The Society of American Foresters started in California in 1916. We are celebrating our centennial year, and have chosen the southern Sierra Nevada as the location for our meeting. The Thursday meeting will take place at the Chukchansi Resort in Coarsegold, California.
This location is convenient to both Southern California and Northern California members of the forestry community. The Friday session will feature an exciting panel discussion entitled, “Forests, People and Ecosystems-in California-Predictions Regarding the Next Century.” We have many of the leaders in forestry in the state confirmed. We’ll also celebrate the Centennial of SAF in California with a banquet you won’t want to miss, with an special dinner presentation entitled, “An Evening with Gifford Pinchot.”
Friday’s field trip will be to various field locations in the nearby Bass Lake area. This region is particularly hard hit by massive drought-induced mortality. We’ll see the evidence of the die-off, and see examples of how local managers are moving forward with restoration efforts. This area is the focal point for Governor Brown’s executive order and action plan on forest health, and we’ll discuss progress on this multi-stakeholder effort.
Yosemite National Park in Yosemite Valley on HY 41. Shows some dead clumps. Photo By Thomas W. Catchpole
Draft Agenda:
Thursday August 25 – Chukchansi Resort
9:00 to 12:00 AM – NorCal and SoCal Executive Committee Meeting
1:30 to 2:30 PM – Registration
2:30 to 5:00PM – Centennial Panel-Forests, People and Ecosystems-in California-Predictions Regarding the Next Century
5:00 to 6:00 PM – Silent Auction and Social Hour
6:00 to 6:45 PM – Acknowledging California SAF Centennial
7:00 to 8:30PM – Dinner and Dinner Program “An Evening with Gifford Pinchot” – Gary Hines
Friday August 26th – Load buses at Chukchansi Resort
7:30 to 8:00 AM-Continental Breakfast
8:00 to 8:15AM-Load Buses
8:00 AM to 2:45 PM – Field Trip – Bass Lake Region – Topics include:
Predictive models for forecasting tree mortality
Scope and Scale of Southern Sierra Tree Mortality
Treatment priorities and implementation
Briefing on Governor’s Executive Order and action plan
Forest Management tools to reduce mortality
Utilization challenges
2:45-3:00 PM Load Buses for Return Trip
3:00 to 4:00 PM- Travel to Chukchansi Resort
Yosemite National Park just before the tunnel to Yosemite Valley on HY 41Yosemite National Park in Yosemite Valley on HY 41. Shows some dead clumps.Shaver Lake, CA on Southern California Edison forest land.Below Big Creek Power house in Big Creek, CA near Shaver Lake, CA. Mostly on USFS land.Below Big Creek Power house in Big Creek, CA near Shaver Lake, CA. Mostly on USFS land.Looking into Blue Canyon from Dinkey Shaver Road near Shaver Lake, CA there are dead trees as far as you can see in the canyon. On USFS land mostly.Looking into Blue Canyon from Dinkey Shaver Road near Shaver Lake, CA there are dead trees as far as you can see in the canyon. On USFS land mostly.Looking from near Alder Springs towards Pine Ridge below Shaver Lake CA on USFS and Private lands.Looking from near Alder Springs towards Pine Ridge below Shaver Lake CA on USFS and Private lands.
The celebration of 100 years of the California Society of American Foresters is well underway. Northern and Southern California SAF started as one state society in 1916. Earlier this year a vote was taken and the two State societies are taking steps to merge back together.
Celebration of the Centennial started with development of a special logo (It is available for use by chapters). At the winter meeting held in Santa Rosa, CA, January 2016, Char Miller SAF member and Professor of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College and author of several books such as The Greatest Good; 100 Years of Forestry in America (1999, second edition 2004), and America’s Great National Forests, Wilderness and Grasslands (March 2016) spoke about our history as we reflected on the future of forestry in California.
In order to promote our Centennial we have acquired two Forester Fund grants for a total of $3,000 and have plans to submit for special Forester Fund grants in the June cycle that allow for grants of up-to $5,000 each. We also started a fund raising campaign, you may have received an email request. Details are at http://conta.cc/1SIsUkS or you can mail a check to the business office (NorCal SAF, P.O. Box 1034, Murphys, CA 95247).
