Coos Co. Chapter Earns Achievement Award, May 4

The Coos Chapter of the Oregon Society of American Foresters has received the Chapter Achievement Award from the state society at its annual meeting in Tigard on April 27. “The OSAF Chapter Achievement Award is presented to a chapter which has made extraordinary achievement in membership, service to members, community service, chapter management and participation in forest policy and legislation in the preceding year,” said OSAF Awards Co-Chair Tim Keith. “Our winner for 2016 is the Coos Chapter.” In 2016 the Coos Chapter hosted 10 monthly meetings to service their members and provide CFE credits for Certified Foresters. Attendance at meetings ranges from 10-25 members which translates to a 20-50% attendance rate. They launched a targeted campaign for potential members that resulted in gaining two new members. During the summer the chapter hosted a booth at the Coos County Fair to promote community presence and the forestry profession. The big event was co-hosting the 2016 OSAF Annual Meeting with the Siskiyou Chapter in April. This meeting replaced their monthly meeting and provided service to all OSAF members. This meeting had an attendance of 175 people. In 2016 the chapter nominated an OSAF Forester of the Year candidate and awarded Scott and Casara Nichols the Coos Chapter Appreciation Award. The chapter produces 10 newsletters a year which are emailed to chapter members and the OSAF webmaster for posting on the website. The chapter also has a Facebook page. In 2016 the Coos Chapter partnered with South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve for Natural Resource Days and Coos County OSU Extension in April. This event educates 5th grade students in Coos County. Over the course of a week 150-200 students, parents and teachers are educated about Forestry and Natural Resources. The chapter also participated in the National Engineer Week Student Career Fair and Dinner at Southwestern Oregon Community College. This event was an opportunity for them to promote forestry, forest engineering, and SAF. Monthly the chapter invites Southwestern Oregon Community College forestry students to meetings and the chapter will purchase their meal for the evening. The chapter participates in a number of other events and has an active policy committee. In 2016 the Coos Chapter had a full slate of officers with Shaun Harkins as the chair, Ryan Bronson Chair Elect, Greg Stone Secretary, Jim Kirkpatrick treasurer, Christiana Kittle Delegate-at-large, Casara Nichols newsletter editor, Jim Nielson policy and legislation, and Eva Bailey Education. OSAF and its 15 local chapters represent all segments the forestry profession within the state. The society includes public and private practitioners, researchers, administrators, educators, and forestry students. Its mission is to advance the science, education, technology, and practice of forestry; to enhance the competency of its members; to establish professional excellence; and to use the knowledge, skills, and conservation ethics of the profession to ensure the continued health and use of forest ecosystems and the present and future availability of forest resources to benefit society.