MONTANA FORESTER October 1997

The activities of Montana SAF members continue on at a rapid pace. Chapter meetings are starting back up again. Thirteen of our members and five of our students recently returned from the national SAF convention in Memphis, Tennessee. The convention was organized around the theme of Meeting In The Middle.

Frank Cuff, Dan Pittman and I attended the House of Society Delegates meeting on Thursday and Friday before the convention began. We discussed a number of issues and have developed recommendations for courses of actions that Council, National Office staff, State Societies and/or Working Groups might take. Be watching in Forestry Source for writeups on some of these items.

We all had the opportunity to enjoy some music by "Elvis" at the icebreaker and to hear some words of wisdom from "Mark Twain" in the early part of the session. The general sessions dealt with subjects such as Populations and Demographics, Information Technologies, Conservation and the Environment, Land Ownership, Forests: Supply and Demand and Global Issues: Local Solutions. These sessions were well prepared and conveyed a lot of information. The concurrent technical sessions provided information and exchange of ideas on a variety of subjects. We also had working sessions on "forestry core values" and "issues with public land management". Most of us had the opportunity to enjoy a few rides on the trolley and the barbeque on Beal Street. It was reported that a number of our members even got to enjoy the blues and rock and roll music later on Beal Street. On one of the field trips, some of us got to see how the Anderson-Tully Company manages riverbottom hardwoods on a modified uneven-aged basis to regenerate desirable tree species, cause cherrybark oak to grow at the rate of nearly an inch a year (that is diameter growth for some of you smug eastsiders), and provide about 94 MMBF annually for their furniture stock and veneer plants. Made me rather envious to see how they coordinated the forestry and wildlife objectives.

A segment of Montana SAF was recognized again in the national Grassroots Award. This year, it was the Forestry Interpretive Area at Ft. Missoula that won the award. Scott Keane did an excellent job in explaining the project with his slide show. CONGRATULATIONS to the Missoula area folks for your efforts!

The University of Montana won third place in the SAF Student Chapter Award. The honor is based on criteria that include service to members, the Society, the forestry school, and the community; involvement with other natural resource organizations; and chapter management. We truly have a fine group of students and the ones that attended the convention were very involved in the activities there. GREAT JOB Students!

Dan Pittman has been selected to chair the National Leadership Academy Committee for the next year. I think that this is an excellent recognition of Dan's leadership skills and vision.

We heard about a very interesting project that the Tennessee SAF has done. This is a partnership with HABITAT FOR HUMANITY. The two groups, assisted with donations of building supplies, constructed a home in Memphis. I really liked this project, as it demonstrates the use of forest products, sustainability, and identifies SAF members as caring people, rather than just faceless members of a group. Is this something that Chapters in Montana might be interested in taking on?

And now back to Montana. Our most recent report indicates that membership of Montana SAF is slightly ahead of what we had at this time last year. You have probably all received your bill for membership now, so it is important that we get them sent back in so we can maintain and hopefully increase our membership. If you have any questions about what SAF can do for you, please contact me or any of the other Society or Chapter officers. Membership Chair Bonner Armstrong reminds us that his offer to reward some of the people that invite and enroll a new member into SAF are still in effect. Lets get out and ask someone.

Our committees are continuing to work on comments for the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Plan, the Selway-Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Recovery project and guidelines for recovery of bull trout. Please contact Policy Chair Tim Love or members of the various committees to give us your views on these issues.

My thanks to all candidates for Society and Chapter offices. We really appreciate your willingness to serve SAF and wish you the best in the coming year.

Chair-elect Frank Cuff is working with the Inland Empire Society to develop this year's joint leadership camp. It sounds like we will likely have participation again from folks in the Intermountain Society and maybe from the Colorado/Wyoming Society. We hope to have it at Lubrecht in the latter part of January. I know that this session will be of value to Society and Chapter officers and committee chairs. Individual members are also welcome to attend.

I look forward to visiting with members in each of the Chapters between now and the end of the year. I'll try to make it soon so that I don't have to battle snowdrifts like Dan Pittman and I traveled through last year.

Sam