In addition to our appreciation for your donation, each donor will be recognized as:
$100 or greater – Platinum donor
$75 – Gold donor
$50 – Silver donor
$25 – Bronze donor
Fund raising will support capturing insights (video and audio) from SAF Golden Members about SAF’s role in California forestry as well as their own specific experiences. The plan is to produce 12 videos over the course of the next year, and use these to reach out to the public, media, policy makers, youth and our membership with fascinating history about the rich contribution of SAF in California over the past century. The Forest History Society has offered to archive the oral histories at their headquarters. Volunteer support is needed for this project. Wendy Snyder is the contact.
The summer meeting will continue to focus on our Centennial celebration with special commemorative topics and items.
Chapters are encouraged to utilize the Centennial theme at local events. We have established a Facebook page, California Society of American Foresters, and welcome photos or posts of your activities. Post as a guest or send your posts to Jane LaBoa, Julie Lydick, Carlin Starrs or Chris Bielecki.
The Centennial committee includes: Julie Lydick, Bill Snyder, Wendy Snyder, Rick Standiford, J. Lopez, John Todd, Tamara Hanna, Brian Barrette, Doug Wickizer and Jane LaBoa. We are coordinating centennial activities through monthly conference calls.
Shasta – September 28 to October 1, Mountain Meadows Camp in Shingletown
Sequoia – October 12 to 15, Camp Sequoia Lake
El Dorado – October 26 to 29, Leoni Meadows Camp, Grizzly Flats
San Bernardino – November 9 to 12, Green Valley Lake Christian Camp, Green Valley Lake
Santa Cruz – November 16 to 19, Redwood Christian Park, Boulder Creek
New and Improved for 2016:
We have completely overhauled the website (http://forestrychallenge.org), and more content will be added in the coming weeks. If your computer has stored the old website, you may need to “refresh” in order to view the new site (and you will know the difference). We are currently working on a few glitches, so please be patient. If you are not seeing information you need now, let me know.
The Sequoia Forestry Challenge has moved to a new location, Camp Sequoia Lake, east of Fresno and right off Highway 180. The forested environment at Camp will allow us to stay on site, eliminating the need for busing. In fact, I think buses will be used at only the Shasta event this year, and we won’t be going far.
2015 Annual Report:
The 2015 Annual Report is hot off the press, and we’re excited about how nice it turned out. To view it in “Flipbook” format, click here http://anyflip.com/ifjs/ppdd/.
Volunteers Needed for all Events:
If you like to plan ahead, please visit the website and follow the link to the volunteer sign up form at the bottom of the home page. Keep in mind that your housing and food are covered, and you can be reimbursed for mileage at the volunteer rate of 14 cents per mile. You are welcome to attend any event(s) that is best for your location, schedule, and interest. If you’re not sure what your plans are for the fall, don’t worry. I’ll be sending out a reminder about a month prior to each event.
School Pre-Registration Going on Now:
Teachers are eligible to receive a 50% reduction off their school’s registration fees if they pre-register by May 31. If you know any teachers in your area who might be interested in participating, please forward this message to them, or give me their name and I’ll be happy to contact them.
Since the last report the High Sierra Chapter has been busy with meetings and Scholarship fundraisers.
“Outstanding Chapter of the Year for 2015” was awarded to the local High Sierra Chapter SAF. Shown left to right: National SAF President and Chairman, Clark W. Seely; High Sierra Chapter members – John Mount, SCE retired; Ryan Stewart, Communication Chair; Thomas Catchpole, Education Chair; Josh Soderlund RCC instructor; Diane Savin-Dukleth, Secretary / Treasurer; Don Dukleth, 2015 District 3 Field Forester of the Year Award winner; with Julie Lydick NorCal SAF Awards Chair speaking. (Catchpole Photo)
January 29-30, 2016: NORCAL / SOCAL Winter Meeting at Santa Rosa, CA. There was no chapter meeting in January, several members attended the Winter Meeting.
At the Awards Luncheon this year’s “Outstanding Chapter of the Year for 2015” returned to the local High Sierra Chapter SAF. “We congratulate the High Sierra Chapter for their continued outstanding work. The chapter has fundraisers for a scholarship fund for Reedley College forestry students along with educational dinner meetings and field trips for its members and friends. They work with forest and conservation educational events with youth, teachers and the public across the state, including helping to put on the Hazardous Fuels Reduction Demonstrations with SCE at Shaver Lake in October,” said Julie Lydick NorCal SAF Awards Chair. The large redwood plaque will be enjoyed by High Sierra Chapter members during the year.
