Bill, with focus on including the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act and other forestry provisions; keeping timber tax provisions in the current tax code; urging the Environmental Protection Agency to work closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the development of the agency’s Tailoring Rule amendments; and requesting members of Congress to move forward on legislation to restore and maintain

federal forest health.AFA worked hard for members during the 2013 Arkansas Legislative Session. AFA supported bills that: provide a complete sales tax exemption on the purchase of timber harvesting equipment (Act 1402); provide additional resources for the Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC) to deliver critical fire-fighting response (Act 1391); include forest nursery operations in a measure that provides a sales tax exemption on energy used by qualifying structures and equipment (Act 1441); take steps to curb the state’s feral hog population (Act 1104); continue to reduce the amount of sales tax manufacturers pay on the purchase of electricity and natural gas (Act 1411); and provide a refund of sales and use taxes for expenditures on repair and replacement parts for certain machinery used in manufacturing (Act 1404).

Also during the 89th General Assembly, AFA held events to help members build relationships with legislators and legislative staff. AFA partnered with the Arkansas Timber Producers Association and Arkansas Forest and Paper Council to host an orientation breakfast for new House members. That event was the first opportunity to distribute the “must-have” 2013-2014 legislative maps, coordinated by AFA. On March 4 and 18, AFA and timber and forest product industry sponsors hosted legislative receptions at the AFA office.

AFA has worked for the past two years on behalf of timberland owners who apply pesticides as part of

Max BraswellAFA ExecutiveVice President

their management practices to craft changes to Arkansas Regulation 6 that now allow for a Permit-By-Rule. This greatly simplifies the process of complying with the Pesticide General Permit.

Sen. John Boozman spent a day with representatives of the forestry community touring the Churchill Family Tree Farm near Dover. AFA was pleased to participate in the tour, which allowed participants to discuss a variety of issues with the Senator, including tax policy, forest health and other regulatory issues.

To bring the value of AFA membership to all parts of the state, AFA held regional meetings and Tree Farm tours. In April, AFA hosted a meeting and tour of the Bobby and Kathy Johnson Tree Farm in Cherry Valley. In October, more than 30 AFA members and guests toured the W.J. Thomasson Tree Farm near Pansy.

The AFA Witness Reward Program Committee and AFA Forest Protection Committee revitalized the Witness Reward Program to help bring about the arrest and conviction of a person or persons involved with crimes such as forest arson, timber theft, illegal dumping, theft or vandalism of forestry equipment, or theft or vandalism of hunting club equipment or buildings. Signs and stickers are available to members to post on timberland or place on equipment. AFA is also working with the Arkansas Forestry Commission Enforcement Division to acquire needed surveillance cameras.

THE 68th AFA Annual Meeting, held October 1-3, at the Embassy

Suites in Little Rock, provided the 230+ attendees with unique opportunities to network and learn about emerging topics related to forest Technology, Health and Economy (THE). Featured speakers included Plum Creek CEO Rick Holley and forest certification expert Kathryn Fernholz, with Dovetail Partners.

In addition to educational sessions that provided six continuing forestry education hours, the meeting featured golf and sporting clays, a Women in Forestry networking lunch, opening reception in the exhibit area, silent auction, fish fry, inaugural presentation of the AFA Education Foundation forestry scholarship and an awards breakfast.

Following are the 2013 award recipients:

Logger of the YearJames WilsonRiver Ridge Equipment, Rison

Public OutreachThe AFA/AFA Education Foundation maintains a website and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Flickr, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts to enhance social media/public outreach efforts.

• 50,000 monthly average impressions generated by @arkforests and its 1,657 Twitter followers• 7,000+ social media impressions generated by the Teacher Conservation Tour social media communications plan

Landowner EducationThe AFA Education Foundation coordinates and sponsors landowner education workshops throughout the state to help landowners learn how to better manage their resources and attends landowner conferences as an exhibitor.

• 10 workshops and conferences• 2,240 landowner contacts

Members + Resources

Communicator of the YearCaroll GuffeyUA Cooperative Extension Service, Sheridan

Outstanding Tree FarmersAllen and Ginny NipperAddis, La.

Outstanding Log A Load For Kids VolunteersCharles LedbetterBrenda LeeAntoine Hardwoods, Antoine

Outstanding PLT EducatorShelley FlanaryCossatot River State Park, Cove

Legislators of the YearSen. Bill Sample, Hot SpringsRep. Jeff Wardlaw, Warren

View the speakers’ presentations online at slideshare.net/arkforests.

