No respect

Get a load of this: After being asked to help a landowner with a timber sale, your run-of-the-mill friendly neighborhood ACF consulting forester sent his standard service agreement for her approval and signature. Before executing the agreement, she wanted her attorney to "look it over," which he encouraged since, in addition to having nothing to hide, it had been written by his attorney. No problem so far. Her attorney made a suggestion which appeared to be a "I want you to know I'm doing my due diligence and earning my fee" sort of change. Nonetheless, it was acceptable. Now, here's the kicker: In a follow-up phone call, she told the ACFer that her attorney had said "You know you can do this yourself?" Being unusually fast on his feet that day, the ACFer told her "Yes, she could" and she should tell her attorney that she could also represent herself in legal matters. Boo-ya! Score one for the ACFer!

ACF donates to Mississippi Children’s Museum

From the March edition of The Voice of Forestry, the Mississippi Forestry Association's newsletter:

The Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF) has contributed $1000 to the Mississippi Children’s Museum, currently under construction in Jackson. A forestry exhibit is among the museum’s interactive areas and will offer excellent forestry education for our state’s children. ACF plans to consider further donations for the next two years. “This is such a great project that we want to do all we can to support it,” said Mike Mikell, Chairman of the Mississippi Chapter of ACF.

Biomass Potential in the South

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has issued a report on woody biomass in the South entitled "Yes We Can: Southern Solutions for a National Renewable Energy Standard." It shows there is plenty of biomass in the South to supply a renewable energy market. Many of their findings may be applicable to other regions of the nation.

To look at the report, go to: www.cleanenergy.org/images/stories/serenewables022309rev.pdf

For your consideration...

Every other year, the Mississippi Chapter sponsors a state-wide continuing education workshop. This year, they're thinking of having a two-day seminar on taxes and legal issues led by experts in the respective fields. They plan to invite all registered foresters (in Mississippi, foresters are licensed) and other professionals (e.g. CPAs). There may be as many as 200 participants! Not only will they provide continuing education for chapter members, they'll put ACF on the map with prospective members and others while making a little money. Not a bad idea.

Poll results, fyi

Q. What do you think of this ACF Chapter Services blog?
There were 59 total responses
A1. I see the potential and plan to use it. 37 responses
A2. I may use it. 21 responses
A3. I don't plan to use it. 1 response

We'll have similar polls from time to time so be sure to check back to voice your opinion.

5 Salaries You Thought Would Be Higher

Check this out, boys and girls...

http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-1106-Job-Search-5-Salaries-You-Thought-Would-Be-Higher/

Three guesses what profession is among the five!

Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade

Good news boys and girls! According to FastCompany.com, being a forester is one of the "Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade."

Here's what they had to say about foresters:

"Modern forestry a complex combination of international project finance, conservation and development. According to the World Bank, a staggering 1.6 billion people depend on the forest for their livelihoods. Foresters help local people transition from slash-and-burn to silviculture--teaching cultivation of higher-value, faster-growing species for fruit, medicine or timber, for examples while carefully documenting the impact on the environment. Deforestation, which causes around a quarter of all global warming, is also likely to be a leading source of carbon credits worth tens of billions of dollars."

For the entire article go to: http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2009/01/best-green-jobs.html

Can fame and fortune be far behind?