Plum Creek Florida
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Plum Creek Hosting Community Workshops to “Envision Alachua”
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Alachua County is the home base for all of Plum Creek’s Florida operations. More than 10 percent of Plum Creek’s Florida timberlands (about 65,000 acres) are located within the borders of Alachua County. |
Plum Creek regularly evaluates its holdings to identify those that may be suitable for future uses other than timber. In Alachua County, Plum Creek’s ongoing planning process moves forward this month with an open community discussion and exploration of potential economic development and conservation opportunities on our lands. Envision Alachua brings business and community leaders, environmentalists and academics and other stakeholders together for an open dialogue addressing challenges and opportunities, particularly in East Alachua County. Through a series of task force meetings, educational forums and community workshops, they will address questions that can create a vision for the county’s future:
- How can we expand economic activities and attract investment for a more robust and sustainable economy?
- What land uses are preferred to attract cutting edge companies competing in a global economy?
- How can we minimize impacts of future growth and conserve open lands for future generations?
The Task Force, composed of 29 community, environmental and business representatives, will meet six times during the visioning process. Four educational forums will feature regional and national experts who will speak on related topics. Community members can offer comments throughout the process, including two community workshops designed to obtain public feedback on the preliminary vision and goals for Envision Alachua. The holistic approach to planning is focused on accommodating growth and economic development while optimizing habitat protection and conservation of natural resources.
All meetings will be open to the public on a space available basis. To learn more and find out how you can get involved, visit www.envisionalachua.com.
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY
From Seed to Seedling: Genetics Research Breeds “Happy Trees” |
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Senior Resource Forester Bill Schlitzkus [left] and Senior Manager for Planning Greg Galpin [right] examine a healthy seedling – and future “happy tree” – at Plum Creek’s research test plots near Gainesville, FL. |
What makes a tree happy? Being healthy, of course. Plum Creek foresters will tell you that you can pick out a “happy tree” – as we like to call them – by its lush, deep-green-colored top and towering straight trunk, its rapid growth, and strong will to fight off disease. These trees are models of what every tree should be; that’s why Plum Creek is working to make every tree a happy one.
“We call ourselves tree breeders,” said Paul Belonger, manager of forest genetics for Plum Creek. “Our tree improvement cooperatives across the nation use genetic research to develop straight-stemmed, faster-growing trees with an increased resistance to disease. These are top factors that foresters value when it comes to efficiently producing quality timber.”
Originating in the 1950s, genetic improvement efforts in the Southern United States identified superior-looking trees in natural stands of slash and loblolly pine with the goal of finding genetically superior trees that would parent seedlings with the same characteristics. Parents that produced the best-quality offspring were then grafted into seed-producing orchards to fuel the regeneration process and continually produce superior seedlings.
These basic procedures are still followed today – in fact, our regional seed orchards were established by grafting outstanding selections chosen for their superior growth, disease resistance, straightness and branching characteristics.
Over time, developments in technology have refined the process and scientific research has opened the door to future possibilities. Our tree improvement group, on its own and in conjunction with regional tree improvement cooperatives, explores these opportunities and feed the company’s seed orchard operations, which supply superior seed for all of the seedlings Plum Creek grows.
A large part of the tree improvement program is dedicated to the fast growing, shorter rotation species where company ownership is largest. Approximately 55 million loblolly and slash pine seedlings are planted on our Southern lands every year, making tree improvement research on these species an extremely valuable endeavor.
In Florida, we partner with the University of Florida's tree improvement cooperative that has existed since 1953. The co-op studies the breeding of slash and loblolly pine and tests them for genetic improvement — an ongoing process that reaps many rewards for the future of our forestry practices.
A major discovery has been that Florida loblolly is one of the fastest growing pines. However, when compared to slash pine, one of this species’ weaknesses is its somewhat less-attractive appearance. The co-op is working to improve the species’ aesthetic quality through breeding, while enhancing growth rates even more, to create a “super tree” with both looks and growth speed. The co-op staff also works with Plum Creek on the design of in-house field trials and the analysis of research results.
Other regional tree improvement cooperatives across the country include Plum Creek partnerships with North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University, and Oregon State University.
All of our tree improvement genetic research projects fall in line with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) standards practiced on our nearly 6.8 million acres of timberlands across the country. Genetically enhancing trees to grow quicker, while breeding them to maintain superior traits, allows more healthy seedlings to be planted – and brings more “happy trees” to life.
