American Forest Foundation Blog

2011 Outstanding Educators: Honoring Excellence Deep in the Heart of Texas

Since 1994, Project Learning Tree has formally recognized the efforts of outstanding educators for their commitment to environmental education, their exemplary use of PLT, and their exceptional teaching skills.

On June 7, the second day of the Project Learning Tree conference in Montgomery, Texas, our coordinators gathered for the 2011 National Outstanding Educator awards presentation.  Check out some photos on www.facebook.com/projectlearningtree.

Southwest Wisconsin Tree Farmers, John and Sally Ouellette, Host Field Day

The iconic Driftless Area of southwest Wisconsin is famous for its rugged landscape of rivers, farms, and hardwood forests. Deep within the heart of this region lies the Dayton Ridge Tree Farm of John and Sally Ouellette, recognized as this year’s Outstanding Tree Farmers in Wisconsin.

AFF’s effort to help more land owners care for their forests

Last week I trekked South with AFF's Southern Forest Conservation Director, Paul Trianosky, to southeast Mississippi to test the waters for the Foundation’s latest pilot project.

Personal Statement to Congress Boosts Tree Farmer Voice in the 2012 Farm Bill

On May 31^st, Karen Serfass testified before Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. 

Karen, a Tree Farmer from Dafter, Michigan, spoke for both the American Forest Foundation and the 95,000 Tree Farmers the foundation works with every day.

Karen reminded the Committee that most Americans don’t realize that forests provide tremendous public benefits: clean water, clean air, wood products, and wildlife habitat.

“Tree Man” Finds Meaning and Fulfillment in his Kentucky Woods

On June 3, 1796, Andrew Lang, a young merchant from Wakefield, England, purchased 19,425 acres of land in what is now Hart County, Kentucky. Over the years, some of the property passed out of Lang’s immediate family but much of the original tract is still owned by his descendents.  

On July 2, 1963, 167 years after Lang’s original purchase, the Kentucky Division of Forestry mailed a Timber Management Plan to a 16-year-old named Charlie Williams, from which sprouted a passionate, teenaged woodland steward.  Williams is Lang’s great-great-great-great grandson.