In spring, I went with fellow farm foresters on an AFG field trip to Victoria's Northern plains to see a splendid barn built the old English way, out of green wood. Not a plan, nail nor machine was in sight. Like the Macassan Phinisi boats I'd seen built on the beach in Sulawesi to a template over a thousand years old.
We are pleased that the transition from the Dental Board to the Dental Bureau as mandated by the Sunset provision of recent legislation was seamless. We are delighted and honored to have Cathy Poncabare at the helm as our new Executive Officer and that we have moved our offices to a new state of the art facility at 2005 Evergreen Street, Suite 1550, in Sacramento. You will note in the following articles that we are moving forward with measures to enhance your license as well as to protect the public. Of interest are proposed modifications to the DBC's continuing education (CE) requirements. As a result of our meeting in August, we expect important changes to go into effect within approximately a year. License holders should be able to count CE units acquired via completion of courses given by providers approved by the American Dental Association's CERP program or the Academy of General Dentistry's PACE program, in addition to those from California-approved CE providers. We feel this is a significant move forward to streamline continuing education as well as maintenance of your license.
The renewed interest in export pulp and biomass for electricity has led to an influx of harvesting machinery and log trucks amongst some NSW North Coast eucalypt plantations. Abandoned by Forestry Corporation NSW and the MIS companies, many plantation owners are taking advantage of the situation and opting to clearfall their overstocked plantations, but some have taken the opportunity to mechanically thin their plantations down to final stocking for a future sawlog harvest.
I am a 21 year old biologist and conservationist who supports forestry. a statement likely to have never been published. It only took me 3 months in my position as a forestry extension officer trainee to learn the potential of sustainable forestry. But before I started I was a lot more reticent about the industry. I am part of a pilot program run by the Queensland state Government and the Queensland Farmers Federation which involves placing six graduates with six relevant host organisations. I was placed with private Forestry service Queensland, the only host organisation which specialised in forestry. The program was designed to train new extension officers and to encourage landholders to reduce runoff into the ocean and improve water quality for reef resilience. I am a biologist, I am a social media user, I am a forestry trainee and, I am the new breed of extension. In this article I hope to provide my insight as each version of myself.
The potential for a National arboretum in Canberra as a place to showcase trees and forests and a place to encourage hope and renewal after the devastating fires of 2003 was clearly seen by my good friend and colleague, dr John Banks. John had an encyclopedic knowledge of trees and their characteristics and was a true Forester and member of the IFA. John worked with the then Chief Minister of the ACt, Jon Stanhope, and numerous others to sell the potential of an arboretum, and this culminated in the launch of a competition to design an arboretum to replace the destroyed plantations around dairy Farmers Hill.
The Private Forests tasmania (PFT) annual report for 2016-17 shows there has been a 32 per cent increase in total private forest wood production to 3.89 million tonnes. This is the highest annual production from private forests in Tasmania since PFT started recording figures in 1994/95.
Farm forestry groups in Queensland and New South Wales, have been given a generous leg-up with financial support from the National Farming together pilot program; to market and sell their valuable timber resource, and undertake research on farm forestry viability, and the timber properties of the young plantation-grown species silver quandong (Elaeocarpus grandis) and Queensland maple (Flindersia brayleyana) with the southern Cross University.
ABC Landline aired a story on Doug Lang in October 2017 that I found both inspirational and instructive and a story that I think many in rural Australia will relate to. For any tree farmer or rural property owner this program and Doug's book provides a brave and rare insight into the health struggles that many individuals and families have to confront. Doug's own long battle with his mental health is a story that many of us will relate to and provides instructive lessons about the importance of wonderfully supportive partners and family and the healing powers of working with nature and planting trees.
Alan Cummine, CEO, AFG encouraged Arthur to join AFG 35 years ago when Arthur was working in Forestry extension with Forests Commission Victoria (VFC). Arthur became actively involved in AFG from the start and was able to link his working career with private forest land holders in Victoria and Tasmania, with AFG and its activities.
The change, announced in Hobart at Wrest point Hotel's Green room on November 21, reflects the company's commitment to implementing a clear consumer- focused strategy about the sustainability of certified Australian wood products.
Private Native Forestry (PNF), in southern Queensland, is at a crossroad; if we continue on our current path, we will discover a diminishing resource, further loss of social licence and missed opportunities in emerging biofuel markets. If we pull ourselves together, and make a right hand turn, we could find the land of opportunity: where new products and greater social licence will enable more investment into forest health and productivity, and lead to a prosperous industry.
'Looking back - looking forward' was a fitting theme for the Forest Practices Authority (FPA) conference to mark the thirty-year anniversary of the forest practices system (FPS) in Tasmania. The organisers are satisfied that it achieved all of its three objectives: - To consider the progress made in the first 30 years of Tasmania's forest practices system - To use this perspective to assess trends and possibilities in Tasmanian, national and international forest regulation, particularly in relation to the review of the Forest Practices Code - To launch the State of the Forests Tasmania 2017 booklet and highlight the full report (as tabled in Parliament).
The theme of the 2018 Joint Conference - Forests for healthy cities, farms and people - speaks to the increasing importance of urban forests in our growing cities, the continuing importance of trees on farms for productive and sustainable rural landscapes, and our increasing understanding of the links between healthy treescapes and healthy people.
The North Coast of NSW has a long history of managing forests for multiple objectives, including timber extraction. since 2013 the demand for pulp logs has decreased dramatically, resulting in large volumes of biomass left in the forest following extraction of high-value logs. in addition to increased wastage, the loss of this market has had a number of other important ramifications.
The Queensland Government through the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has a number of initiatives underway to improve private native forestry opportunities, including investment in research and on-ground extension.
Though involved with agriculture and land management issues most of his life, Bruce' interest in forestry came from what would be described as unorthodox. Bruce and his wife managed their own Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) and preferred to investigate their own investment opportunities rather than relying on other people to manage their assets.
The South West Agroforestry Network (SWAN) Peer Group Mentoring (PGM) trial ran for 18 months from June 2014 to see if the success of the program developed by the Otway Agroforestry Network could be replicated. The trial was part of a national project overseen by the Australian Agroforestry Foundation.
Rumsfeld's dilemma posed that known unknowns result from phenomena that are recognised, but poorly understood. In his closing keynote speech, Professor Ted Lefroy, University of Tasmania, remarked that there were three known unknowns that had cropped up this time, as well as at the last conference: - The carbon economy; - Forest policy; and - Public perception.
