AFA NEWSROOM V17N30, July 28, 2022 |
AFA Annual Meeting - September 11-13 Early Bird Registration Discount Ends 8/12 |
Registration for the 2022 AFA Annual Meeting is in full swing! OUR ROOM BLOCK IS ALMOST FULL! Click the link below to learn more about our speakers, agenda, sponsors and hotel information. We look forward to seeing you in September! |
Join us in thanking our amazing sponsors. Interested in being a sponsor? It's not too late, check out our 2022 AFA Annual Meeting website for more information! |
Creative Markets & Opportunities For Southern Timberland Owners |
As we noted in a 2021 post on this topic, population growth in the US South has exploded over the last few decades and the trend continues to impact timberland owners throughout the region. The South’s population has grown by 11% since 2010 and the region is now home to nearly 127 million inhabitants – 38% of total US population, and more than double the population of the Northeast.
The southward exodus isn’t likely to slow anytime soon, as one of the cascading impacts from the Covid pandemic has been more Americans fleeing high-population urban centers for more sparsely populated (and affordable) options. A 2022 report by United Van Lines notes that five of the top 10 relocation destinations in 2021 were Southern states. |
Oh, What A Night! Auburn/Opelika Area- You Really Turned Out |
With over 173 people registered, AFA's Auburn/Opelika Area Regional Reception was one for the record books. Thank you to everyone who braved the stormy weather to join us.
|
Federal Agencies Lay The Groundwork To Ignore The Supreme Court |
In Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Supreme Court held that land designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) must be habitable for the species the Service seeks to protect. But the Service recently jettisoned the rule defining “habitat” that it adopted to comply with Weyerhaeuser. In doing so, it undermined the Supreme Court’s holding in Weyerhaeuser, ignored the Constitution’s separation of powers, and reinstalled a regime of capricious habitat designations. |
Public Policy Series - Forest Economics |
Last week we hosted our Forest Economics Seminar at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort at Grand National. We learned about everything from the supply chain to the state of Alabama’s economy and where it’s heading. Our speakers were informative and energetic discussing their topics. We appreciate Spire and Southeastern Land Group for being our meal sponsors. We hope our members and public officials enjoyed it! Make plans to join us for the next Public Policy Seminar held in conjunction with the 2022 AFA Annual Meeting in September |
European Lawmakers Battle Over Whether To Limit Wood For Energy |
A European Parliament effort to roll back policies and subsidies that encourage burning wood pellets for energy has suffered a potential setback.
The parliament's business committee, known as ITRE, voted last week to uphold the current policies that treat wood pellets as a carbon-neutral alternative to coal. That countered a vote in May by the parliament's environment committee (ENVI) that called for stricter limits on using "primary biomass" — or trees — for energy. |
Join Us For The August Session of AFA Connect - August 18, 2022 |
Feral Swine Ecological Impacts and Management Strategies with Bence Carter, Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Feral swine damage to agriculture is fairly well documented and understood, while the extent of impacts to native ecosystems is not. This presentation will highlight impacts to our natural resources and discuss the “Do’s and Dont's” that are frequently overlooked in feral swine management. |
Inflation Accelerates Anti-paper Greenwashing As Companies Look To Cut Costs |
For years, major corporations, service providers and government agencies have surrendered to the temptation to cloak their cost saving efforts in a veneer of environmental virtue by claiming – without evidence – that going paperless is better for the environment. Two Sides North America (TSNA), the only industry organization to directly challenge this greenwashing, has been highly effective in stemming the tide of misleading declarations, persuading 170 major organizations to remove anti-paper environmental claims. |
First Annual Workforce Development Forum - September 10, 2022 |
Join our ForestryWorks partners for the first annual Workforce Development Forum down in Orange Beach, AL in conjunction with the AFA Annual Meeting! Topics include: apprenticeship programs, non-traditional workforce solutions, career promotion opportunities, customized training tools and much more! Have questions -contact Stephanie Fuller at sfuller@alaforestry.org |
Manufacturing Growth In Forest Industry Slows in Early Summer |
US forest industry performance in May and June was recently reported by both the US government and the Institute for Supply Management.
After annual revisions, total industrial production (IP) moved up less than 0.1% in May (+4.8% YoY); output has increased in every month of the year so far, with an average monthly gain of nearly 0.6%.
Less encouragingly, manufacturing output (which accounts for 78% of total IP) slipped by -0.5% in May after three months during which growth averaged +0.9%. Wood products (‑3.1%) led the May drop among durable industries, while paper (‑0.2%) was among nondurables experiencing losses less than 1%. |
Initial PLM Class In Evergreen - August 24th, 2022 |
UGA: Woody Biomass In Power Plants Could Reduce Carbon Footprint |
According to a new study by researchers in the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, replacing coal in Georgia’s power plants with woody biomass could not only meet Georgia’s power needs, but reduce carbon emissions.
The research calculated both economic and environmental factors to provide a comprehensive picture of the impact of replacing coal with timber for a 50-year period.
As one of the largest consumers of coal in the Southeast, Georgia burns over 7 million tons each year. This accounts for nearly two-thirds of all carbon emissions from Georgia’s power sector. Replacing coal with another fuel source could reduce those emissions by 43%, according to Farhad Hossain Masum, a Ph.D. graduate and first author of the study. |
11th Annual Sunburn Classic Golf Tournament -September 12 |
Apocalypse Not: What West Virginia v. EPA Really Means |
On July 5, Axios not-so-subtly warned us that “the Supreme Court’s next target is the executive branch.” The Guardian’s headline was even more stark: “The U.S. Supreme Court has declared war on the Earth’s future.”
With headlines like these, you might think we’re experiencing the end times. Or, as Imagine Dragons put it in their hit Radioactive: “I’m waking up to ash and dust… This is it, the apocalypse. Whoa.” Mad Max is knocking at the door, and the Supreme Court just let him in. Whoa indeed.
These headlines were a reaction to the Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA, in which West Virginia and others sued over the EPA’s so-called Clean Coal Plan. The EPA described its plan euphemistically in terms of “‘generation shifting from higher-emitting to lower-emitting’ producers of electricity.” In other words, the EPA’s plan was to tighten the screws on coal plants so they would all go out of business, enabling us to live in an alternative-energy utopia. But this utopia would have costs. |
Join us for Woods to Goods Week this year Oct. 16 – 22! We want to celebrate how its more than industry for all the forestry professionals out there! |
Online CE Available For PLM & CFE |
Foresters and loggers, a reminder that AFA offers online continuing education. Now is a great time to go ahead and handle continuing education hours.
Click below for a list of classes. |
| Click sponsor links below |
Thank you to our sponsors |
|
