Summer 2015 Idaho Tree Farm Program
204 E. Sherman Ave. • Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 • (T) 208.667.4641 • (F) 208.664.0557
www.idahotreefarm.org • admin@idahotreefarm.org

Join Us on September 12, 2015

2015-2016
Officers:

• Chair – Steve Funk
Edge Creek Tree Farm (T) 208.661.0644

• Vice Chair – Russ Hegedus
Idaho Forest Group (T) 208.255.3250

• Treasurer – Steve Cuvala
Idaho Dept. of Lands (T) 208.245.4551

• Administrator – Savannah Miller
ID Tree Farm Program (T) 208.667.4641

2015-2016
District Chairs:

• District 1 Chair – Andy Eckberg Idaho Forest Group aeckberg@idfg.com (T) 208.255.3276

• District 2 Chair – Robert Barkley Idaho Dept. of Lands
(T) 208.877.1121

• District 3 Chair – John Lillehaug
All About Forestry (T) 208.630.4076

For the ID Tree Farm Fall Tour
Baumhoff & Co. LLC in Centerville, ID
We’re Heading South… !
One of the high points in our Idaho Tree Farm Program is the annual Fall Tour of the state
Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year. We have been up in the north end of the Panhandle the past few
years, but this time around we are showcasing an ownership in the southern end of our beautiful
state. The Baumhoff family of Centerville are our Idaho Outstanding Tree Famers of the Year and
have an interesting and fun day lined up on the 3,200 acres of timberland they are pleased to call
home.

We will have some time for socializing, a box lunch sponsored by the Idaho Tree Farm Program, and
stops showing various parts of their Tree Farm operations. The site has a long history of mining
and much of the Baumhoff’s activities center around restoration in aquatic areas, some of which we
will see on the tour. Other stops will show areas of reforestation, issues associated with working
in areas of differing growing sites, some examples of precommercial thinning, and how they have put
their management objectives to work on this large ownership. It should be a great outing for all
those attending, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Here’s a look at the agenda for the day:

8:30-9:00am: Coffee Social at New Centerville’s Community Center/Fire Hall (115 Grimes Pass Road)

9:00am: Welcome and Introductions – Idaho Tree Farm Committee Chair Steve Funk and District III
Chair John Lillehaug

9:30-9:40am: Load into bus or vehicles and travel to first stop

9:45am: Grimes Creek Stream Restoration Project: Pam – Trout Unlimited

Page 2 of 6 Idaho Tree Farm Program 2015 Fall Tour (continued from
page 1)

Agenda (Continued):

(Continued on Page 2)

11:00am: Timber Stand #1: Discussion about difference in growing sites – Oscar Baumhoff and John
Lillehaug

12:00pm: Lunch @ Community Center (or bag lunch in the woods) provided by the ITFC

1:00pm: Timber Stand #2: Discussion about different ownership management objectives

2:00pm: Timber Stand #3: Precommercial Thinning Project

3:00pm: Rye Flat Tree Planting Project

3:45pm: Travel Home

Travel Information to the Baumhoff’s:

Proceed from Boise to Idaho City on Highway 21 = 40 miles, about a 50 minute drive

From Idaho City head to New Centerville (county dirt road) = 8 miles, about an 18-20 minute drive

NOTE** From Idaho City, make sure to take the Centerville Road, (not Tamarack Road, as MapQuest may
try to route you).

To allow us to plan for adequate lunches and refreshments, please RSVP by September 1 to our Idaho
Tree Farm office at: admin@idahotreefarm.org or call our Administrator, Savannah Miller, at
208-667-4641.

If you have any questions about the tour, email John Lillehaug for information at:
allaboutforestry@frontier.com

For any questions during the day of the tour (9-12-15) the Centerville phone number for information
is: 208-392-4459.

Lodging is somewhat limited in the area, but here are a few spots to consider:

Idaho City Hotel Owner – Cinda Heron 215 Montgomery Street
(208) 392-4499
http://www.idahocityhotel.