High Sierra member, Donald Dukleth received the 2015 District 3 Field Forester of the Year Award at the 2015 national convention.
February 24, 2016 Chapter Meeting. The High Sierra Chapter held a dinner meeting at Bobby Salazar’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in NW Fresno on Wednesday, February 24.
The after dinner speaker was Kirby Molen, a forester with the Sierra Forest Products sawmill at Terra Bella, CA. Due to the extensive drought related tree mortality and tree mortality from several wildfires in the region, Molen addressed challenges facing the forest products industry.
The High Sierra Chapter held a dinner meeting in Fresno on February 24. The after dinner speaker was Kirby Molen, with the Sierra Forest Products sawmill at Terra Bella, CA addressing challenges facing the forest products industry. (Catchpole Photo)
We are in a “perfect storm,” with years of drought and below average precipitation that has caused catastrophic quantities of dead trees.
The volume is estimated to be several hundred million board feet or more of dead ponderosa and sugar pine trees. The forest industry infrastructure is limited with few sawmills, biomass energy plants, and qualified licensed timber operators. The dead trees are of limited value for lumber, chips, hog fuel or firewood.
The US Forest Service and CAL FIRE are working on the problem on public and private land. “In the future will there be any Ponderosa Pine left? There is danger of mega-fires from the dead trees with trees causing road side hazards. How will we replant trees and control brush on these large areas,” concluded Molen.
March 30, 2016 Meeting: The Annual Joint SAF meeting of the High Sierra Chapter, Reedley College Student Chapter and the Southern San Joaquin Chapter was held at Reedley College on Wednesday, March 30. The dinner meeting was held in the Faculty and Staff Dining Lounge where members dined on a fine BBQ Tri-tip dinner with all the trimmings.
After a short business meeting with officers from each chapter giving updates and reports the after dinner presentation was introduced by RCC Forestry Instructor Joshua Soderlund and student
The Annual Joint SAF meeting of the High Sierra Chapter, Reedley College Student Chapter and the Southern San Joaquin Chapter was held at Reedley College on Wednesday, March 30. The First showing of the movie on the west coast, “Americas First Forest” was introduced by L to R: RCC Chapter Vice Chairman, James F. Romero, RCC Forestry Instructor Joshua Soderlund and RCC Chapter Chairman, Kelly Calcote. (Catchpole Photo)
officers. This year the group was privileged to view the premiere showing on the west coast of the new movie, “Americas First Forest – Carl Schenck and the Asheville Experiment.” The movie was produced by the Forest History Society and will soon be shown across the United States.
This documentary is the first film to examine the pivotal role of Biltmore Estate Chief Forester, Carl Schenck and America’s first school of forestry in American History. The movie is based on Schenck’s memoir, “Cradle of Forestry in America.”
In 1914 the Vanderbilt’s first private managed forest land in America was bought by the US Government and became the “Pisgah National Forest,” the first National Forest in America. The School and surrounding forests are now the “Cradle of Forestry in America National Historic Site.”
April 21, 2016, Chapter Meeting: The High Sierra Chapter held an evening dinner meeting on April 21, at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Fresno. Chapter Chairman Patrick Emmert opened a brief business meeting with committee reports before dinner.
The after dinner speaker was Guy Anderson, CALFIRE Forester II who is the Forestry Assistance Specialist (FAS) for the Southern Region of California. Anderson spoke on the basics of the California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP) and other CALFIRE programs to assist with the dead tree situation.
Anderson went over the key concepts of the very complex CFIP program. In order to benefit from the CFIP the land owner must have a minimum property size of 20 to 5000 acres that has at least ten percent forest tree cover. It must be zoned to allow forest management.
The High Sierra Chapter of the SAF held a dinner meeting on April 21, at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Fresno. Guy Anderson, CALFIRE Forester II on the basics of the California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP) and other CALFIRE programs. (Catchpole photo)
“CFIP is a state funded program aimed at improving the economic value and environmental quality of non-federal lands. The program has 75 percent cost share and could go as high as 90 percent on some projects,” said Anderson.
Those eligible for CFIP include: Individuals, Groups, Associations, Taxing public entities and Corporate land owners. The initial requirements of the landowner are to retain services of an RPF. You must have money available up front to pay for the projects until the reimbursement arrives. “This isn’t a way to have someone come in and clean up your property for you, you arrange to get the work done,” said Anderson.
