Email from Alabama Forestry Association

AFA NEWSROOM V17N44, November 9, 2022

AFA Endorsed Candidate Katie Britt Elected Alabama's Next US Senator

U.S. Sen.-Elect Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) is the first woman elected to represent Alabama in the upper chamber of Congress.

In a dominant election night performance, Britt handily defeated Democratic Party nominee Will Boyd for the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa).

While unofficial election results are expected to be provided later Tuesday night, the Associated Press has called the race in favor of Britt.

On Jan. 3, Britt will be sworn in as Alabama’s junior senator and become one of the youngest members of the chamber.

AFA Health Care Plan Open Enrollment IS OPEN!

Thru 11/23/2022

Convenient Blue Cross Blue Shield Options To Fit Your Company's Needs

Click the link below to learn more about the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan benefits, options, & how to enroll.

More Information

Interested in Becoming A Registered Forester?

Did you know….

If you have taken the Registered Forester exam in a reciprocal state, you can be licensed in Alabama without taking the Alabama exam?
If you are a timber buyer and/or a realtor and give any type of timber management recommendations, by Alabama law you must be a Registered Forester?
You can take the Alabama Registered Forester exam without having attained your two years of work experience?
You can apply to become a Registered Forester without your two years of work experience and become a Candidate Forester while you wait?
If you have 15 years of work experience, you can take the oral exam instead of the written exam?
The oral exam is only one hour?
Employers are looking for Foresters who have taken and passed the Registered Forester exam?
Continuing educational opportunities exist for Registered Foresters?
Opportunities are available to associate with other foresters in the Registered Forester community?
Being a Registered Forester highlights your forestry education, professional experience, and commitment to continuous learning?

For more information, contact Lea Anna Meadows, executive director of the Alabama Board of Registration for Foresters, at: LeaAnna.Meadows@asbrf.alabama.gov or 334-240-9301.

AFA Connect - Prescribed Fire

November 17th

Join AFA Connect, Thursday, November 17, 2022, at 11:00 am CST as Leigh Peters, Alabama Forestry Foundation, shares information on using prescribed fire. Burning is a right of landowners here in Alabama, but there are a lot of details that need to be addressed before, during, and after you strike the match. In this presentation we’ll learn more about the how’s and why’s of using prescribed fire in the woods and what landowners can do to see the outcomes they desire. Please share with others who might be interested. One hour continuing education credit will be available.

Click to Register

Red Hills Salamander Habitat and Access to Outdoor Recreation to Expand in South Alabama

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently awarded the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division (WFF) of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) a nearly $2.57 million land conservation grant authorized under Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act to apply toward the purchase of 1,728 acres of critical Red Hills salamander (RHS) habitat in Monroe County, Alabama. The Forever Wild Land Trust voted to provide the remainder of the funding for the acquisition at its November 3, 2022, meeting.

The land acquisition – known as the Red Hills Flat Creek Phase V tract – will be added to the existing 11,063-acre Red Hills Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in an effort to increase the amount of protected RHS habitat as well as increase access to outdoor recreation opportunities, including hunting, wildlife watching and birding.

ForestPAC Sporting Clays Fundraiser - Dec 6, 2022

Mark your calendars for our ForestPAC Sporting Clays Fundraiser at Selwood Farm on December 6! Help us keep and get quality candidates elected! Register now!

Housing Outlook: Is This a Recession … or Not?

After a two-year period of frenetic activity spurred by low mortgage rates and rising home prices, the housing industry has its finger on the reset button. “I think we can confidently say we're now in a housing recession,” says Robert Dietz, chief economist and SVP for Economics and Housing Policy for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

As one indicator, Dietz points to the nine-month decline in single-family builder confidence tracked by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which asks respondents to rate market conditions for the sale of new homes. In September, the HMI stood at 46, after peaking at 90 in late 2020, and it was 83 in January of this year—for the HMI, anything below 50 indicates poor market conditions.

2023 Public Policy Series - The State Of Alabama Governance

February 26-28, 2023

Registration and Room Block are open NOW!

Georgia Effort Seeks To Boost Gopher Frogs

Gopher frogs have been slowly disappearing from Georgia’s southern pinelands for decades. Now, biologists are working to replenish the species. State biologists have been collecting egg masses from the few remaining healthy populations to raise them in captivity. Egg masses have been distributed to head-starting facilities at the University of Georgia, The Amphibian Foundation, Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery and most recently, the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

We receive complaints from loggers, truckers, and mills on an almost daily basis.

These tend to fall into one of three broad categories:

Truckers who have received an “over-gross” ticket in which the state weight crew figure is higher than the mill scale, resulting in a ticket (which subsequently must be resolved in court);
Truckers who were “under gross” but received a ticket for “over axle” or “over tandem.”
Dangerous set-ups, long lines, and high frequency of state weight crew “visits”at specific locations.

UBC and Wet’suwet’en First Nation Collaborate To Create New Packaging Foam From Wood Waste

A new biodegradable packing foam developed at UBC not only potentially addresses the world’s plastic pollution crisis but also serves as an equal and true partnership example of working with First Nations.

The team came together to turn a timely research idea into reality while helping solve a critical community need at the same time: UBC researchers Dr. Feng Jiang and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yeling Zhu, Reg Ogen and Joe Wong, president and CEO and vice president respectively of Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s Yinka Dene Economic Development Limited Partnership, and the office of the Chief Forester in the Ministry of Forests.

AFA Young Leaders Returns in 2023

Applications are being accepted for the upcoming 2023 Alabama Forestry Association Young Leaders program. The professional development and networking program targets young professionals involved in Alabama’s forest community (landowners, loggers, foresters, wildlife biologists, and other natural resource professionals). In order to increase the influence of forestry throughout Alabama, the program strives to develop a community of forestry leaders. Program fees include five sessions in 2023 (including the AFA Annual Meeting) covering topics such as communications, education, outreach, law, forest products manufacturing, and more. The 2023 cohort will be the seventh AFA Young Leaders group.

Click below to register (Program fees include materials/resources, accommodations, and most meals during the sessions)

Consumption Of Primary Processed Wood Products Predicted To Grow 37 Percent By 2050

Overall consumption of primary processed wood products is expected to grow 37 percent by 2050 in a business-as-usual scenario, a report published today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said.

Consumption of primary processed wood products – sawnwood, veneer/plywood, particle/fibreboard and wood pulp – is predicted to total 3.1 billion cubic metres of roundwood equivalents – a measure of logs used in the making of wood-based products – by 2050, according to The global forest sector outlook 2050: Assessing future demand and sources of timber for a sustainable economy.