Mountain Meadow Cabin 4 Mountain Meadow Way (208) 392-4589

Mores Creek Cabins
Lindsay (Day #) – (208) 914-1020
Ray (Night #) – (208) 284-3905
www.morescreekcabins.com

Trudy’s Cabins & RV Park
3876 Hwy 21
(208) 392-4151

Mark your calendars for September 12 and make plans to meet us there!

Page 3 of 6 Idaho Tree Farm Program Idaho Tree Farm Program Assessment
Results
After much work & effort from everyone involved with our program, we are pleased to announce we
successfully made it through our program assessment! We had a few minor items and some areas for
improvement noted through the process, but no major nonconformities on any of the 24 Tree Farms
picked for review. We would like to send a special thanks to the District Chairs, Inspectors,
Consultants and Tree Farmers that took the time to meet with the audit team and answer any
questions on the ground. We had wonderful attendance at each of the sites and the auditors all
indicated our Tree Farm management plans in Idaho were some of the best they had seen anywhere in
the nation! Congratulations to all of you that helped us succeed.

As noted, we identified a few areas to improve as we went along and the Inspectors will be going
over these with those folks involved. For the benefit of all our Idaho Tree Farmers, and to help
out in future program reviews, a couple of the more common items noted were:

Acreage incorrect in the database: As you buy, sell, or bequeath property, be sure to keep your
records up to date with your Inspector. Be sure the acreage in your management plan matches the
acreage in the ATFS system. This is especially important if part of your land is also in
agriculture through a stewardship or NRCS program. Only the acres managed as Tree Farm should be
in the ATFS database. Also, remember you can have a single plan for multiple Tree Farms, but each
parcel that is noncontiguous with the others needs to have a separate Tree Farm number assigned.

Missing Plan Elements: Each item in the list of standards needs to be addressed in your management
plan. Even if something doesn’t exist on your property, (i.e. endangered species, high conservation
value forest, special sites, wetlands, etc) that needs to be noted. It could be as simple as
stating “None known to exist” with a short description of who has visited your site, any resources
consulted, and how you came to your conclusion, but it still needs to be stated. Also, on several
Tree Farms the 5 year activity plan was outdated. As we know time gets away so be sure to look your
plan over occasionally and keep it current.
Other than those few items, we were in compliance and pleased with the things the audit team had to
say.
Thanks again to all those that helped out!

New 2015-2020 Certification Standards for Your Tree Farm
As we have mentioned previously the ATFS certification standards for the 2015-2020 period are now
in effect for your Tree Farm activities. There are just a few changes from the previous standards,
but you do need to get your management plans updated to remain certified with ATFS. The new rules
can be found at: www.treefarmsystem.org under “The Standards” tab. Also, those of you that have
provided us with your email address should have been seeing updates via Constant Contact the past
several weeks with a recap of each individual standard and what it entails to you and your
management plan (thanks Kirk & Madeline David for heading this up). So far we have sent out updates
on standards 1 through 7, with just standard 8 left to go. If you wish to see copies of these
articles contact our Administrator, Savannah at 208-667-4641 or email admin@idahotreefarm.org and
we can get you a copy.

As an aid in updating your plans, the folks at our National ATFS office have made a plan addendum
available to get you up to the current standards. It can be found at www.treefarmsystem.org. Click
on “The Standards” and choose “Learn More” on the “View the New Standards” box. You will see a link
to 2015 ATFS addendum that will lead you through the update.