Director of Forestry Education Rob Beadel (left) sells a chance on a hunting rifle at the annual meeting fish fry.

Pictures from the meeting are available at flickr.com/photos/arkforests.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the meeting’s success—37 sponsors, 21 exhibitors, Program

Committee, attendees, speakers, staff, award recipients and others.

The 69th AFA Annual Meeting is set for September 23-25 at the Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa in Hot Springs.

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Educators + Students + EnvironmentTeacher Conservation TourThe AFA Education Foundation (AFAEF) hosted 17 traditional and nontraditional educators from across the state at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) for the Teacher Conservation Tour, June 17-21.

In addition to classroom presentations on forest economics, forest soils and geology, the Arkansas Forestry Commission, UAM forestry program, Arkansas forest history and forest management, the group spent five days in the field exploring forestlands, forest product manufacturing facilities, and nursery and logging operations. Participants were also certified in Project Learning Tree, an environmental education curriculum.

“This is one of the best professional development workshops I have ever attended and I have attended a lot,” wrote one participant in the workshop evaluation.

In five days, TCT provides 30 hours of professional development—half of what educators need each year—including six in technology and two in Arkansas history.

“Our goal is to show classroom teachers and nontraditional educators the positive environmental and economic benefits of the state’s forestry community,” said Rob Beadel, AFAEF Director of Forestry Education. “Participants

take the resources and experiences gained during the tour back to their schools and community groups and share the good news about forestry.”

“All of the activities and tours we did were very interesting,” wrote another participant. “I enjoyed learning about all of the different aspects of forestry and how it relates to our lives. It was great to learn to teach in my classroom, but also personally to learn about such an important industry.”

The 2014 TCT will be June 23-27 in Russellville. Contact Rob for more information at (501) 374-2441 or [email protected].

PLT and Evironmental EducationProject Learning Tree (PLT) is a K-12 environmental education program that teaches children how to make sound environmental decisions based on facts. AFAEF sponsors workshops throughout the state so educators can implement PLT in their classrooms.

• 1,162 educators trained at 59 workshops

• 15 school programs reached 832 students and teachers

Little Rock School District schools attended Student Day at Riverfest and learned about forestry.

Northwest Arkansas schools attended a Forest Awareness Day at Lake Wedington to learn about the environment.

Seventeen educators from around the state attended the Teacher Conservation Tour in June.

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Committees + Programs

Arson, timber theft, illegal dumping, and logging equipment

theft and vandalism are serious threats to the state’s economic and environmental health. These crimes generate annual losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars to landowners and the timber industry. AFA is committed to reducing the number of cases through its Witness Reward Program, which provides rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons willfully involved in these crimes on AFA members’ property.

“Our goal is twofold,” said AFA Executive Vice President Max Braswell. “We want to protect our members’ property as well as provide law enforcement officials with an effective tool for getting

information that will help them solve cases.”

In addition to traditional local and state law enforcement personnel, state law gives the Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC) the authority to appoint employees as certified state law enforcement officers to investigate dumping, wildfires, timber theft, and logging equipment theft and vandalism. Each AFC district office has rangers and foresters who handle misdemeanor dumping and fire cases, and there are three full-time criminal investigators who investigate misdemeanor and felony cases statewide.

According to AFC, investigators and law enforcement officials closed the following number of

cases in 2011 and 2012, combined: 169 timber theft cases; 11 equipment theft cases; 121 illegal dumping cases; and 306 arson and debris burning cases. In the same time period, landowners received $700,000 in restitution related to timber theft. In partnership with several of its corporate members, AFA recently provided three

Each year, the Arkansas Tree Farm committee inspects a required number of properties to evaluate

their management plans according to the Tree Farm Standards of Certification. In 2013, volunteer inspectors visited 215 Tree Farms and signed up 59 new woodlands into the program, administered in Arkansas by the Arkansas Forestry Association. There are 1,835 certified Tree Farmers in Arkansas, representing 957,324 acres of certified woodlands.

On December 13, this group recognized volunteer inspectors and partnering organizations for their work.

