2009 Wisconsin Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year Recognition Program

The Wisconsin Tree Farm Committee would like to invite Tree Farmers in Wisconsin to participate in the 2009 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year (OTFY) recognition program

The deadline to submit your nomination for the 2009 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year is
March 15th, 2009.

Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year Program – Questions and Answers

1. Q: How does a person get nominated for County Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year?
2. A: Nominations can be made by any qualified inspecting forester or Land Conservation Committee representative. An inspecting forester could be a Department of Natural Resources forester, an industrial forester, a consulting forester, a forester who works for Extension or other educational organization, or even a retired forester.
3. Q: I think I’ve done a very good job of managing my Tree Farm, yet no one has nominated me. How do I get noticed?
4. A: Your inspecting forester may not be fully aware of all that you have done, so you may need to ask them to consider you for nomination. Your willingness to help the nominating forester by assimilating your Tree Farm and promotion activities can also be a big help. Many foresters are strapped for time and would not be able to sponsor a nomination  without that kind of help.
5. Q: I don’t know how to contact my inspecting forester or other foresters who may be qualified to nominate. What should I do?
6. A: Contact the Wisconsin Tree Farm Committee at 715-252-2001, or witreefarm@gmail.com  and we will be happy to provide you with a listing for your area.

Q: Can I just nominate myself?
A: You can complete a great deal of the nomination yourself, however, you will need to find a qualified forester to “sponsor” your nomination.
Q: I’m not sure what I need to do to be successful in the Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year program. Any hints?
A: Judges look at two areas. The first deals with the management activity on your Tree Farm. What have you accomplished in the areas of timber stand improvement, pruning, planting, thinning or harvesting? How much of your management plan has been completed?
Judges are also very interested in efforts you have made to encourage other woodland owners to practice good forest management and in your forestry promotion efforts to students and the general public.

Any individual or family Certified Tree Farmer is eligible to enter in Wisconsin’s program. Corporations, organizations and other entities are ineligible.

  The process begins at the County level where a Tree Farmer is nominated by an inspecting forester or a Land County Conservationist (LCC) representative. There are seventy-two Counties in Wisconsin so we could have up to seventy-two County Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year.
 
All County selections are automatically entered into the Distrcit competition. There are eight Areas in Wisconsin so we could have up to seventeen District Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year.
Area selections are asked to “beef up” their entries for determination of a State Tree Farmer of the Year.

The State OutstandingTree Farmer of the Year is encouraged to continue on into the National Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year selection process. This process will first select a Regional representative. Wisconsin shares a Region with Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio. The four Regional selections then compete for the National Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year title.

All nominations must be received by the Wisconsin Tree Farm Committee by March 15. The nomination form consists of a three page “Data Sheet” and a four page “Scoring Sheet”.  In essence, the nomination form elicits data about forestry activities on and off your Tree Farm.

Click here for a copy of the Data Sheet (.doc)
Click here for a copy of the Scoring Sheet (.doc)