IN THE NEWS
Florida Trend Spotlights Plum Creek in Top 10 Largest State Landowners Issue |
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“[Plum Creek] entered Florida in 2001, when it merged with Georgia-Pacific Timber Company. With 590,000 acres stretching into 22 of the states counties, Plum Creek crowns FLORIDA TREND’s list of the top 10 private landowners in Florida” – Florida Trend, April 2011 |
In April, Florida Trend published a story featuring Florida’s top 10 largest landowners. Plum Creek— with nearly 590,000 acres across the state—was highlighted in the article.
The story illustrates the impact Florida’s largest landowners have on the state’s future economic growth and development. The article notes that Plum Creek, like many of the other companies topping the list, plan to remain primarily agricultural businesses despite some development plans.
Read a reprint of the story online HERE.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
16 Graduating Florida High School Students Receive Scholarships from Plum Creek |
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Senior Resource Forester Randy Rackowski presents scholarship awards to Flagler County students Elizabeth Wang and Michael Nahirny. |
Each year Plum Creek awards scholarships to high school students planning to pursue higher education. This year 16 scholarships were awarded in Florida. The scholarships recognize students who demonstrate academic excellence, involvement in school and community activities, and overall achievement throughout their high school careers. Congratulations to:
Bryce Sperling of Alachua County – University of Florida
Caitlin Neill of Alachua County – Davidson College
Anna Mazzuoccolo of Alachua County – University of Florida
Matthew Hughes of Alachua County – Davidson College
Elizabeth Wang of Flagler County – University of Pennsylvania
Michael Nahirny of Flagler County – Stetson University
Ryley Couch of Levy County – Santa Fe Community College
Katelyn Norris of Levy County – College of Central Florida
Natalie Miaoulis of Levy County – Santa Fe Community College
Ernie Silcox IV of Putnam County – Saint John’s River State College
Heather Payne of Putnam County – Florida State University
Heather Mutchie of Putnam County – University of West Florida
Taylor Maloy of Putnam County – Flagler College
Courtney Adams of Putnam County – University of Florida
Taylor Alexander of Putnam County – Saint Johns River Community College
Anastasia Calhoun of Putnam County – Saint Johns River Community College
| Plum Creek Funds Support Peer Mentoring Program for Putnam County School District |
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Interlachen High School student Taylor Alexander receives a Plum Creek Foundation Grant for nearly $9,000 to support the BE THE LINK peer-mentoring program. |
Freshman year of high school can be an overwhelming experience for any student. To ease that transition, the Plum Creek Foundation made a donation of almost $9,000 to the Putnam County School District in support of a freshmen orientation program at Interlachen High School called BE THE LINK. The peer-mentoring program will make the move to high school a little easier by relieving some of the anxiety that comes along with being a freshman.
“High school is one of the most important times in a child’s life. It’s a critical turning point along the road to adulthood that helps shape the type of person you ultimately become,” said Chris Etherton, senior resource forester for Plum Creek, who presented the check contributing to the program. “We are proud to help create a positive, welcoming environment for the students at Interlachen High School.”
Congratulations to the following other recent Plum Creek Foundation grant recipients in Florida:
Putnam County School District – Palatka
Union County Public Library – Lake Butler
Chipola Healthy Start Coalition – Marianna
Cross Creek Volunteer Fire Department – Island Grove
Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center – Gainesville
East Gainesville Development Corporation – Gainesville
Twenty Pearls Foundation – Gainesville
City of Alachua – Alachua
City of Williston – Williston
Community Safety Coalition – Marianna
Life Management Center – Bay, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun & Holmes Counties
Reichert House Youth Academy – Gainesville
Conservation Trust for Florida
Current Problems – Suwannee River Basin
Florida Earth Foundation
Putnam Land Conservancy – Alachua & Putnam Counties
Black on Black Crime Task Force – Gainesville
Communities in Schools of Florida – Bay, Bradford, Clay, Gadsden, Putnam & St. Johns Counties
Cinema Verde: Environmental Film and Arts Festival – Gainesville
As Plum Creek’s resource supervisor in Florida, Ben Dow is responsible for the sustainable forest management of the nearly 590,000 acres of timberland the company owns and manages across the state.
Dow joined the company in 2007 as a senior resource forester working out of Greenwood, South Carolina. He moved to Florida in January 2011 to assume his current position.
His career began as an operations forester with Irving Woodlands LLC in Maine, where his responsibilities gradually grew over time from a summer intern to a planning forester.
Dow holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in forestry from the University of Maine. He is a member of the Florida Forestry Association and the Society of American Foresters. |
