Registration due by Sept 28 ~ 2009 State of Maryland Forestry Summit.

The Center for Agro-Ecology, along with the Maryland Forests Association and other members of Maryland's forestry and environmental communities will be hosting the 2009 State of Maryland Forestry Summit. The link will take you to a pdf of registration brochure and Summit agenda.

The Summit is scheduled for Monday, October 5, 2009
at the Maritime Institute for Technology in Linthicum, MD.

Registrations will be accepted through September 28, 2009.

Background: Leading up to The Summit, this spring 155 leaders and stakeholders were invited to answer a survey that was used to spark the discussion in the 5 listening sessions that were then held across the State to discuss how can we best focus limited resources on the most important issues facing forestry and what recommendations should be made to refine existing State policy and to position Maryland for new non-traditional markets for environmental services.

Throughout the day, participants will have ample time to visit with exhibitors all of whom will have displays that pertain to the issues discussed at the Summit.

Master Logger Continuing Education Credits Available

Cost for the day long program including lunch is $25 per person. To register, please complete the registration page and return. No refunds will be issued. For additional information, visit the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology’s website: www.agroecol.umd.edu or call Nancy Nunn at (410) 827-8056, ext. 128.

Sponsoring Organizations:
The Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc., The Biophilia Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Program, Chesapeake Bay Trust, The Conservation Fund, Department of Natural Re-sources Forest Service, Forest Industry, Maryland Forest Association, The Nature Conser-vancy, The Pinchot Institute, Town Creek Foundation, University of Maryland Extension Special Thanks to our financial sponsors: The Biophilia Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Maryland Agriculture Council and Town Creek Foundation.

Handheld GPS & Terrain Navigator Computer Workshops Offered

Handheld GPS receivers are a great resource for landowners, natural resource professionals, and other outdoor recreationalists. Current GPS units are accurate (+/- 15 feet) and can be used for marking hunting locations, structures, streams, your vehicle location, as well as for fun activities such as geocaching. Professional natural resource managers can save valuable field time by using GPS with a computer to locate inventory plots, access roads, outline timber sale and property boundaries, direct customers to sale locations, and much more.

The University of Maryland Cooperative Extension is again offering a series of fall workshops for Beginner GPS Training to teach those interested in learning how to use GPS handheld receivers with a computer, with specific applications to forestry and logging uses. The workshop provides a Garmin GPS MAP76CSx unit for each participant to use as well as a laptop computer. The daylong workshop uses both classroom and field instruction. The skills learned can be applied to a GPS handheld you may have purchased. The workshop will provide the basics of using a GPS receiver, as well as: marking waypoints, creating routes, entering and finding coordinates, determining acreage of a site, incorporating coordinates into timber sale bids, locating roads, stream crossings, points of interest, downloading and uploading data to a computer (laptops provided), computer software options, and comparing different GPS handheld units.

A second one-day workshop is being offered on the use of Terrain Navigator (TN) software that provides digital USGS topographic maps that are stored on your computer. The software allows you to create GPS waypoints, routes and tracks and transfer them to a GPS unit or to download GPS information taken in the field and then create a individualized computer map of the area you are working. The most recent upgrade of TN is now fully integrated with Google Maps, which greatly enhances its utility. This is very useful for natural resource professionals and landowners as well. More information on Terrain Navigator can be found at: http://maptech.mytopo.com .

Workshops are offered at the Western Maryland and Wye Research & Education Centers. Workshops run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the cost is $55. GPS units and laptops are available for use. The training manual for both courses are available free online for your use at www.naturalresources.umd.edu . Workshops are being offered at the following locations:

Location: Western Maryland Research & Education Center
18330 Keedysville Road
Keedysville, MD 21756 (near Hagerstown, MD)

Contact Pam Thomas (pthomas@umd.edu)
301-432-2767 x315

• October 27 – Beginner GPS Training
• October 29 – Integrating Terrain Navigator and GPS: An Affordable, Easy-to-Use System

Location: Wye Research & Education Center
124 Wye Narrows Drive
Queenstown, MD 21658 (Maryland’s Eastern Shore)
Contact Carol Taylor (carolt@umd.edu)
410-827-8056

• November 3 – Beginner GPS Training
• November 5 – Integrating Terrain Navigator and GPS: An Affordable, Easy-to-Use System
• November 10 (tentative) – Beginner GPS Training
  (Being held at University of Maryland, College Park)

For more information about the GPS and Terrain Navigator training, please visit::

http://www.naturalresources.umd.edu/EducationalGPS.html

2009 National Forest Landowner Advocacy Day

October 20, 2009 Washington, DC

All Private Forest Landowners Welcome!

Join the Forest Landowners Association and your fellow private forest landowners in Washington, DC to lobby Congress on behalf of American private forestland.

Many issues such as Renewable Energy, Estate Tax and Environmental Regulation are being legislated by Congress this year! Now is a critical time for America’s private forest landowners to make their voices heard!

Cost: Free to FLA members and children ages 16 and under

$50 for non-members (includes one year membership to FLA)

Schedule: Tuesday, October 20

• 7:30 am - 9:00 am Breakfast and briefing session hosted by FLA.
  
• 9:30 am - 5:00 pm Lobbying on the hill. Meetings scheduled by FLA. Lunch hosted by FLA.
  
• 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Landowner debriefing session/discussion.
• 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Reception at the Capitol featuring VIP speakers.

What am I required to wear?

No dress code required. Dress casual. Dress formal. Whatever makes you most comfortable. The most important thing is to come and make your voice heard.

Do I need to be an expert on the issues?

No, you only need to care about the protection and enhancement of America’s private forestland. FLA will brief all participants on the important issues during breakfast. You will be grouped with members of your community and led by a group leader to visit members of Congress from your state and region.

