Texas A&M Forest Service

It's International Women’s Day. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), women represent 5% of all U.S. firefighters, 11% of volunteer fire service, and 12% of federal wildland firefighters. One way to help increase the number of women in the field is to build a support network for female fire practitioners and educate our youth on career opportunities – major goals of our Sisters in Fire event. This annual event hosts young women between the ages of 12 and 18 to learn about various topics and skills relating to the wildland firefighting profession. Read about our most recent Sisters in Fire event here: https://ow.ly/Wupc50Ve2ES

Texas A&M Forest Service recently investigated a timber theft complaint, resulting in the recovery of $50,240 to a group of Panola County landowners for unpaid timber sales. The landowners entered a timber sale agreement with a timber harvesting company and were paid $21,167 for their timber, which they felt was a significantly low price based on the terms in the harvesting contract compared to the volume of timber harvested and hauled from the tract. The landowners contacted the timber theft hotline, initiating an investigation by our investigators. To prevent timber theft, landowners should visit their property frequently, have someone they know and trust report any cutting on their land immediately, never sign a contact without checking several references of the buyer, insist on getting bids for the timber, mark all property lines, use trail/deer cameras on the property, and always hold their timber contractor to the agreed upon term. ??Timber theft hotline: 1-800-364-3470 ??Read more: https://ow.ly/1bXQ50VcJcO

This week is National Invasive Species Awareness Week, and we are highlighting a few species that pose major threats to ecosystems across the state. Invasive species have two main characteristics: they are non-native to an ecosystem and their introduction is likely to cause harm to the economy, environment or human health. Invasive species can cause detrimental impacts to Texas’ landscapes and ecosystems and can potentially wipe out entire native species because they lack natural competitors, predators, and diseases that normally regulate their populations in their natural environment. Texas A&M Forest Service works to mitigate the spread and impacts of invasive species through proactive forest health management strategies. The agency also partners with other research organizations to track the spread of invasive pests, diseases and tree species. Learn more: https://ow.ly/TSAl50V5pO7

On Thursday, Joel Hambright, Texas A&M Forest Service Regional Operations Chief, received the 2024 Texas A&M University Board of Regents Fellow Service Award. This is the highest honor annually presented by the Texas A&M University System to 12 extension, research and service members for their exemplary professional service to society that has created large and lasting benefits to Texas and beyond. Hambright began his career with the agency 31 years ago as a District Forester in Cleveland, and since then has served as a District Forester and Regional Forester. He now serves as a Regional Operations Chief, where he oversees the operations of agency programs within 13 Southeast Texas counties. One of Hambright’s most pivotal accomplishments at the agency is his role in the development of the Texas Forest Expo, a two-day, hands-on workshop for landowners and homeowners near Houston to manage their property and make sustainable development decisions. These efforts created a platform for forestry professionals, researchers and stakeholders to showcase innovative practices, elevating awareness of sustainable forestry statewide. Read more: https://ow.ly/xRsm50UVMjT

Yesterday, Travis Zamzow, Texas A&M Forest Service Chief Financial Officer and Associate Director, Finance, received the 2024 Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Fellow Service Award. This is the highest honor annually presented by the Texas A&M University System to 12 extension, research and service members for their exemplary professional service to society that has created large and lasting benefits to Texas and beyond. Zamzow began his career at Texas A&M Forest Service as a Senior Staff Accountant in 2003, and from 2004 to 2024 he served as the agency’s Budgets and Accounting Department Head. In 2024, Zamzow was named CFO and Associate Director, Finance. He has over 32 years of experience in accounting and finance and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Texas A&M University. He has led the preparation of the agency’s annual operating budgets and financial reports, improved the effectiveness of the department’s operations, and managed the processing of over $820 million in emergency response finances. Zamzow has also led the agency’s legislative appropriation requests process for 12 years. Read more: https://ow.ly/WuCk50UVM2W

This year, we have awarded over $951,000 to 168 landowners to conduct prescribed fires, treating 35,138 acres. Prescribed fire is the most effective and efficient land management tool for decreasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires by reducing hazardous fuels. We offer four different grants to landowners to complete prescribed fires on private lands across the state, each with unique goals, and they all reimburse landowners up to $30 per acre, for a maximum of 800 acres per recipient. Residents in the Panhandle and West Texas are eligible for the State Fire Assistance for Mitigation - Plains Prescribed Fire grant. The remaining available grants focus on East and Central Texas and include the Community Protection Program grant, State Fire Assistance for Mitigation – Central and East Texas grant and Neches River and Cypress Basin Watershed Restoration Program – Prescribed Fire grant. Read more and find future grants: https://ow.ly/MZKH50UV04X

Yesterday, Texas A&M Forest Service and Texas Forestry Association received the 2024 Blue Legacy Award – Legacy of Commitment at the Water for Texas Conference by the Texas Water Development Board. This award recognizes the partnership that we have with TFA to administer the Texas Forestry Best Management Practices program. East Texas has 13.7 million acres of forestland. The forest sector contributes over $41.6 billion to the state’s economy and is a key provider of jobs and economic activity for rural areas. The Texas Forestry BMP program was established in 1989 to address nonpoint source pollution in Texas by relying on a proactive, non-regulatory market-based approach to protect water resources while promoting sustainable production of forest products. The Texas Forestry BMP program has resulted in the establishment of over 1.4 million acres in forested streamside management zones—areas near water that are managed to protect water quality. Annually, the program prevents 9,685 tons of sediment from reaching streams, lakes, and rivers. 3,700 logging contractors and 7,250 landowners have been educated through this program. ?? Read more: https://ow.ly/W1Zh50UQkFR?

Save the date for the 2025 Texas Timber Tax Workshop—February 4-5, 2025. This two-day workshop will cover basic information on timber taxation and the latest changes to tax laws and rules for 2024 tax return preparations. This is the 18th year of the workshop, and it is designed for landowners, foresters, CPAs, appraisers, tax professionals, attorneys, and anyone interested in timber taxes. This workshop also qualifies for CFE (Foresters), CLE (Loggers), CPE (CPAs), and CPT (Property Tax Professionals) training hours. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/g4b9sKB4

Shruthi Srinivasan, Texas A&M Forest Service Geospatial Analyst and Texas A&M University lecturer, was recently featured as one of the Young Geospatial Professionals to Watch in 2025 by xyHt Magazine. Srinivasan provides geospatial expertise at national-level disasters, performs timely spatial analyses, and develops geospatial applications to facilitate informed decision making in forest resource protection and management. She is among the first group of scientists to conduct a NASA-funded study and has developed innovative algorithms to model above-ground biomass changes using multi-temporal lidar data. Srinivasan has also built a strong record of publications with more than 650 global citations, and she serves on the editorial board of several highly acclaimed journals.

Earlier this week, Hughes Simpson, Texas A&M Forest Service Assistant Director, External Relations, received the Public Service in Forestry Award from Texas A&M University Vice Chancellor Dr. Jeffrey Savell. Simpson began his career with the agency in 2000 as a Forester in Lukin. Since then, he has served in several forestry leadership positions within the agency. Most recently, he served as the Forest Resource Development COO. During his time at the agency, Simpson helped develop Texas Forest Info, Texas A&M Forest Service Leadership Institute, and Texas Partnership for Forests and Water. He has also been instrumental in landowner outreach and education through Best Management Practices programs that provide resources to landowners, foresters, and loggers. Simpson is a member and has served in leadership positions of organizations like the Texas Forestry Association, Society of American Foresters, and Texas Society of American Foresters. Read more: https://ow.ly/yuFR50UEmnN