I represent Wisconsin Society of American Foresters on the Wisconsin Council on Forestry.
The July 30, 2015 meeting of the Wisconsin Council on Forestry included a tour of the Kettle Moraine Hardwoods (Hartford, WI) with the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council. Kettle Moraine Hardwoods saws urban logs into unique wood products.
A committee was formed to develop the guidance and operating procedures for the DNR Division of Forestry dispute resolution process for any conflict on property with oversight from the DNR. Charles Mentzel is representing SAF on this committee.
SAF has the lead for the Forest Economic Summit Goal #7. Goal 7 is: “Build and foster a coordinated working relationship between primary wood manufacturers and public and private forest management professionals with regards to economic and ecological considerations and the role and impacts of guidelines, policies and regulations.”
This initiative has a couple of action items but the one I would like to focus on is creating a template for stakeholder meetings to discuss issues affecting the forest industry. Mark Rickenbach from UW-Extension is willing to help us develop the template. Here is a draft statement I’ve proposed as a starting point on this project:
The template design is intended for a series of meetings held regionally, either as a stand-alone meeting or in combination with another similar meeting (such as a DNR training session, SAF chapter or state meeting, GLTPA, etc). Each meeting will focus on one specific issue, presenting two sides of each issue and allowing for interactive communication between meeting participants. The meeting goal is to have everyone understanding the issue better from both sides, an exchange of contact information and one of the following:
- An agreement to either continue dialog with interested parties to effect a change or modification of a guideline, regulation, etc.
- Change is not pursued and each party agrees with the requirement. Meetings may be held on any issue of concern but the best time to address an issue is before guidelines, rules, regulations, laws, etc. are finalized.
