Outstanding Landowner of the Year
Outstanding Landowner of the Year
The landowner of the year award was developed to recognize outstanding stewardship of private forest lands. Landowners who actively implement forestry related activities including silviculture, insects and disease, fuels, BMPs and habitat enhancement on their lands, as well as promote landowner education/outreach and community service programs.
2023 Landowner of the Year
Marc and Nancy Nichols
Foxborough, WY
The Nichols purchased their 25 acre property in 1999. The forest had been severely high-graded previously so they set to work, starting with defensible space around the cabin they built. In 2018 they received a Forest Stewardship Plan and have completed timber stand improvement throughout their forested acres since. In 2020 the Mullen fire burned their entire property but the management that had occurred helped save their structures and almost all of their forest.
The Nichols' story was featured in the summer 2021 edition of Barnyards and Backyards.
CONTACT:
Jonathan Sloan
Senior Resource Forester
307-941-0352
OR
Your Local WSFD District Office
2022 Landowner of the Year
Tim and Dawn Pexton (Saddleback Ranch, Inc.) received the 2022 award. They have been managing their forest resources for nearly 40 years, and received their first Forest Stewardship Plan in 1992. They are very diligent in trying to follow the forest management recommendations outlined in their management plan and work closely with Wyoming State Forestry Division personnel to make sure projects are lined out and implemented. Projects have included commercial harvest sales, as well as timber stand improvement, pre-commercial thinning, hazardous fuels reduction and aspen enhancement projects. Tim and Dawn have a long track record of not just implementing forest management practices on their property, but promoting forest management with other landowners. They lead by example and make their property available for educational purposes and as demonstration areas for other landowners to view first hand various implemented forest management practices.
2014 Wyoming Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year
On February 12, 2015 Charles Pearson was honored as 2014 Wyoming Tree Farmer of the Year. The award recognizes outstanding sustainable forest management on family owned woodlands. A tree farmer since 1992, Mr. Pearson, a third generation rancher, learned the value of forest stewardship from his father, who taught him that sustainable management would provide the family with income, lumber for buildings, corrals and fences and firewood to heat their home. Pearson is passing on the stewardship principal to the next two generations. Both his sons and grandchildren are active on the property and with forest management. Three generations of the Pearson family attended the ceremony.
2013 Wyoming Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year
While we all do our part to conserve our nation’s greatest asset, we are proud to honor individuals who go above and beyond in their commitment to responsible forest management. ATFS recognizes the superior stewardship of its members through the annual Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year recognition program. These landowners are recognized for their remarkable efforts to enhance and sustain their forests and for spreading the practice of sustainable forestry.The Wyoming Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year is chosen from the nominations submitted by the certified tree farm inspectors. On January 30, 2014 the Wyoming Tree Farm Committee honored Paul and LuAnn Jacobson as 2013 Wyoming Tree Farmers of the Year.
STIHL, Inc. is the exclusive sponsor for this award and the sole lightweight outdoor power equipment provider for ATFS.
2012 Wyoming Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year
On January 4, 2013 the Wyoming Tree Farm Committee honored Dick and Bernie Terry as 2012 Wyoming Tree Farmer of the Year. This award recognizes outstanding sustainable forest management on family owned woodlands. The Terry family was first certified twenty-one years ago and they are also recognized under the Forest Stewardship program. The family is committed to being good stewards of our natural resources as they practice sustainable forestry both on a personal level and professional level. Dick is an Assistant District Forester at Wyoming State Forestry Division as well as a Tree Farm inspector. Terry’s daughters, Juliann and Bailey are both in natural resource fields as well. Family forest owners like the Terry family exemplify how the American Tree Farm System grows stewardship from the roots.