Page 4 of 6 Idaho Tree Farm Program

University of Idaho Experimental Forest
“Working Forests Field Day”
West Hatter Creek Unit, UI Experimental Forest Follow signs from downtown Princeton, ID Saturday,
September 26, 2015, 8:30AM – 3:30 PM

The students and faculty at the U of I Experimental Forest are constantly working to improve our
knowledge of forest ecosystems and devise the best practices for their care. Come out and spend a
day in the woods with them and see a little of what they are achieving with this interesting and
informative Field Day.
Here is some of what this event will be offering:

Workshops and Demonstrations

• Forest management planning
• Tree and shrub ID
• Dutch oven cooking
• Insects and disease
• Wildlife in managed forests
• Even and uneven-aged silviculture
• Non-timber forest products
• Radiotelemetry
• Equipment demonstrations
• Thinning and pruning
• Geocaching
• Prescribed burning primer

Research and Results Field Tour

• Fire behavior in masticated fuels
• Biomass utilization impacts
• Cost effectiveness of fuel treatments
• Using beetle-killed timber
• Birds in managed forests
• Sap flow and water use in thinned stands
• GPS tracking for harvest layout and safety in forestry and fire
• Herbicides for vegetation management in reforestation
• Small scale wood pellet production

For more information, contact:

Dr. Robert Keefe Forest Manager Assist. Prof. of Forest Operations
College of Natural Resource University of Idaho robk@uidaho.edu
(208) 310-0269

Dr. Randy Brooks Extension Forester and Professor
College of Natural Resources University of Idaho Extension rbrooks@uidaho.edu
(208) 885-6356

Bring lunch or purchase onsite for $12. Multiple field tour slots are available. For more info and
CFE and Pro-Logger credits, call 208-310-0269 or visit us online at http://www.uidaho.edu/experi
mental-forest for more information!

Registration: Registration is $30 and is due by Friday, September 18. On-site registration is
available. Registration after September 18 is $40.

The University of Idaho is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and Educational
Institution University of Idaho, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Idaho Counties Cooperating.

Page 5 of 6 Idaho Tree Farm Program
Logging Contracts and Liability Insurance
As part of the program assessment we spoke to earlier in this edition, the audit team and ATFS
staff had some suggestions for “recommended best practices” and “opportunity for improvement”.
These are not items such as the certification standards that are a must do, but rather useful
things they feel are important and would improve a Tree Farmer’s operations. One of these items
strongly suggested for routine use is having a written logging contract with your operator. Many
times landowners have a long term relationship with their loggers or other contractors and have
become accustomed to going simply with a verbal agreement. While this may have worked well for many
years, it is a risky proposition if something doesn’t go as planned. Having a contract of some sort
is just good business sense, regardless of the scope of the operation or tenure of your
relationship with the logger. It doesn’t imply anything about your belief in his honesty, but
rather it is a way to protect both you and the contractor and insure everyone involved is on the
same page with the activity being undertaken.
Just exactly how detailed and the particular language used in the agreement is completely up to the
parties involved, but there are a few basic items that are common to most service contracts. These
would include such things as name and address of both landowner and contractor, the location or
other description of the land involved (an air photo or map as well is helpful), a description of
the timber being cut and how it will be designated for harvest, how the property or cutting unit
boundary is to be marked and by whom, a description of the services being contracted, the price
for the services being contracted, terms of payment for this service, and the time being
allowed for completion of activities. The landowners need to be able to warrant they are the legal
owners and have marketable title to sell their logs. The contractor should agree to hold the
landowner harmless of any liability arising from his operations. Since this contract will be a
legally binding agreement and likely referred to by both parties should legal problems arise, it is
best to have your lawyer review it to ensure it covers all the items necessary for the work being
performed.
Beyond the written contract, don’t be timid about asking for references or to view some jobs the
logger has done. You can also check with your state logging association to see if the contractor
is up to date on any classes, training or accreditation in your state.
One of the main items to require of the logger is liability insurance. In our program assessment a
regular question the audit team had for landowners was “Do you require liability insurance and did
the logger provide you with a copy?”.
The best practice for both of these questions is “yes”! Working without insurance is a recipe for
trouble and most landowners said they required it of their contractor. It was not uncommon though
that the landowner did not also require a proof of insurance slip from the contractor. Asking the
question is a good start, but the next and just as important step is getting a copy of that
insurance binder for your records. Again, the level of coverage and exact type of insurance
adequate for your situation is something your lawyer should advise you on.
We are working with our D.C. staff to have some sample contracts and suggested terms posted on
their website for you to take a look at. We are also gathering some sample contracts here as well
to post to our Idaho site. As this information becomes available we will let you know.

