Forwarded by Jane Clark

From: Trees Forever [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 12:46 PM
Subject: Participation alert! Please attend upcoming meetings!

Iowa DNR Listening Sessions
We encourage you to attend one or more of the upcoming listening sessions being hosted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forestry Bureau. There are six meetings being held across Iowa, so hopefully you can find at least one of them that works for your schedule. In these challenging budget times, we must be persistent and vocal in advocating for continued support of forestry efforts in Iowa - both urban and rural. 

Of special note is that there have been attempts to do away with or change the Forest Reserve Program, which could eliminate the tax exemption in 2012 and possibly limit landowners to enrolling only 15 percent of their available acres. There is also some discussion about penalizing landowners who enroll in the Forest Reserve Program and lease-hunt their enrolled acres.  Other pressing concerns include the need for additional funding to help communities and landowners with Emerald Ash Borer and other Forest Health issues, like Walnut Canker.

Meetings, times and locations:

 October 11, 7:00 p.m.
 State Forest Nursery, 2404 South Duff Ave., Ames
 
October 13, 7:00 p.m.
 E.C. Lyons Interpretive Center, Mines of Spain State Park, 8991 Bellevue Heights, Dubuque 

October 18, 7:00 p.m.
Pin Oak Marsh Center, South of Chariton on Hwy 14 

October 20, 7:00 p.m.
Loess Hills State Forest, 206 Polk St, Pisgah

The sessions are expected to run about two hours. There will be a 30 minute presentation followed by an opportunity to step up to a microphone and provide your comments, which will be recorded, transcribed and provided to legislators. Individual comments will be limited to three to five minutes.

We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about forestry in Iowa and provide comments to guide our future. Please let us know if you have questions. Your attendance and involvement is very important—and that is why we were successful during this last legislative session.

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