Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy Garnering High Praise

The Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy is just wrapping up another year and it is already getting fantastic reviews from its students — the teachers.

The Academy is a four-day residential program that focuses on the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable forestry in North Carolina. This annual program is chock-full of learning experiences for the teachers who are prepared to return to their own classrooms with new knowledge and materials to share with their students.

In a recent North Carolina Forestry Association News Update, the Academy is described in this way:

Source: North Carolina Forestry Association, June 20, 2014, email News Update

“Just Fabulous”

Academy Leaders

Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy Leaders Susan Moore (left), Renee Strnad, and Jennifer Grantham

That is what one teacher expressed to NCFA Executive Vice President Pryor Gibson at the conclusion of the tour of Parton Lumber Company.  The teacher stopped Gibson just before she boarded the bus that was bound for the group’s next stop.

“I want to thank you and the NCFA for this opportunity.  It is just fabulous. I have learned so much and everyone has just been so great at all of our visits.  And these three ladies are just awesome.”

The teacher was referring to Susan Moore, Renee Strnad and Jennifer Grantham of N.C. State University Extension Forestry who organize and guide the Academies.

Needless to say, the Sustainable Teachers’ Academy had another successful week of educating teachers on forestry and the forest products industry in Asheville this past week.  In addition tours of facilities, the teachers participated in workshops and PLT programs.

The coastal version of this program runs next week in New Bern.

Teachers learn about the Longleaf pine ecosystem at the Croatan National Forest

Teachers learn about the Longleaf pine ecosystem at the Croatan National Forest

These residential programs designed for teachers feature visits to several forest products facilities in the Asheville (mountain) and New Bern (coastal) areas in addition to workshops and visits to educational forests.

The NCFA appreciates its membership hosting the teachers at their facilities in what has become an extremely popular program with teachers.

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Carnivore Mystery: Why Fishers Thrive in East, Not West

Zoologists Scott LaPoint and Roland Kays weigh a weasel-like fisher in the wild.

Zoologists Scott LaPoint and Roland Kays weigh a weasel-like fisher in the wild. Fishers, which weigh 4 to 12 pounds, are fierce predators.

For weasel-like fishers it’s a good time to live in the East.  The fierce little carnivores are reclaiming historic habitats, including the Bronx, New York.  But it’s a different story for fishers in the West, which haven’t been as successful in repopulating areas they once roamed in the Pacific and Northwest.

Dr. Roland Kays in the College of Natural Resources at NC State University is part of a team investigating reasons for the regional differences and devising strategies for successful reintroduction.

This National Science Foundation and National Geographic Society funded research has been published online in Animal Conservation.

Read More in The Abstract>>

 

Yahoo Road Trip Video Tracks Wolfpack Timbersports Athlete in Training for US Championship

Griff Wilson's eye on the prize

Griff Wilson focuses his talents now on the US Stihl Timbersports Collegiate Championship

Griffith Wilson, a sophomore in Forest Management at NC State University, is used to working hard. That includes the work he has put into becoming the winner of the US STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Southern Collegiate Qualifer.  And now it counts toward the challenge he will face this weekend as he battles other great student athletes for the Collegiate Championship being held at the Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, June 20-22.

Griff has a natural talent for timbersports, AND he is a natural in front of the cameras. Yahoo on the Road, sponsored by RAM Country, tested both of those qualities recently when they came out to Camp Slocum on NC State’s G.W. Hill Demonstration Forest in Durham County, NC, to film Griff during one of his training sessions. They not only captured evidence of his talent and composure, but they also picked up on the Wolfpack passion for tradition and NC State’s history in Forestry.

Watch the Yahoo! Road Trip Video featuring Griff and the NCSU Forestry & Timbersports Club at Camp Slocum

Barry Interview

Barry Goldfarb interviewed by Yahoo Road Trip Host, Marc Istook for the video

Catch the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Championship this weekend In Person or Stream it Live!

  • June 20 – Pro & College Qualifier Rounds 12pm-7pm
  • June 21 – US Professional Championships 5pm-8pm
  • June 22 – US Collegiate Championships & Team Relay Events 2pm-6pm

Read more about Griffith Wilson

Catch more of the action on television with ESPNU Airings – Collegiate STIHL TIMBERSPORTS

 

Conclave 2012

Lauren and Mike team-up for the Jack & Jill Crosscut Competition at Southern Conclave 2012 on NC State’s campus

Learn more about the recent tradition Wolfpack Timbersports Champions

 

Dr. Hess’s Teaching Award Spotlighted in Eastern Wake News

NC State University Chancellor Randy Woodson (left) congratulates Dr. George Hess on winning the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson (left) congratulates Dr. George Hess(right) on winning the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

A focus on sustainability and hands-on activities for students are what Knightdale Land Use Review Board member George Hess considers some of the reasons he was chosen to receive North Carolina State University’s Board of Governor’s award at the university’s commencement exercises earlier this month.

When Hess isn’t making recommendations to Knightdale Town Council about land ordinances, he is a professor in the College of Natural Resources at N.C. State, a position he’s held since 1996.

Read the complete article in the Eastern Wake News>>

Opinion – Insurance Industry Behind The Curve In Addressing Wildfire Danger

Firefighters douse final hotspots at David and Sherri Roberts home that was destroyed by fire 24-hours earlier on a hilltop in Escondido (LA Times)

Firefighters douse final hotspots at David and Sherri Roberts home that was destroyed by fire 24-hours earlier on a hilltop in Escondido (LA Times)

Dr. Toddi Steelman, co-director of the Fire Chasers Project at North Carolina State University’s Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources and executive director of the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan, asserted in a Los Angeles Times Op-ed that while wildfires are inevitable, wildfire disasters are not; and that while we can’t control the natural world, we can control the built environment and the economic incentives that put us at risk.

Of great concern? That when it comes to wildfires, the insurance industry is behind the curve.

Read the complete article in the LA Times>>