The Southern Group of State Foresters held its annual summer meeting in Charleston, S.C., July 25-28 to review and update its strategic plan for the coming year, finalize grant proposals, and share ideas and best practices.
Outgoing committee chair Wendy Burnett, director of public relations for the Georgia Forestry Commission, declared it one of the “most productive meetings in recent memory, mainly because of our ambitious agenda.” The meeting and its resulting agenda set the tone for a creative outpouring of messaging that will bolster SGSF’s leadership in southern forestry issues as well as increase public awareness of forestry’s importance.
Critical to the committee and SGSF’s goals is the creation of a video, which details the benefits of the 88-year old Forest Inventory and Analysis program. This “forest census” program is foundational to all forestry decisions made by civic leaders, community planners, and industry. This video will be leveraged for additional financial support from elected officials and congressional appropriation leaders. This video is part of a larger series of broad forestry education and outreach videos that will begin to take shape in the next year.