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Agenda
November 18, 2003
The
conference was broadcast from 1:30 to 4:00 PM,
USA Central time.
Moderator:
Charlie Blinn, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota
I. What are cooperatives?
Forest
landowners and forest landowner assistance programs
Forest landowner cooperatives
Cooperatives defined
Cooperative functions
Questions from the audience
II.
Case studies: Visiting five forestry
cooperatives
Western
Upper Peninsula Forest Improvement District (Hancock, MI)
Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative (Amherst, MA)
Sustainable Woods Cooperative (Spring Green, WI)
Blue Ridge Forest Landowner Cooperative (Hiwassee, VA)
Family Forest Foundation (Chehalis, WA)
III.
Establishing a forestry cooperative
6-steps
of organizing a cooperative
Discussion of key steps
Questions from the audience
About
the presenters
Margaret
Bau has been a Cooperative Development Specialist with
USDA Rural Development for five years. Margaret provides technical
assistance on the formation and development of new cooperatives
across Wisconsin. She holds a Masters degree in economic and community
development from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the
University of Minnesota. Margaret developed an interest in cooperatives
while organizing a rural women's income generating project as
a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.
Charlie Blinn is Extension Specialist and Professor
with the University of Minnesota Extension Service and the College
of Natural Resources. His teaching and research focus on forest
management on public and private forestlands.
Paul Catanzaro is the MA Department of Conservation and
Recreation Service Forester for the Westfield and Farmington Watersheds.
He implements the MA Forest Cutting Practices Act and the MA current
use forest tax program in his district. Paul is also responsible
for providing education, outreach, and technical assistance to
private landowners, resource professionals, municipalities and
land trusts. He serves as a member of the Massachusetts Woodlands
Cooperative Resource Group, online at www.Masswoodlands.coop.
Kathryn (Katie) Fernholz is a forester at the Institute
for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and works in IATP's Community
Forestry Resource Center. Katie has a B.S. degree in Forest Resources
from the University of Minnesota. She also studied at Sheldon
Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska and the College of Saint Benedict
in St. Joseph, MN. Katie is a member of the Society of American
Foresters, Forest Stewards Guild, Forest Stewardship Council,
and the Minnesota Forest Resources Council. Katie’s roots
in sustainable agriculture and personal interest in the issues
facing rural communities and landowners has made her effective
in CFRC’s efforts to support landowner cooperation and responsible
forest management on private lands.
Pam Jakes is USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station project leader. Pam leads a group of scientists who study the human dimensions of resource management. Her research focuses on communities—how national forests interact with local communities, community dependence on natural resources, and community preparedness for wildfire. Forest landowner cooperatives are of interest not only because of the importance of community in the formation of many cooperatives, but also because cooperatives can have a major impact on forest productivity, a topic of one of the Station’s integrated research programs. Pam and her husband Don have two children, and have lived in the Twin Cities more than 30 years.
David B. Kittredge, Jr. serves on the faculty in the
Department of Natural Resources Conservation at the University
of Massachusetts – Amherst. He is the leader of the undergraduate
forestry program, and teaches the department’s course in
timber harvesting. An important part of his faculty appointment
is to serve as the state’s Extension Forester. More information
about him, and his research interests, can be found at http://www.umass.edu/forwild/faculty/kittredg.htm.
E.G. Nadeau is the director of research, planning and
development for Cooperative Development Services (CDS) and, since
February 2003, has been serving as the coordinator for WoodWorks.
Nadeau has provided strategic planning and business development
services to cooperatives and community-based organizations for
over 30 years. During the past five and one-half years he has
helped to prepare business plans and provided development assistance
to over 20 forest owner cooperatives and associations. Nadeau
has a Ph.D. in Sociology and a minor in Agricultural Economics
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mark Rickenbach is Assistant Professor in the Department
of Forest Ecology and Management at the University ofWisconsin-Madison.
He is originally from Pennsylvania and has degrees from Penn State,
UMass-Amherst, and Oregon State University. He received his doctorate
from Oregon State where he investigated the willingness of woodland
owners to cooperate across property lines to restore the habitat
of endangered salmon. Since coming to Wisconsin in 2000, his efforts
include understanding woodland owner cooperation in forest management
and mechanism by which that might occur, investigating the effects
of land tenure change on the practice and business of logging,
and developing educational and extension materials and programs
toward improving knowledge and use of private forest lands.
Eli Sagor is Regional Extension Educator with
the University of Minnesota Extension Service and College of Natural
Resources. He develops and delivers education programs for nonindustrial
private forest landowners throughout the state of Minnesota.
Kimberly Zeuli received her MS and Ph.D. in Applied
Economics at the University of Minnesota. She was an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University
of Kentucky, 1998-2001. She is currently an Assistant Professor
in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the
University of Wisconsin—Madison and Senior Faculty Associate
for the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. Her research,
teaching, and extension programs are focused on the cooperative
model, especially its relevance and application to agriculture
and rural community development.
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