13 Jun, 2018

Looking for a Land Ethic on Virginia Tree Farms Posted on June 10, 2018 by JohnMatel The American Tree Farm System (ATFS) assessed our Virginia program this year. I got to go along with the assessor. We visited a random sample of twenty-one tree farms all around the Commonwealth, covering 1,195 miles. It was fun and enlightening to see so much of Virginia and meet such great people. What does it mean to be a tree farmer and a conservationist? I have studied this and have been repeatedly drawn

07 Jan, 2018

Persuasion I am writing a presentation that I will deliver at one of the breakout sessions at the Tree Farm National Leadership Conference, in Albuquerque, New Mexico - January 31-February 2. The topic is “Using more wood for the love of forests: getting the message out.”  This is background for the “getting the message out” part. I am overdoing it a bit.  Don't worry; this is not the text for the talk. For anybody who plans to attend the session, don’t worry. I am NOT planning to deliver this

10 Dec, 2016

We are talking about third party certification. This means that all aspects of the forestry operation are evaluated by an objective third party, i.e. not forest owners themselves or those interested in buying their timber. It works like an audit of business accounts and activities.