FELTON, Del. — The 2020 Delaware Forestry Association Annual Meeting and Banquet scheduled for Thursday, March 19 at the Felton Fire Hall in Felton, Delaware is now canceled. More info on the DFA is at: delawareforest.com
For updates on coronavirus in Delaware, go to de.gov/coronavirus
For more information on the cancellation, please contact: Steve Ditmer at 410-896-9283.
FELTON, Del. — The Delaware Forestry Association’s 2019 Annual Meeting and Banquet will be held on Thursday, March 21 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Felton Fire Hall (9 E. Main St., Felton, DE 19943) Highlights will include the Delaware Tree Farm Committee’s presentation of its 2019 “Tree Farmer of the Year” Award and recognition of 25-Year Tree Farmers. The American Tree Farm System was established in 1941 and is one of the oldest forest landowner organizations. Delaware’s first Tree Farm was certified in 1959; today there are more than 200 Tree Farms covering 20,000 acres.
The DFA will also hold its annual business meeting and elect its 2019 Board of Directors. Tickets are $27 each for adults, $13.50 for ages 6 to 12.
To reserve tickets, please download the 2019 Meeting Registration Form and mail to:
Delaware Forestry Association
P.O. Box 344
Bridgeville, Delaware 19933
For more information contact:
Steve Ditmer (phone: 410-896-9283)
Delaware Forestry Association Scholarship
Each year, the Delaware Forestry Association will award a $1,000 scholarship to a full-time student who has chosen forestry or a related major and plans to enroll at a two-year or four-year accredited school program. The application deadline is April 1 and the winner will be notified by May 1. The successful applicant will receive his or her award at the Delaware State Fair on Governor’s Day.
2018 Delaware Forestry Association Scholarship winner Shawn Mitchell (center) received a ceremonial $1,000 check at the Delaware State Fair joined by (from left) his father David Mitchell, DFA director Brian Michalski, his mother Mellissa Mitchell, Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse, and Gov. John Carney.
Applicants must show financial need and academic merit. All applicants shall be in the top 25% of their class in high school, and maintain an acceptable grade point average in college. The award will be sent directly to the college in which the student is enrolled. All applicants must submit a short essay describing their personal goals and reason they feel they are deserving of this award. Applicants may be requested for a personal interview by the scholarship committee.
View the rules and download the 2019 Delaware Forest Association scholarship application
Applications may be mailed to:
Delaware Forestry Association
c/o Sam Topper
Delaware Forest Service
Redden State Forest
18074 Redden Forest Drive
Georgetown, DE 19947
The Delaware Forestry Association is inviting those interested in forestry to join the DFA or renew their membership for 2019. Members can select from one of the five membership categories and use the membership form to register.
Silent Auction … remains open until 7:45 pm
Fried Oysters, Chicken Salad, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Dumplings, Cole Slaw, Roll, Dessert, and Beverage
Announcement of Silent Auction Winners/Adjourn
BRIDGEVILLE, Del. – Douglas R. Simpson of Bridgeville is Delaware’s 2018 Tree Farmer of the Year for his longtime dedication to forest conservation and landowner education. Presented by the Delaware Tree Farm Committee, the award recognizes landowners who practice exceptional management and promote sustainable forestry. Simpson is a Delaware native who owns tree farms on approximately 700 acres in Sussex County, which were first certified in 1995. The award was given at the annual meeting and banquet of the Delaware Forestry Association at the Bridgeville Fire Hall.
Using comprehensive stewardship plans developed in partnership with the Delaware Forest Service, Simpson manages his forestland for natural beauty, wildlife habitat, water quality, and wood products. In 2009, three of his properties totaling 350 acres were selected in the initial round of conservation easements purchased in Delaware AgLands Foundation’s landmark Forestland Preservation Program; these Tree Farms are now permanently protected from development. In 2017, he exemplified his commitment to forest management education on the Delmarva Peninsula by hosting the 20-state Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters’ Cooperative Forest Management Committee at his state-of-the-art custom sawmill.
The Delaware Tree Farmer of the Year Award was presented by the Delaware Tree Farm Committee at the Delaware Forestry Association’s annual meeting in Bridgeville on March 22, 2018. The American Tree Farm System was established in 1941 and is one of the oldest forest landowner organizations. Delaware’s first Tree Farm was certified in 1959; today there are more than 200 Tree Farms covering over 20,000 acres.
For more information, contact Laura Yowell, 302-856-2893 or laura.yowell@delaware.gov.
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BRIDGEVILLE, Del. – The Delaware Forestry Association (DFA) will present its 2018 “Tree Farmer of the Year” award on Thursday, March 22, at its annual banquet and meeting at the Bridgeville Fire Hall, 311 Market Street, Bridgeville, Delaware 19933, (302) 337-7272. Tickets are $27 for adults, $13.50 for children ages six to 12, and free for children under six. Reservations are kindly requested by March 16.
Registration forms are available online in the current edition of the DFA Winter Newsletter. Checks should be made payable to the “Delaware Forestry Association” and sent to: Delaware Forestry Association, P.O. Box 344, Bridgeville, DE 19933. For more information, contact: Steve Ditmer (phone: 410-896-9283).
