MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Connie Robinson-Clemons has made history this year as the first-ever Kansas forester to be named the North Central Region’s Tree Farm Inspector of the Year. She and the nation’s three other regional winners received their award at the 2009 National Tree Farm Convention in Washington, D.C.

Robinson-Clemons represents the Kansas Forest Service (KFS) in the state’s southeast district, working out of Iola, Kan. She was competing against hundreds of foresters in the region’s other, more woodland-rich states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“Inspections can be the least of what these folks do,” said Larry Biles, KFS state forester. “Outreach and education are central. In Kansas, inspectors also let landowners know about cost-share programs. They provide systematic plans and technical support for riparian area plantings, for tree stand and wildlife habitat improvements, and responsible tree harvests.

“Connie’s only been a Kansas inspector since 2003, yet she’s already enrolled 44 landowners into the American Tree Farm System.”

For almost 50 years, the not-for-profit American Tree Farm System has been recognizing Kansas landowners who both manage and protect their woodlands and other natural resources, Biles said. The program has evolved, however, into today’s forest certification system with local inspectors as the program’s on-site representatives.

To become a certified Tree Farmer, landowners must meet internationally accepted standards of stewardship. Kansas now has 140 landowners who’ve been certified as “green,” due to their efforts in practicing sustainable forestry, Biles said.

“You’ll recognize their well-managed holdings by diamond-shaped, green-and-white signs that say either ‘Certified Family Forest’ or ‘Certified Tree Farm,’” he said. “Tree Farmers also can label wood products from their certified land, to let customers know those products come from someone who believes in and practices superior forest management. As Connie would be the first to say, certified woodlands offer both environmental and financial benefits.” 

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