New River Watershed Roundtable, Forestry Committee

Minutes, Wednesday, February 8, 2006

5:00 p.m., Galax USDA Service Center

Members Attending:

Don Philen, New River SWCD

Llyn Sharp, New River Watershed Rountable

David Richert, Virginia DOF

Jennifer Gagnon, Virginia Tech

Donnie Garman, Virginia DOF

Scott Ward, Virginia DOF

Tim Phipps, New River SWCD

Dwayne Huff, New River SWCD

Jim Baxley, Dixon Lumber Company

Members Not Present:

Jonathan Luper

Bill Worrell

Kelly Miller

Mike Skinner

Gary Boring

Rob Morgan

Bill Miller

Agenda presented and attached. No additions.

David Richert called the meeting to order. The group welcomed Llyn Sharp to our committee as a new member. Llyn works with Virginia Tech and Virginia DCR in a contract position as a watershed outreach coordinator in the New River Valley.

Update on Action Items from the June Meeting:

v Critical Species Tour—the Forestry Committee continued planning for the Critical Habitat & Species workshop that will be held April 20, 2006 from 4-8:30pm. The will include two field stops in the Fairview area. Critical habitats & plant communities will be discussed at each stop, along with strategies for maintaining and restoring these habitats. David Richert will draft an agenda for this group to review, nail down commitments from speakers, and continue to solicit funds. Llyn Sharp will request funds from the NRWR executive committee on March 2, 2006. Tim Phipps and Scott Ward will assist with logistical planning (restrooms, vans, registration, food, etc.). Thanks to Llyn Sharp for providing the Forestry Committee with some great door prizes for the event.

v Bobwhite Quail Workshop—fourteen people attended the bobwhite quail workshop. Tim Phipps has extra copies of the handouts / materials from the presentation. Thanks again to Dr. Parkhurst from Virginia Tech for this successful, educational program.

v Tazewell Forestry Demo Tour—Tazewell SWCD has set June 13^th, 2006 for this event. The topics for the field day will include: selling timber, harvesting and water quality, and land use / stewardship planning. Committee members need to continue to hunt $$$ for this event, possibly from SAF. Bill Miller will request funds from DOF’s water quality fund.

v Promoting Tax Credits—an article on the riparian buffer tax credit appeared in the January Forest Landowner Update—thanks to Jennifer Gagnon. Forestry Committee must continue efforts to make the tax credit procedures readily available to consulting foresters. No additional action is needed at this time.

v Forest Legacy Project—this project received the support of the NRWR, and is awaiting final consideration from the Department of Forestry. No additional action is needed at this time.

v Upcoming Events, Partner Opportunities—woodland owners’ short course planned for spring of 2006 in Grayson County. The group discussed interest in holding a woodland owners short course in the Wytheville area later in 2006 / early 2007. Forestry Committee members should evaluate the need for a short course in the coming months.

v Other Business—David Richert encouraged the Forestry Committee to share its wealth of experience. Forestry Committee members should bring “success stories,” local natural resource issues, etc. to share at future meetings.

v Next Meeting—the next meeting of the Forestry Committee will be Wednesday, May 24th at 5:00 p.m. Location TBA, possibly Wytheville Area? The Forestry Committee will review the 2005-2006 annual plan of work and create a draft 2006-2007 annual plan of work. We will also recap the April 20, 2006 critical habitats workshop. Forestry Committee members will make phone calls to generate attendance two weeks in advance of the May 24th meeting.

v Adjourned—promptly at 7:00pm.