Arbor Day should be used to teach about being good stewards of our forests, not just planting a tree
As someone who’s been in the forestry industry for more than two decades, traditional Arbor Day celebrations haven’t always resonated with me. While planting a tree symbolizes our shared commitment to protect natural resources for future generations, the truth is it takes more than symbolism to do this. Planting a tree may be a good start—but who will protect and nurture that tree over the decades it takes to reach maturity?
Healthy trees require active management. At Rayonier, I lead a team of foresters to sustainably manage over 400,000 acres in coastal Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. We consider ourselves stewards of these forests, which provide sustainable timber and wood products, critical wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, and clean water.
We care for these resources so that our children and grandchildren will have them in the future. Let’s use Arbor Day as an opportunity to teach young people how to maintain these vital resources. They are our future stewards and leaders.
I’d like to share a brief overview here of the year-round work we do in the hopes that you’ll be inspired to share this information and expand the meaning of Arbor Day with us.
Planting is certainly one of the most important things we do as forest managers. Rayonier plants more than 10 million trees each year in Florida alone. But in working forests, the work starts before we ever break ground.
The process begins with genetics. Our forest research scientists breed and test tree families to select healthy growers that will thrive in southern coastal ecosystems.
Seeds from these tree families are sown in our nursery in Alabama where they become sturdy saplings before being planted in our forests.
Once planted, trees require decades of stewardship. Foresters manage to prevent pests, diseases, and fires. We use proper thinning techniques to avoid crowding the trees. We fertilize to promote healthy growth. We plan harvests so that we always have a steady amount of wood, all while replanting harvested areas.
When it’s time to harvest, we oversee activities while protecting the habitats of vulnerable wildlife species such as eagles’ nests and gopher tortoise burrows. And we establish protected wildlife corridors around waterways. Working forests must be managed with ecological impacts in mind.
As you can probably tell by now, every day is Arbor Day for foresters. And just like trees need to be replanted each generation, the forestry workforce needs to be renewed continuously.
An economic study by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences for the Florida Forestry Association shows that Florida’s forestry industry supports more than 124,000 jobs. Our industry employs equipment operators, loggers, field foresters, land managers, research scientists, firefighters, and engineers, to name some of the core forestry positions.
We’ll need workers at all education levels to keep our forests strong and healthy. For young people, forestry can provide a meaningful and solid career path.
The future of our forests depends on the next generation. Don’t miss the opportunity at Arbor Day to teach our kids about the true meaning of stewardship.
For more information about working forests, visit www.FLForestry.org.
Jeremy Flood is a Florida native and graduate of the University of Florida with a BS in Forest Management. He is the director of operations for Rayonier's Coastal Resource Unit located in Yulee, FL. Rayonier, a sustainable timber company, is responsible for 2.8 million acres of timberlands. The company owns and manages more than 400,000 acres in the state of Florida.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Arbor Day should be used to teach about being good stewards of our forests, not just planting a tree