He emphasized that the landowner must be accurate and precise in filling out the forms. For those interested in applying for CFIP assistance, or need instructions and forms go to the CALFIRE website.
High Sierra Conservation Day April 21, 2016: On Thursday April 21, the day before Earth Day, 125, fifth grade students plus teachers from Foothill Elementary School, and North Fork Elementary School attended the “Thirty-Sixth Annual Conservation Day” at the Sierra High School Nature Trail. This annual event is sponsored by the High Sierra Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) with cooperation from the USDA Forest Service (USFS), Southern California Edison (SCE) Forestry, The Forest Foundation (TFF), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Chaffee Zoo and UC Merced.
The students and teachers formed six groups that rotated around to the six different outdoor classrooms every 40 minutes.
Wildlife Biologist, Burleigh Lockwood from Chaffee Zoo staffed the first outdoor classroom. The students were amazed by her interesting facts and demonstrations related to different animal’s skulls, teeth, and bones.
Tom Catchpole’s “TFF – Talk About Trees” Presentation was featured at the Forestry stop. Students learned the ‘Web of Life’ activity, how pencils, paper and other forest products are made and facts about the local pine tree mortality.
UC Merced researchers Erin Stacy, Field Manager, Michelle Gilmore and Morgan Barnes staffed the Soil Station. The students had a great hands-on experience with a ground water and soil model that demonstrated how soil structure and texture affect erosion and water contamination.
Burleigh Lockwood, Wildlife Biologist from Chaffee Zoo talking to fifth grade students about animal skulls, bones, antlers and teeth at the Wildlife class at Conservation Day on April 21. (Catchpole photo)
The Forest Recreation class was led by SCE Forestry staff members Chuck Ervin and Jeff Pierini. They played an interactive game with the students based on the Survivor game that taught about how Forest Recreation and other forest management practices are interrelated.
USFS Archeologist, Steve Marsh had a display about local Native American Culture. They had hands-on activities demonstrating what an archaeologist’s job is like and why it is important to protect historical and pre-historical resources at the archaeological site.
At the Fire classroom Michael Gonzales, and Jason Madrigal, USFS talked about prescribed fire and the need to reduce fire hazards around your home. They incorporated a fuels treatment skit, a display of tools and equipment used in Prescribed Fire, and Fire Suppression for the students.
The local Hydro Staff from PG&E had interactive displays about Hydro Electric plants and other ways to generate electricity during the lunch break at Mary Barton Park behind the PC.
The overall theme was “Conservation of our natural forest resources begins at home.” The effects of our drought were discussed and how everyone needs to use renewable natural resources wisely. The students enjoyed this very informative day learning about renewable natural resource conservation.
Tom Catchpole built the Nature Trail about 38 years ago and has coordinated the event for at least 36 years, but who is counting.
At the Forestry stop students learned how pencils, paper and other forest products are made plus forest management and conservation from Tom Catchpole’s “Talk About Trees” Presentation at Conservation Day on April 21. (Catchpole photo)
May 2016 Chapter Meeting: At the time of this writing a field trip meeting was being planned for May but date and details were not available.
Science Days at Camp Edison, Shaver Lake, CA. Chapter members will assist in teaching at two SCE Forestry Department sponsored “Science Days” to be held near the museum on Camp Edison grounds. The dates will be May 20, and June 3, 2016. About 600 students and teachers from Foothill Elementary School in Prather, CA; Pine Ridge and Big Creek Elementary Schools will attended.
The overall theme for the day, “Forestry,” and how it is related to all renewable natural resources will be taught to rotating groups at 9 to 15 outdoor classrooms by High Sierra Chapter members, SCE Forestry staff and other specialists.
The Cecil B. Metcalf Memorial Scholarship: Fundraising is on going for the scholarship fund. Matt Meadows has headed up a “Fabiano’s Coffee Sale Fundraiser” which generates scholarship money.
Chapter Facebook Group: Check this out! The High Sierra Chapter has a Facebook group it is linked to the National SAF page and the NorCal SAF website. The page can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/HighSierraSAF
Forest Conservation Days 2016- will be on September 26 to 30, 2016 at Sequoia Lake YMCA Camp. Help is needed for Forest Conservation Days at Sequoia Lake YMCA! We are planning on over 1000 students from the greater Fresno area. Thanks again to all the volunteers that helped in the past. New volunteers are needed in all aspects of FCD planning. The present staff has been doing the planning for many years and wants someone else to take over major planning such as school coordination and volunteer sign-ups and recruitment. FCD is a wonderful event and will not continue unless new people step forward and take over the coordination of the event.
