Thank you to Alan Calfee for hosting the annual Tree Farm Inspector Field day on June 12th , at his Tree Farm in Dorset. Following a morning of Tree Farm updates and once again working on our Tree Farm elevator speeches, annual inspector awards were presented.
Andy McGovern was awarded the most Tree Farm Inspections Award for the third year in a row. Andy lives in Thetford with his wife and 3 sons, and owns and operates Tamarack Forestry Services, LLC. Thank you, Andy for your consistent commitment to the Vermont Tree Farm Program. Taking that little bit of extra time after updating a plan,
marking a timber sale or finishing a required inspection, is how he continues to receive this award every year. Thanks, Andy, for your hard work!
Ryan Kilborn was awarded the 2024 Tree Farm Inspector of the Year Award. The Inspector of the Year award is awarded based on a point system not just on number of inspections completed, but also on a forester’s service on other committees and organizations, as well as involvement in education opportunities. Ryan has worked as a forester for Meadowsend Timberlands since 2013. Ryan has served as the vice-chair of the Tree Farm Committee since 2020, and as a member of the Forest Stewards Guild. As Vice -Chair of VT Tree Farm, Ryan is responsible for leading the selection of the Tree Farmer of the Year award, and the planning for that annual Tree Farmer of the Year event. This involves reviewing nominations, visiting Tree Farms, and scoring each nomination, and much planning. Most importantly, he has handled all of these duties by
listening to the needs of the families of those Tree Farmers with grace and compassion. In 2024, Ryan also completed 4 inspections, 2 of them new Tree farms. Congratulations and thank you, Ryan!
The Tree Farm Legacy Award was presented to Ross Morgan, for his contributions to the Forestry Profession and the Vermont Tree Farm Program. In a discussion with the Committee when discussing this year’s award, someone made the comment that “he is a rock star in this neck of the woods!” Ross has been a Tree Farm Inspector since 1980, and that is the longest, still active inspector, we have in our Vermont Inspector
corps! As an inspector, he is always quick to say yes to getting an inspection completed and has also had six of his clients receive the Vermont Tree Farmer of the Year Award., with one recognized as a national regional winner. Ross has spent his entire career dedicated not only to his work as a consulting forester, but also to sharing his knowledge with students, landowners, and his local and regional community. This knowledge and insight into the needs of landowners, as well as other forest professionals, makes it obvious why Ross was a founding member of the Forest Stewards Guild. He has also been a member of Society of American Foresters since 1963 (as a student) as full member since 1978, and on the executive board for 5 years. I am not sure that we could count the number of people that Ross has connected with, taught, shared his insights into the future of our forests with, or been a mentor to in his career. His legacy of sharing the importance of taking care of our forests has been passed to many but being able to work with his daughter and son-in-law, Dawn Morgan and Rick Morrill, in their business Northern Forest Conservation Services is a real testimony to establishing a next generation legacy! Congratulations and thank you, Ross for your dedication. You are in inspiration to us all!