WVFA Mountain State Forestry Winter 2020-21

F E A T U R E D N E W S www.wvfa.org Winter 2020-2021 | West Virginia Forestry Association Mountain State Forestry 9 WEST VIRGINIA AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY HALL OF FAME recently inducted WVFA Board Members, Terry Jones as the newest members of this prestigious group of West Virginians. Terry’s career has spanned over 30 years as a Forester with the West Virginia Division of Forestry, WVDNR, Wildlife Resources National Forest Coordinator and Staff Forester, and as a Private Consulting Forester. We asked Terry to provide some insights about how the practice of forestry has evolved during his career. 1 What do you see as the most critical need for landowners to plan and implement science-based forestry practices? There are many problems facing forest owners. I feel the most important and overlooked problem is the increase of nonnative invasive pests and plant species (NNIS) within the forest environment. Although several organizations are addressing the issue with forest landowners, the majority of the public is oblivious to the problems. Many foresters either ignore or just don’t know what to do about NNIS. Much of the forest land in WV is a result of coal mining, oil and gas exploration, and abandoned farmland, all conducive environments for the spread and development of NNIS. Years of intermittent partial cutting, along with high grading, are depleting desirable tree species and also is contributing to the establishment of NNIS. We need to do a better job of educating landowners making them aware of the importance of NNIS control plans and that control is not a one-time treatment but a perpetual management scheme. 2 Professional forestry requires having markets for the variety of products that can be produced from a forest. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced to implement professional harvesting and to improve the quality and vigor of forest stands? Landowners have greatly diversified their objectives away from traditional, commercial forest management. When I started out as a forester, the emphasis was on timber production with secondary interests in soil and erosion control and wildlife habitat. Today what was once considered secondary are becoming primary objectives especially with the influence of absentee ownerships. Ginseng, mushrooms, visual aesthetics, and recreation are increasing and taking priority over traditional forest management. When I started out, old farmland from the 50s and 60s was reverting to woodland sapling to pole size with emphasis on Timber Stand Improvement (TSI), species manipulation, selective harvesting, and fire control practices. In today’s environment, we need to reverse stand conversion and bring back more of the traditional forestry practices with a strong nonnative invasive species control plan. We used to blame most regeneration failures totally on deer and we can no longer do that. 3 Over your career, has the basic knowledge of what forestry means by the people you’ve met changed? If so, how? Technology has drastically changed people’s perspective on forestry. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) particularly has changed the daily life of foresters. Landowners can obtain forest management information at their fingertips. People are more aware of forest ecosystems and their diverse values. A forester must be cognizant of “technician landowner/foresters.” You are often weighing and debating pre-determined landowner forest management objectives as opposed to cruising the timber and preparing a management plan from the actual data. 4 Every forester seems to have a special place they’ve enjoyed working. Do you have a favorite memory of a place you’ve visited often? My favorite place in West Virginia is Kumbrabow State Forest. Northern Hardwoods and Alleghany Hardwoods make up most of the forest and represent some of the finest hardwood timber in the U.S. I began working there in 1977, initially reclaiming timber sales and cutting firewood for Terry Jones West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame Inductee M E M B E R S P O T L I G H T Terry Jones – WV Hall of Fame