From the VA Division Chair...

Virginia Division 2011 - Turning Over A New Leaf

The strength of the Virginia Division lies at the Chapter level. Each year our Chapters work hard to promote sustainable forestry to the public through many different activities.  And we look forward to reading about their efforts in the Trailblazer.  Another strength we have is our Golden Members; these are folks who have been in SAF for 50 or more years!  Many of us new comers don’t know these folks well or at all.  So, we’ve decided to remedy that.  To share the wisdom and expertise of our Golden Members, we will be featuring a write up of one of them in 2 of the 4 issues of the Trailblazer each year.  These features will take the place of the Chapter updates, which will be featured in the other 2 issues.  If you know of a Golden Member (or you are a Golden Member) you would like to see featured, please contact our Communications Chair, Adam Downing (adowning@vt.edu; (540) 948-6881.  In this issue, we will get to know Golden Member Jake Stone.

In other news, we will be looking at our membership and where folks live in relation to Chapter Boundaries.  This information will help us determine if we have enough Chapters, too many Chapters, or if we need to change our boundary lines to better serve our members.  I’ll share the results with you in the next issue of the Trailblazer. 

It was great seeing everyone at the Forestry Summit in April.  Response to the joint meeting format was overwhelmingly positive from all sides.  The Executive Committee met with the Virginia Forestry Association, and we’ve voted to join them and the Association of Consulting Foresters again in 2012 for another joint meeting in the late spring.  Stay tuned for more details.  And, don’t forget - mark your calendars for ApSAF 2012 in Wytheville, January 25-27.

Jennifer Gagnon
Chair, Virginia Division