For information contact: Don and Diane Dukleth at 559-841-3309 HM or 559-250-6752/
fcdschool @netptc.net or Thomas W. Catchpole, 559-855-2194 or treecookies@netptc.net
Local PG&E Hydro Staff set up demonstrations about a Hydro Electric plant and alternative ways to generate electric power during the lunch break at Mary Barton Park behind the PC. (Catchpole photo)At the Archaeology stop USFS Archeologist, Steve Marsh had a display about local Native American Culture and what archaeologists do at Conservation Day on April 21. (Catchpole photo)At the Fire classroom Jason Madrigal and Michael Gonzales, USFS talked about prescribed fire and the need to reduce fire hazards around your home at Conservation Day on April 21. (Catchpole photo)
Golden members are recognized for 50 years of membership in the Society of American Foresters. This year’s members joined in 1966. They each have their own memories of that year, but here are a few things that were happening; the Vietnam War was being protested, the Miranda Warning & Rights became law, cigarette packages starting carrying a warning about them being hazardous to your health and air bags in cars were still science fiction.
Our 10 Golden Members this year are:
James Able, Eureka
Ronald Cunnington, Placerville
Ken Delfino, Bakersfield
Timothy La Farge, San Francisco
Harold Johnson, Eureka
William Knispek, Grass Valley
Donald Perkins, Sacramento
George Roby, Claremont
Alan Stangenberger, Albany
Dale Wierman, Davis
At the Winter Meeting held in Santa Rosa, CA, January 2016 three of the Golden Members joined us. They were James Able, Alan Stangenberger and Dale Wierman.
James Able joined SAF as a young forester. He graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Forest – Range management. After graduation he started working for the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station doing research on the application of herbicides on conifer plantations. He served in the Army and went to South Viet Nam. Upon his return he went back to work for the US Forest Service in California. Then he spent 10 years with the Georgia Pacific and Louisiana Pacific Corporations Big Lagoon operations in Eureka. Beginning in 1979 he formed James L. Able Forestry Consultants which specializes in providing forestry advice and services primarily to non-industrial forest landowners in NW CA. He employs 8-12 foresters, botanists, technicians and office staff including his wife.
Alan Stangenberger joined SAF as a student member during his junior year in forestry at U.C. Berkeley. He then entered graduate school and received his Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science under Paul Zinke. His entire career was spent in research with the forestry group at Berkeley. He and Paul Zinke assembled the soil carbon data for a global carbon cycling study produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1980’s, which was one of the first such studies attempted. For fifteen years he team-taught elementary computer programming for forestry students at Berkeley. Al retired in 2003. For the past 30 years he has been executive Secretary of the California Alumni Foresters.
Al said, “SAF has provided me lots of in-depth knowledge of land management issues over the years. The opportunities to learn from practicing professionals through articles, presentations, and site visits are invaluable, especially for someone working in an academic setting”.
Dale Wireman joined SAF as a student and has been active in the Sacramento -Tahoe Chapter as a member and officer. He was on the NorCal Executive Committee as the Awards & Forester Fund Committee Chair for 13 years. He was elected Fellow in 2009. Dale completed a B.S. in Forest Management in1964 at Washington State University. He worked seasonally for the US Forest Service on the Snoqualmie National Forest from 1958 – 1963. He worked for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for 32 years out of Fresno, Nevada City & Sacramento. The scope of his work included; Fire protection – control, prevention & law enforcement; Resource management – service forestry, forest practice, & prescribed fire; Environmental Protection & Forest Resource and Land Use Planning and Administrative Staff and Legislation at State and Federal levels.
In addition to these three members I heard back from Harold Johnson. He was spending his winter in Arizona and regretted that he would not be able to attend the awards ceremony. I also learned that Ronald Cunnington has passed away. I remember Ron with great fondness, he was a mentor to me early in my career on the Eldorado National Forest.
November 2015: The Chapter had its meeting in a restaurant in Sacramento. JoAnn Fites-Kaufman was our presenter. She discussed the recent research on wildfires. Her presentation shared experience in monitoring and research on the effectiveness of fuels treatments in changing fire behavior and effects. Dr. Fites-Kaufman shared her experience on the King Fire as a member of the Fire Behavior Assessment Team. 20 people attended this meeting from the Chapter membership and an interested private landowner.
