Alexandria man humbled by national recognition Consulting Forester of the Year

It is a humbling experience for Steve Templin of Alexandria to be recognized nationally by the Forest Landowners Association as the Consulting Forester of the Year.

“I'm grateful to the Forest Landowners Association," he said. "It's a wonderful association of landowners throughout the United States with strong emphasis in the South.”

It may be highest award he has ever received

“I've received a number of awards throughout my career," he said. "But this is something that is very meaningful to me, and I very humbly accept the recognition.”

“I'm not surprised, but I'm very, very pleased to see that a local forester received it,” said Helen Moore, one of Templin’s clients. “He takes care of the small tree farms and the tree farms that are thousands and thousands of acres.”

Templin helps Moore manage 19 ½ acres in Grant Parish that she purchased from her father, Fred Williams. It used to be part of 160 acres owned by Moore’s grandmother and Williams’ mother, Molly Williams.

She said Templin has managed the land ever since she purchased and “has managed it with care and interest just like he would a thousand acre tree farm.”

Templin is the CEO of Templin Forestry Inc., which provides forest management services for private landowners across Louisiana.

“We provide them with forestry expertise so that they can manage their tree farms and their properties in a way to optimize the benefits to them,” Templin said. “Consulting foresters are people that work on behalf of private landowners.”

They give landowners professional representation when it’s time for them to sell timber so they can get competitive bids. They also advise them about how much timber they are selling, what they should sell and what the prices are.

“There are a lot of things about forestry that people don't know about, the technicalities. We provide them information and guide them and actually help them to get the best income from their property,” he said.

They also help them reforest their properties when it’s time to do that, he said. They also provide other services such as helping landowners make management plans so they can understand when it’s time to do something that would be helpful, what to do, how much it will cost and how it will be beneficial.

“So when people plant trees, they plant trees for basically a 25 to 30 years time period,” Templin said. “So it takes a long time to grow trees. People are making decisions about the use of their land for a long period of time.”

Templin is a certified appraiser who helps with appraisals for land and timber. He is also a real estate broker who provides his expertise to landowners to decide if they want to buy or sell property.

It’s a job he’s been doing since he graduated from college.

“So I have the same job I started with. I've been doing it for over 40 years,” he said.

Templin moved to central Louisiana in 1979 to be a consulting forester with Davis Forestry, which is based in Monticello, Ark. In 1983, the company made it possible for him to buy out the operations.

Wilderness backpacking is how Templin came to fall in love with nature, so he wanted a job that reflected that.

“I wanted to do something with nature, and I wanted to provide a service to humanity, to help people,” he said. “And I found out that in the 1970s there were such a thing as non-industrial private landowners who didn't really have anybody to help them. And that there was really a strong need for somebody to help these small, private landowners when they were selling timber, when they were doing things with their forest.”

That’s when he found out that there was “such thing as consulting forester.”

"And I said, ‘Aha!, that's what I want to do. I want to be able to help the private landowner manage their forest and help them,’” he said.

He found out that there was an integrated program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

To qualify for the program, Templin said students had to have a B average.

Students didn’t go to individual classes, he said. For a week at a time, they would study subjects like soils or hydrology for 8 hours a day with the same people.

Then they would go to separate classes where they learned how each subject related.

“And I had already learned through my backpacking and camping experience that everything's related to everything,” he said.”And that is what drew me to forestry.”

Templin said he’s very happy to have chosen his career that has helped him raise a family and educate his children while also helping people.

“I feel like I've contributed to people's lives in my profession,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Alexandria man humbled by national recognition Consulting Forester of the Year