Inspector Training – Are You Current?

Just a reminder that at this time all Inspectors need to be updated to the current certification
standards in order to continue with any inspections. We have had two trainings so far, one in
Moscow last April and another just recently in Hayden. There are still quite a few Inspectors that
are showing as inactive in our database and we would like to get you all current again. We had
planned to have another training session yet this year and would like to do so if the interest is
there. If you are interested in attending a session, please contact Savannah at 208-667-4641 or
admin@idahotreefarm.org or let your District Chair know so we can plan accordingly. We appreciate
your time as Inspectors and thank you for your service.

Page 6 of 6 Idaho Tree Farm Program

Events to Highlight

Sept 12, 2015 – Idaho Tree Farm Program Fall Tour, Baumhoff & Co, LLC Tree Farm, Centerville, ID

Sept 26, 2015 – U of I Experimental Forest Working Forest Field Day, Princeton, ID

October 15, 2015 – Idaho Tree Farm Committee Meeting, CDA, ID

Stay Informed…..
In case you are ever wondering what is going on at the committee level, our Minutes are now being
posted on the Idaho Tree Farm Program website. Just log onto our website for Minutes of previous
sessions, contact information, upcoming events, and other news of note to help you in your Tree
Farm endeavors.

We’re on the Web!
Learn more at:
www.idahotreefarm.org

About Our Organization…
The purpose of the Idaho Tree Farm Program is to promote better forest management among
non-industrial forest owners. The vehicle for achieving this aim is the American Tree Farm System®
(ATFS), sponsored nationally by the American Forest Foundation (AFF), statewide by the Idaho SFI
State Implementation Committee (SFI SIC), and administered by the Idaho Tree Farm Committee (State
Committee).

Welcome New Members!
The Idaho Tree Farm Committee extends a special welcome to the 25 newest Idaho Tree Farm Program’s
certified members of 2015. Thank you to the District Chairs and Inspecting
Foresters for promoting membership in the Idaho Tree Farm Program through the American Tree Farm
System®.

As a current member, and a steward of the land, we appreciate your current support of the program
and your management of the forestland for pride and pleasure. Thank you for your continued
commitment to protecting watersheds and wildlife habitat, conserving soil and, at the same time,
producing the wood America needs and uses.

Tree Farm Member Acreage County
Inspecting Forester
Bollacker Trust 113
Bonner Russ Hegedus
Sherry Otto 11
Idaho Robert Barkley
Kenneth Bowey 39
Latah Robert Barkley
Hickman Family Trust 160
Kootenai Mike Wolcott
Gary Faire 101
Kootenai Tim Kyllo
Donald Blaise 43
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Mike Paul 117
Kootenai Tim Kyllo
Stacey Rucker 10
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Shawn Rucker 10
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Steve Rucker 38
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Rucker Living Trust 16
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Mark Greene 10
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Lloyd Potter 14
Bonner Tim Kyllo Wally and Dawn Pfeiffer Joint Living Trust 32
Kootenai Tim Kyllo Scott Rucker
21 Bonner Tim Kyllo
Terry and Greta Johnson 30 Bonner
Tim Kyllo
Ron Wood 25
Kootenai Tim Kyllo
Hamilton Tree Farm 144 Bonner
Tim Kyllo
Sherman Rucker 40
Bonner Tim Kyllo
Ralph and Judith Scott Family Trust 73 Kootenai
Tim Kyllo
Barton Hayes 68
Kootenai Tim Kyllo
Jeff Gibbs 19
Bonner Tim Kyllo
William Stratford 10
Kootenai Tim Kyllo
Renfrow Family LLC 16 Bonner
Tim Kyllo
Fisher Ag. LLC Tree Farm 69 Bonner
Tim Kyllo

We look forward to seeing you on September 12 at the Fall Tour of the Baumhoff, LLC Tree Farm in
Centerville.

Hope to See You There!!