December 2015 and January 2016: The Chapter did not hold meetings in December and January. Several Chapter members attended the joint Northern California and Southern California Societies Winter meeting in Santa Rosa. I represented the Chapter during the Executive Committee meeting. The 2016 Golden Members included Chapter members: Ronald Cunnington, William Knispek, Donald Perkins and Dale Wierman. Mr. Wierman was able to attend the winter meeting and was presented with recognition from SAF President Clark Seely.
February 18, 2016: This month’s meeting had Rich Wade as the guest speaker in a restaurant in Sacramento. Mr. Wade is a member of the Board of Forestry and he presented a summary of the history of the Board of Forestry, highlighted the duties of the Board and discussed current issues that the Board is dealing with. The meeting was attended by 21 people. Thanks to Joanne Drummond for bringing an Americorps Crew of 9 people to meeting. The Americorps crew members shared the projects they are working on and explained the goals of Americorps.
March 17, 2016: The March meeting featured Wildlife Biologist, Monica Bond. She has done research on high severity fires and the effects on wildlife. Ms. Bond’s presentation centered on the recent research that studied the effects of wildfire and post-fire logging on the spotted owl species and on black-backed woodpeckers. Her research indicates that there are benefits to the wildlife habitat from the high severity wildfires and asked for a paradigm shift for how foresters, the media and the public view large wildfires like the Rim Fire. 13 people attended this meeting.
April 21, 2016: Ken Pimlott, Chief of Cal Fire was the presenter. Ken had an informal conversation with the 10 members in attendance. Chief Pimlott gave an overview of the issues facing Cal Fire ranging from rebuilding Best Management Practices program, budget to financial resources from the Cap and Trade program. He described ways to leverage funding through partnerships with other agencies, local government and non-profit organizations. The ongoing drought and build-up of insect populations have created high hazard zones that require coordination with utilities, Cal Trans and local governments. Emergency coordination is an ongoing activity. Cal Fire is outreaching to Colorado and work done in southern California to learn the lessons from past actions to deal effectively with California’s current and developing situation with large areas of forest dying. Cal Fire has acquired 40 pieces of equipment to help start managing the dead trees.
Future Meetings
May 19, 2016: Sandy Derby will be our guest speaker to provide information about the status of Project Learning Tree. The meeting location will be at the Loomis Chinese Restaurant in Loomis. Keep an eye out for the upcoming email for the meeting announcement in the next few days.
We would like to see if there is interest in having a Chapter field trip in June. Please send suggestions to Jon Jue at jonora@sbcglobal.net. Some possible suggestions are a field trip at Sagehen Research Station near Truckee.
Other Activities
The Sacramento-Tahoe Chapter will continue efforts to advertise a scholarship for forestry or natural resource students attending Universities in California. Brian Barrette will be leading our Chapter’s scholarship program in 2016.
On July 21, 2016, the Chapter will be staffing the Forestry Center at the State Fair. Please reserve that date to help educate the public about forestry in California. A sign up notice will be coming out soon.
In August 14, 2016, the Chapter will be assisting in a forestry and logging exhibit at the Nevada County Fair. A sign up notice will be coming out soon.
March 10 Chapter Meeting – This meeting was held at UC Berkeley in conjunction with the Student Chapter and the Forestry Club. The Forestry Club provided a great chili feed to get us all ready to hear about the East Bay Hills wildfire reduction project. We had two guest speakers, Brad Gallup of the East Bay Regional Parks District and Carol Rice of Wildland Resource Management, Inc. They described the work that is being planned or implemented in the Parks and on UC Berkeley properties in the East Bay Hills to remove non-native eucalyptus and other trees as well as fire-promoting invasive plants (such as brooms).
Russell Reservation – This property, part of the University of California, is located north of Highway 24 and just north of the city of Lafayette. About 300 acres in size, it has been used for forestry research in the past, although these studies have languished. There is also an astronomy facility there with a couple of telescopes. Currently it is used by UC Berkeley’s Logging Sports Team as a practice site and recently used for the April 2nd ‘Bearclave’ competition involving teams from Berkeley, CalPoly, Shasta College, and Humboldt. The site seems to have quite some potential for public forestry education, maybe a mini Forest Conservation Days, or public forestry education events on weekends? The Chapter is beginning to look into the possibility, which would be in partnership with UC, the Berkeley Student Chapter, and the Logging Sports Team.
