LUFKIN, TEXAS – Educators came from around Texas to participate in Phase I of the Texas Forestry Association’s Teachers’ Conservation Institute (TCI), August 3-8, 2014 at the Piney Woods Conservation Center near Broaddus, Texas.

The first of three phases focused primarily on forests in Texas and the timber industry, which provides two thirds of the jobs in the East Texas region alone. The group took several field trips, touring The Forestry Museum in Lufkin, Texas, a logging site and tree farm, as well as mills Norbord Nacogdoches and Cal-Tex Lumber, Inc. in Nacogdoches, Texas. The group also toured the grounds of a seedling nursery, viewing firsthand what it takes to produce the optimal pine trees from parent to seedling.

“Teachers who have attended all three Phases of TCI are some of the best in the state,” said Misty Bowie, TCI Coordinator. “They are committed to bringing quality environmental education into their classroom.”

The three phases of TCI are designed to bring teachers and educators into the forests and nature in Texas while presenting activities and information they can use in their classrooms. The week-long training also provides continuing education credits and lays the groundwork for certification in Project Learning Tree and Project WILD, both nationally recognized programs.

For more information on Teachers’ Conservation Institute, Project Learning Tree or Project WILD, visit www.texasforestry.org or call 936-632-8477.

LUFKIN, TEXAS – Texas Forestry Association will host its 100^th annual convention at the Pitser Garrison Convention Center in Lufkin, Texas, October 21-23, 2014, an event designed to showcase Texas Forestry Association’s proud history as the voice of forestry for 100 years.

As part of its centennial celebration, Texas Forestry Association is honored to announce W. Goodrich Jones, II will be its keynote speaker Thursday morning, October 22, 2014. Jones, who grew up in College Station, Texas, has strong and fond memories of his grandfather, William Goodrich Jones, who was the founder and first president of Texas Forestry Association.

The featured speaker for the President’s Banquet Wednesday evening, October 21, is Sheriff J. B. Smith, a humorist who has appeared on CBS’s Early Show with Harry Smith and NBC’s Today with Matt Lauer. Smith manages one of the largest jails in Texas, housing over 1,000 prisoners, oversees over 355 personnel, has over 100 vehicles and feeds more than 3,000 meals a day, while overseeing an annual budget over $27 million.

Lynn Wilson, Executive Vice President of Forest Resources for Rayonier, will present Rayonier’s outlook over the next few years to maintain a strong presence in the forest products industry, including their investment in Texas. Mark Luetters, Executive Vice President of Building Products for Georgia-Pacific LLC, will address the future of the forest products industry and their holdings in Texas.

Other speakers include Richard Peberdy, who joined Drax in 2012 after working 30 years in UK forest industry and will present a perspective on European demand for wood pellets from North America and their efforts to coordinate sustainability requirements for the sourcing of fiber.  Lawrence Seltzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund, will discuss the future of our forests and communities and the role of certification. Hughes Simpson, who coordinates Water Resources and Ecosystem Services programs for the Texas A&M Forest Service, will present Ecosystem Services and The Private Landowner.

The Association of Consulting Foresters will present “People and the Forest: A look at Private Forestry in Texas” Wednesday afternoon with a question and answer session.

For a complete meeting brochure, visit Texas Forestry Association’s website at www.texasforestry.org or email tfa@texasforestry.org.  Registration is also available online at www.texsforestry.org.  To exhibit or sponsor, please call (936) 632-8733.

Over 40 people were on hand today at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area (GEWMA) to see 26 Easter wild turkeys released on the area. Children, some as young as 5 and adults were very excited to witness the wild trapped turkeys fly out of their boxes into the wilds of GEWMA.
This was the day GEWMA staff had been working toward for over 10 years. According to Scotty Parsons, NWTF East Texas Conservation Field Supervisor, “Our Texas NWTF Chapter has invested in habitat improvements all over East Texas. In the last 5 years, Texas NWTF has contributed $190,000 toward habitat work in East Texas and our NWTF team has leveraged that with TPWD, USFWS and USFS into $3.7 million, a 20:1 ratio. Some of those funds have been used on the project work at GEWMA.
Our goal for this particular project was to restore the grassland component in and oak-dominated upland on the GEWMA. We have restored a 424 acre site to 60% grassland and 40% canopy cover by mechanically (i.e., logging, skidding) removing dense stands of upland oak species from 254 acres. This work on the GEWMA represents $68,692 of habitat enhancement work in a 10 year effort.
Jason Hardin, TPWD Upland Game Bird Specialist, gave the group a brief history of the Eastern wild turkey in Texas.  According to Hardin, since 1979, over 7,000 Eastern wild turkeys were released in 58 East Texas counties. Population started decreasing in 2006 and the turkey season in some East Texas counties were closed.
Hardin said, “After a 10 year hiatus from Eastern turkey restoration activities, TPWD has reengaged in Eastern turkey restoration efforts beginning

this winter.  Last spring, TPWD and NWTF biologists evaluated a number of sites across East Texas utilizing TPWD’s new Eastern turkey habitat evaluation technique.  Of the sites evaluated, 3 scored high enough to receive a stocking.  Those sites are currently being Super Stocked with 60 hens and 20 gobblers for a total of 80 birds per release site.  In all, TPWD plans to release 240 wild turkeys this winter in East Texas. Super stocking has proven to show higher survival than the traditional method of block-stocking, which stocked 15-20 birds at 5-10 sites across a county.  Today, our goal is to identify the best available habitat and utilize super stocked turkeys to serve as a source population.  Over time, TPWD hopes birds will begin to move into adjacent unoccupied landscapes.