Can I bring my children so they can see the political process first hand?

Absolutely! Your children are the next generation of American private forest landowners.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Brendan Davis at

(800) 325-2954 or bdavis@forestlandowners.com

download pdf about event here

Upcoming Webinar: Understanding Landowner Liability and Recreational Access

September 10, 2009—12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Registration Required

Many landowners are confused about their liability for hunters and other recreationalists that use their property. Concerned private landowners increasingly face questions such as:

• What are my rights, and how do I exercise them to control recreational use of my property?
• What is the extent of my liability to recreationalists, and how can I protect myself against liability suits?
• What are my options for posting my land and controlling trespass by recreationalists?
• How do these options affect my liability?
• How do I charge for recreational access and still provide liability protection?
• What do I do if someone takes timber from my property without permission?

The answers to these questions can be complicated. However, it is very helpful for landowners to understand the laws related to landowner liability and trespass, and the safeguards that minimize liability so you can make informed decisions regarding the use of your land by others for recreational activities.

This one hour webinar being offered free of charge at 12 noon on September 10 will explain the Maryland Annotated Code in a way that you can understand and apply it to common situations faced by landowner and recreationalists. The intention is to suggest easy and (usually) inexpensive methods by which landowners can protect themselves. The speaker for the webinar is Jonathan Kays, Natural Resources Specialist with the University of Maryland Extension. He is the author of recently revised publication entitled, Recreational Access and Landowner Liability, (Bulletin EB357). The 37-page publication will provide a valuable reference for those attending the webinar or for those that just want to read on their own. It is available free for download at http://extension.umd.edu/publications/PDFs/EB357.pdf.

There is no charge for participation, but registration is required. An Email communication with webinar details (website address) will only be sent to people who have registered. Connection details are sent about two days before the webinar. You can register up until about 2 hours before the conference begins. To register for the webinar, contact Pam Thomas at pthomas@umd.edu or 301-432-2767 x315.

ATA’s On-Line Q&A on HR 1799

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) have published an excellent defense of Rep. Mike Michaud’s HR 1799 in the form of a Question-and-Answer document, “Dispelling the Myths: the Truck Weight Debate.” This document, posted at <http://www.truckline.com/Lists/Newsroom/DispForm.aspx?ID=532>, responds directly to a “Fact Sheet” on the Michaud bill put out by the so-called safety advocacy organization, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, in April.

ATA skillfully defends the scientific record in support of the Michaud bill’s provisions, citing the American Transportation Research Institute’s report, Energy and Emissions Impact of Operating Higher Productivity Vehicles - Update: 2008, among other sources.

AgTEC has placed a link to “Dispelling the Myths” on our own FAQ <http://ag-haul.org/faq.html>.

Maryland Woodland Stewards Training

Since 1990, 389 people owning over 68,000 acres have been trained through this program. Maryland Woodland Stewards across the state have reached out to thousands of Marylanders with information and resources to encourage sound forest and wildlife stewardship.

This year's workshop will be held September 17-20 at Camp Pecometh, north of Centreville on the Eastern Shore. The Maryland Woodland Stewards Program is looking for people who are, or have the potential to be, informal educators in their communities. If you have the desire to improve your woodland and wildlife habitat, to motivate others to manage their woodland, and can attend the three-day September seminar, you can be part of this valuable statewide network of Maryland Woodland Stewards. Nominate yourself or someone you know to participate in this year's workshop.

For more information, contact Nevin Dawson at ndawson@umd.edu or (410) 827-8056, ext. 125 and visit our Maryland Woodland Stewards page today at http://www.naturalresources.umd.edu/EducationalMWS.html

Maryland Forestry Summit

Upcoming Events
Maryland Forestry Summit ~ Monday, October 5th

This past spring, 155 leaders and stakeholders were invited to answer the survey that was used to spark the discussion in the 5 listening sessions held across the State in May and June.

For results from these listening sessions, click here

How can we best focus limited resources on the most important issues facing forestry and what recommendations should be made to refine existing State policy and to position Maryland for new non-traditional markets for environmental services?

The next step in this effort will be a summit in October. Details will be posted to the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology as they are confirmed.

Pre-registration will be required. Exhibitor opportunities are available.

Contact Nancy Nunn for details at nnunn@umd.edu

Mark your calendars now:

Maryland Forestry Summit ~ Monday, October 5, 2009

The Conference Center at The Maritime Institute
692 Maritime Blvd.
Linthicum Heights, MD 21090-1952

Sponsoring Organizations:
The Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, The Biophilia Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Program, Chesapeake Bay Trust, The Conservation Fund, Department of Natural Resources Forest Service, Forest Industry, Maryland Forest Association, The Nature Conservancy, The Pinchot Institute, Town Creek Foundation

Obama Administration Announces Direction for Forest Management

from AF&PA

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack gave his first major speech on forests on August 14, laying out the direction that the administration will take on managing the nation’s public and private forests. Vilsack announced that the administration will defend the 2001 roadless rule by appealing an injunction issued earlier this summer (see related article) and, if roadless area protection on national forests cannot be assured through the courts, then the administration will initiate a new rulemaking to accomplish this goal. He further announced that the administration will not appeal a June federal court ruling that threw out the Bush administration’s 2005 rules that govern management planning for the national forests and will instead develop new regulations. AF&PA had urged the Administration to appeal the June court decision.

In the speech, Vilsack noted the challenging forest health crisis and the critical role that forests play in providing clean water, indicating that “restoration means managing forest lands first and foremost to protect our water resources.” He also stressed the need for attention beyond the federal lands, suggesting that the millions of acres of private forests require protection in order to address the challenge of keeping forests intact. For more information, contact Nadine Block at 202.463.2753 or nadine_block@afandpa.org.