by Julie Rhoads
UMCA Events Coordinator
The Missouri Tree Farm Conference, held on Feb. 28 in Lake Ozark, Mo., brought 130 landowners and professionals together to learn about topics including FLEP plans, tree identification, forest management plans, wildlife and timber marketing. Winners of the Tree Farm Program Awards were also announced.
 Landowners gather for a pre-conference best management practices workshop. |
Regional Tree Farmers of the Year included Marc and Mary Robertson, Liberty, Mo; Malinmor Hunt Club, Eolia, Mo; Stanley Wendleton, Boonville, Mo; and Richard and Esther Myers, Protem, Mo.
 From left: Gary Smith, MDC forester; John Keesey, consulting forester; Jeff Fulk, winner of the 2003 Tree Farmer of the Year Award; Bob Krepps, MDC state forester. Photo credit: Missouri Forest Products Association |
The recipient of the John P. Slusher Award was Dwight Bensend of Chillicothe, Mo. This award is given for distinguished service to the Tree Farm Program on a sustained basis. The State Tree Farmer of the Year Award was earned by the Shannondale Tree Farm of Salem, Mo.
Prior to the conference, a group of 50 tree farmers and forestry professionals gathered at a private farm near Eldon, Mo., for a Best Management Practices Workshop on watershed management led by Jason Jenson, a Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Forester from Piedmont. Participants learned how to keep sediment and other contaminants out of their waterways, and techniques for preventing erosion along stream banks, access roads and log landings on their properties.
Next year's conference will be held on February 25-26 in Columbia, Mo., at the Stoney Creek Inn. A tour on the 25th will be held at the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center located near New Franklin, Mo. For information about the 2005 conference, contact Glenda Fry at the Missouri Forest Products Association, (573) 634-3252 or email glenda@moforest.org.