Upcoming Chapter Meetings:
Thursday June 16th 6pm, will be held in Napa Area, location TBD, tentative topic – vineyard establishment and management in forested lands – state of the art.
Saturday, August 20th, Chapter summer field meeting; topic and location to be determined
Thursday, November 17th 6 pm, will be held in San Francisco, exact location TBD, tentative topic – Urban Forestry in San Francisco’s Presidio
Recipients of the 2016 So. San Joaquin Chapter scholarships are recognized at Bakersfield College in April 2016.
The Southern San Joaquin Chapter officers for 2016 are Brian Rueger, Chair; Larry Duysen, Vice-Chair; and Jonathon Wagy, once again serving as Secretary-Treasurer.
The Chapter has had a busy winter-spring. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month, generally in the Porterville area. Recent programs have included a presentation by Major Craig Jones (retired) on “Perspectives of our Modern Military”. Major Jones currently serves as the Fleet Manager for the Sequoia National Forest. In March, the Reedley College Student Chapter hosted a joint meeting with both the High Sierra and So. San Joaquin chapters. Joshua Soderlund, representing the Reedley College Forestry & Natural Resources Department, conducted the meeting and showed the film titled “America’s First Forest”, about Carl Schenck and the Biltmore Forest School.
The Bakersfield College Student Chapter hosted the April meeting. This popular meeting, held outdoors on campus at Renegade Park, included another fine dinner prepared by the Bakersfield College Culinary Arts Department. The evening program was provided by Rodney Blankenship, (“Buffalo Man”), on the Plight of the Buffalo.
The highlight of the Bakersfield College (BC) evening was the annual presentation of scholarships by the chapter to students transferring to four year forestry schools. This year five scholarships were awarded to deserving junior college students from Bakersfield College and Porterville College who have been accepted to Humboldt State University for the 2016 fall semester. These students are Joselin Dorado, Karine Hunt, Vanessa Mendoza, Kyle Mann, and Victoria Roel. Jeff Gletne, the Chapter’s Scholarship Chair, commented that it had been a number of years since so many qualified students had applied for scholarships at the same time. Bill Kelly, Faculty Advisor to the BC Student Chapter, continues to spark the interest of his students in the field of Forestry.
The Chapter staffed a forest management booth at the 56th Annual SCICON Barbecue & Wildflower Festival, sponsored by the Tulare County Office of Education. The So. San Joaquin Chapter has supported forestry educational activities and the campus tree nursery at SCICON for many years. SCICON officials commented that the SAF booth is one of the most popular attractions at the event. To help assure the booth would remain popular this year, the Chapter once again recruited Hailey Henschel, Ashtyn Perry and Kynlee Perry for their assistance. These three young ladies eagerly greeted the public, handed out tree cookies, and maintained a well-organized booth.
* Photo caption (submitted separately): Recipients of the 2016 So. San Joaquin Chapter scholarships
are recognized at Bakersfield College in April 2016.
Ruth was recognized with the 2015 Forestry Achievement Award by NorCal SAF at the 2016 Winter meeting held at Santa Rosa Calif. Ruth has been a SAF member for 32 years. She joined as a student at Humboldt State University.
Ruth served as the treasurer of the Sacramento-Tahoe Chapter for several years and as the Secretary of NorCal SAF in 2005. But what distinguishes Ruth’s service to the Society is her consistent participation at Society meetings, field trips and attendance at national conventions. She is a consistent and prolific donator to the Forester Fund auctions. Ruth spends her year visiting a local flea market to find unique items that would be of interest to donate to Forester Fund auctions at both national conventions and state society meetings. She was a consistent volunteer at Forest Conservation Days at Sanborn Park, only missing the year she was attending the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection fire academy..
Ruth has an AA degree from Diablo Valley College, received her BS degree in Forestry and MS in Natural Resources from Humboldt State University. She worked seasonally for the US Forest Service on several forests and was picked up permanently on the Modoc NF as a co-op education student and eventually also worked on the Shoshone and Tahoe national forests. She eventually went to work for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection under an Interagency Personnel Act Agreement to help the department respond to a growing number of comments on Timber Harvest Plans. She eventually transitioned to the State permanently and works out of the Santa Rosa office.
Ruth is also an active volunteer in her community, with her church, donates blood, and has worked on Habitat for Humanity projects
We congratulation Ruth and thank her for her dedication to serving and participating in the Society of American Foresters!