Outstanding District Award – District 4Columbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Miller, Nevada, Ouachita and Union Counties

State Inspector of the Year Award – Kenny ColeyArkansas Forestry Commission

District Chair Award – Josh SmithArkansas Forestry Commission

Corporate/Agency Award – Arkansas Forestry Commission

Consultant Award – Kingwood Forestry Service

Bronze Hard Hat Award(Conducted at least 25 new inspections)

John Cook, Arkansas Forestry CommissionWade Hargrave, Hargrave Forestry Management ServiceJosh Smith, Arkansas Forestry Commission

The American Tree Farm System (ATFS) is a national network of 82,000 family forest owners sustainably managing 24 million acres of forestland. For more than 70 years, ATFS has enhanced the quality of America’s woodlands by giving forest owners tools to keep their forests healthy and productive.

upto

For information leading to the

ARREST AND CONVICTIONof anyone for the following forest-related crimes:

TIMBER THEFT, FOREST ARSON, FORESTRY EQUIPMENT THEFT OR

VANDALISM, AND ILLEGAL DUMPING

Call 501-332-2000Rewards are provided by theArkansas Forestry Association and are subject to conditions set by AFA.

REWARD $5,000

surveillance cameras to AFC’s law enforcement divisions for use in investigations.

If you have information regarding activities of this kind, call the AFC 24-hour reporting line at (501) 332-2000. For more information about AFC law enforcement, look online at forestry.arkansas.gov, under “Services.”

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Volunteers + Community

Log A Load For Kids of Arkansas, a group of volunteers from the

timber and logging industry, recently donated $500,000 to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The funds, raised through events held in communities throughout the state, will benefit the hospital’s new Emergency Department. Log A Load, which is a Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals program, is sponsored by the Arkansas Forestry Association in cooperation with the Arkansas Timber Producers Association. The Log A Load program began in Arkansas in 1993, and since that time, has raised more than $6.85 million for ACH. “Log A Load is truly a grassroots organization, drawing from all segments of the logging and forestry

community and beyond,” said Marcy Doderer, FACHE, president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s Hospital. “Log A Load For Kids volunteers and donors continue to give generously and raise record amounts of money for ACH each year. We are so incredibly grateful.” In 2008, the group pledged to support the new Emergency Department (ED) in the South Wing, which opened in 2012. The ED, which recorded 55,572 patient visits last year, is the only one in the state that provides comprehensive care for the sickest and most injured pediatric patients. The new ED was named

in honor of Log A Load’s support. “Children from every community in Arkansas visit ACH and many of them come through

the Emergency Department,” said Mike Pennington, a longtime Log A Load volunteer from Monticello. “We all know patients and families who have been touched by this wonderful healthcare system. We want to do our part to help the thousands of children Arkansas Children’s Hospital sees each year.” Log A Load has supported many projects at ACH, including endowments funding Angel One Transport and cardiovascular surgery.

There are six Log A Load chapters across Arkansas: Bradley County, Central Arkansas, Drew County, River Valley and South Central. The events include fish fry dinners, silent and live auctions, and golf tournaments.

Following is the amount raised by each chapter in 2013:

Bradley County $ 60,273Central Arkansas $157,787Drew County $ 76,900River Valley $119,050South Central $ 81,126

This Log A Load gift is part of the ACH Century of Possibility Campaign, in which the hospital set a goal to raise $160 million to support pediatric care, research, education and prevention, and has already raised $145 million. It concludes December 31, 2014.

Arkansas Log A Load For Kids volunteers presented a check for $500,000 to Arkansas Children’s Hospital CEO Mary Doderer (center). In 2013, Log A Load For Kids celebrated its 20th anniversary in Arkansas and 25th anniversary, nationally.

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1213 W. 4th St.Little Rock, AR 72201www.arkforests.org501.374.2441

Non-Profit OrgU.S. Postage

PAID Little Rock, AR Permit # 2686

2013 Officers and Executive Commitee

President – Ray Dillon, Deltic Timber Corp.

Vice President – Rhonda Hunter, Weyerhaeuser

Secretary – Pete Prutzman, Kingwood Forestry Services

Treasurer – Ken Bragg, Resource Management Service

Executive CommitteeAubra Anthony, Anthony Forest Products Co.

Steve Anthony, Anthony Timberlands, Inc.Allen Bedell, Circle B Logging

David Cawein, Green Bay PackagingTom Crowder, Bragg Land Co.

Glenn Gray, Georgia-PacificRobert Gray, Potlatch Forest Holdings

Steve Hanley, Plum CreekAllen Morgan, Hunter-Wasson

Wayne Owen, Crop Production ServicesFrank Wilson, Wilson Bros. Lumber Co.

Established: 1947

Members: 1,175

Staff

Max Braswell, Executive Vice President [email protected]

Jennifer Lambert Johnson, Administrative Director [email protected]

Rob Beadel, Director of Forestry Education [email protected]

Anna Swaim, Communications Director [email protected]

STAY CONNECTED