October 21, 2002
Communities need technology, training for complexities of today’s forestry
NOTE: Board members for the Rural Technology Initiative work in Aberdeen, Camas, Castle Rock, Chewelah, Colville, Ethel, Friday Harbor, Forks, Nespelem, Olympia, Tacoma, Toppenish and Twisp. See list at end of release.
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A University of Washington and Washington State University program helping rural communities gain access to the latest technology and training for managing woodlands has received the highest national award for private-forestry education given by the National Woodland Owners Association and the National Association of Professional Forestry Schools and Colleges.
The Rural Technology Initiative was launched two years ago by the UW’s College of Forest Resources and WSU’s Department of Natural Resources Sciences and Cooperative Extension because managing forests under today’s increasingly complex considerations and regulations is extremely dependent on technology.
For example, state rules about forest areas closest to streams, called the riparian zone, have changed in response to concerns about endangered salmon. Landowners, workers and land managers in rural communities need such things as remote sensing devices to map riparian areas, computerized landscape-management tools to determine options and specialized forestry equipment for use in those areas.
“The basic scientific knowledge needed to manage forests is far ahead of the capacity to convert the knowledge to useable technologies, to make the technologies accessible to rural areas and to train people to use those technologies,” says Bruce Lippke, director of the Rural Technology Initiative and UW professor. The program’s Web site at http://www.ruraltech.org/ is loaded with information and tools.
“While urban areas are growing with new technologies, rural areas are hampered by difficulties in adopting new technologies,” says Don Hanley, WSU extension forester. The programs initial funding was from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service Cooperative Programs.
The National Non-Industrial Private Forestry Education Award is given annually by the National Woodland Owners Association, a nationwide organization with 32 state and 287 county chapters, and the National Association of Professional Forestry Schools and Colleges, comprised of 67 organizations across the United States that seek to advance the science and practice of forest resource management.
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For more information:
Lippke, 206-543-8684, blippke@u.washington.edu
Hanley (with WSU and based at the UW), 206-685-4960, dhanley@u.washington.edu
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Eighteen representatives of community government, tree farmers, forestry associations, tribes, forest product manufacturers, conservation districts and unions help prioritize projects undertaken by the Rural Technology initiative. They are:
Bob Dick, Washington Forest Resources, Olympia
Del Fish, Washington Hardwoods Commission, Olympia
Bill Pickell, Washington Contract Loggers, Olympia
Diane Ellison, Ellison Timber and Properties, Aberdeen
Jerry Smith, Columbia Pacific Resource Conservation & Development Council, Aberdeen
Sherry Fox, Washington Farm Forestry Association, Ethel
Everett Isaac, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Toppenish
James Doran, Town of Twisp
Mike Ferris, Okanogan Communities Development Council, Twisp
Rod Fleck, City of Forks
John Calhoun, Olympic Natural Resources Center, Forks
Will Hamilton, Independent Forest Products Association, Friday Harbor
Chan Norenberg, Washington Farm Forestry Association, Castle Rock
Dave Sweitzer, Washington Hardwoods Commission, Camas
John St. Pierre, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nespelem
Maurice Williamson, Williamson Consulting, Colville
Bob Playfair, Washington Farm Forestry Association, Chewelah
Mike Arndt, Northwest Forest Products, Tacoma