The 2018 DFA Meeting Agenda:
Delaware’s Tree Farm Committee is part of the American Tree Farm System, founded more than 75 years ago to recognize landowners who practice proper forest stewardship by developing comprehensive management plans for diverse objectives such as wood products, wildlife habitat, water quality, and recreation.
Highlights from the 2017 DFA Annual Meeting and Tree Farmer of the Year Award
The Delaware Forestry Association is also offering its annual $1000 scholarship to a student who chooses forestry or a related major at a two-year or four-year accredited college or university. Applications are due by April 1 and the winner will be notified by May 1. Students will be eligible for up to 4 years of undergraduate study, upon reapplying, meeting the requirements, and being selected. All applicants must show financial need and academic merit. All applicants shall be in the upper 25% of their class in high school and maintain at least a 2.75 grade point average in college, based on a 4.0 scale. Scholarship money can be applied toward tuition, room and board, or books. The money will be sent directly to the college in which the student is enrolled. All applicants must submit a short essay describing their personal goals and reasons they feel they are deserving of this award. Applicants may be requested for a personal interview by the scholarship committee. The successful applicant will receive his or her award on Governor’s Day at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington.
Application forms can be downloaded at: http://delawareforest.com/scholarship. For more information, contact: Sam Topper at (302) 856-2893 or sam.topper@delaware.gov.
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Honored for work in conservation and education
Leslie Merriken received Delaware’s 2017 “Tree Farmer of the Year” award for her extensive work in forestry conservation and education at the Delaware Forestry Association annual meeting in Bridgeville. The honor recognizes landowners who practice exceptional management and promote sustainable forestry. The American Tree Farm System was established in 1941 and is one of the oldest forest landowner organizations. Delaware’s first Tree Farm was certified in 1959; today there are more than 200 Tree Farms covering over 20,000 acres.
For the past 30 years, Merriken has been a forceful advocate for forest stewardship planning and multiple resource management embodied by the Tree Farm model: “Wood, Water, Recreation, Wildlife.” She owns and manages more than 1,000 acres in Delaware that have been in the Merriken family for generations and are recognized by the Delaware Century Farm program: the historic 600-acre Fairplay Farm near Greenwood and the 440-acre California Farm west of Harrington, which dates to 1752.
Merriken grew up on a dairy farm but got involved in forestry through her late husband Cal, whose family began farming in the First State after arriving from England in the 1680s. She attended her first Tree Farm meeting in 1988, began serving on the State Forest Stewardship Committee in 1999, and joined Delaware’s Tree Farm Committee in 2000.
Her active approach to forest management was recently featured in the September 2016 edition of USDA’s “Profiles in Conservation,” where she related her passion for natural resources, forestry, and wildlife:
“The forestry part, with long-range goals, is for timber income, wildlife, and my own personal satisfaction,” she said. “There’s nothing better after a stressful day than to come out to these farms and just sit there. I find it very peaceful.”
This past year, she completed a successful 245-acre thinning that accounted for the presence of bald eagle nests. She partnered with the Delaware Forest Service to begin work on a 300-acre timber stand improvement project. In addition, she received funding from NRCS to improve oak species on a 23-acre tract to enhance wildlife habitat.
A strong supporter of education, Leslie has hosted tours at her Delaware Tree Farms and attended a variety of local, regional, and national Tree Farm meetings, among them: the 50th Anniversary Tree Farm meeting at Cape Henlopen in 1991; the first annual National Tree Farmer Convention in Williamsburg, VA; and national conventions in Ogunquit, Maine and Savannah, GA.
She regularly shares her firsthand experience with other landowners and forestry professionals, such as a recent talk on the benefits of quality deer management and diversion food plots at the 2017 Delaware Ag. Week sessions in Harrington. She encourages landowners to practice whitetail deer management through the Quality Deer Management Association because it has helped her to diversify income on her Tree Farms while also promoting healthy population levels for deer herds.
Merriken’s pioneering work on deer diversion food plots was featured in a Feb. 2015 article of “American Agriculturalist,” which outlined how she helped develop an innovative solution to minimize deer browse damage to the cash crops near her woods. She had found that 13 years of participating in Delaware’s Severe Deer Damage Assistance Program had not fully addressed the issue.
“We saw no substantial reduction of deer browse on our crops,” recalled Leslie Merriken. “We reached a point where additional deer harvesting wasn’t effective.”
So she worked with farmer Richard Carlisle of Bridgeville and wildlife expert Latty Hoch to plant diversionary food crop plots along the most heavily browsed areas of the farm. Non-irrigated, odd shaped areas lying adjacent to the farm’s pine plantations with poor soils were chosen. Fifty-foot-wide strips of clover and alfalfa were planted between the cropland and the pine plantations.
When the improvement in yield was measured against the amortized costs of planting along with the reduction in acreage, the project was nevertheless deemed a success. In the first year, an 80% reduction of corn browse damage was observed.
Merriken’s outstanding dedication to forestry has earned her this accolade before: in 2007, she shared the Tree Farmer of the Year award with her husband Cal, who passed away in 2008. Calvert Merriken himself first won the award back in 1978.