March 21–International Day of Forests

 “March 21–International Day of Forests” with guest blogger, Tim Livingston.

I can’t think of anyone I’d rather hear discuss International Day of Forests than Tim Livingston.  He’s the forester artist who blogs here:  http://theforesterartist.com/

Here’s Tim with lots to share…

International Day of Forests

International Day of Forests is a day designated by the United Nations to promote the importance of trees and forests in our lives.  A worthy cause in my book for sure.  In the United State we’re fortunate to have a mature forestry profession.  I feel blessed to be a part of it.

In contemplating what this day means to me, I reflect back on experiences that I’ve had. I have only practiced forestry in the United State, but I’ve had opportunities to interact with forestry professionals from other countries a few times during my career.

Once, we were visited by a group of forestry professionals from Mexico. They toured our facilities and our woods operations. It was a positive experience for them and I hope they gained knowledge from us that they were able to put to good use. I’ve also had opportunity to tour a Mexican manufacturing facility during my tenure. It has been enlightening to see how things are done by our southern neighbor.

We were also visited by a New Zealand forester who came to instruct us in the fine art of pruning conifers to enhance wood quality. It sounds simple enough, but the New Zealanders had developed pruning to a fine art. We learned a lot that we put into practice in our own forests.

Sharing forestry knowledge across borders benefits us all. Even when we think we are ones teaching, we are also learning.

I was at Humboldt State University as a student when I had my most memorable international forestry moment. We were visited by a forestry exchange student from a Central American country. He was taking forestry classes for one quarter at HSU. I can’t remember which country he was from, but he had never been this far north. It was a cold December day when a student walked into the Forestry Building lounge and announced it was snowing. Our exchange student bolted for the door. Snow doesn’t fall in Arcata very often. It’s a low elevation coastal town. We students got up to go see the snow. When we stepped outside, here was our exchange student standing in the middle of the street spinning around with his arms and tongue out catching snowflakes. He was so excited and told us he had never seen snow before. It was a moment. The moment really had nothing to do with forestry, except that it was forestry that brought us all together.

 

It’s International Day of Forests, so hug a tree. Then tell it thank you for all the wonderful things trees provide for us. The world would be a lot less comfortable and beautiful without trees.

Thanks so much, Tim Livingston for all you do to keep our forests healthy and beautiful.  Happy International Day of Forests, everyone!

Readers, if you’ve ever observed forests in other countries, I hope you will comment on how they are like your own and how they are different.

Thanks for visiting.  Come again soon and bring a friend.  Children 13 years old or older may leave a comment. Read more about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. (COPPA) See: http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm