Oct. 29, 2015 — COLLEGE STATION, Texas — National recognition was given to Texas A&M Forest Service District Forester Russell Lykins for his work in and service to Texas landowners in Cass and Marion counties.

Lykins was presented the National Forest Stewardship Forester of the Year award at the National Forest Stewardship Conference hosted by the USDA Forest Service in Vancouver, WA. Oct. 20. The award is the first-of-its-kind given nationally by the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters to the person or persons making a significant contribution of advancing the national Forest Stewardship and Rural Forestry Assistance programs.

Advancement comes in the form of numbers of landowners assisted, number of stewardship and reforestation plans written and the number of acres reforested.

The stewardship program works to ensure the state’s forests, trees and related natural resources are well-managed. That’s important because healthy forests provide a sustainable flow of environmental and economic benefits.

With roughly 94 percent of the forestland in Texas privately owned, the management of our state’s trees and forests — as well as the benefits they provide — rests in the hands of thousands of Texans. Who better than the state’s tree experts to lead them?

Local foresters, like Lykins, work with landowners to manage the state’s trees, forests and natural resources in ways that both benefit all Texans and satisfy the landowner’s objectives.

“I’m very appreciative of the award and it is a reflection on the hard work that not only I put in but the guys in the office who work just as hard if not harder to deliver the Forest Stewardship Program,” Lykins said. “The greatest joy I have is working with my guys to serve the landowners in Cass and Marion counties.”

Across the United States, the percentage of private land ownership is 45 percent for roughly 354 million acres.  These are acres under individual management that impact the country’s clean water, air, wildlife habitat, recreational resources and timber supplies.

The national Forest Stewardship program helps landowners with land management decisions, technical assistance and resources. The program also recognizes those foresters and other natural resource professionals who work through the program to serve our landowners.

Lykins and his staff have done notable work reforesting thousands of acres within his counties that were impacted by the severe drought of 2011 and ensuing historic wildfire season — to include the Bear Creek Fire, the largest wildfire ever in East Texas. Following these high-impact events, Lykins worked with family forest landowners, forest industry companies and Timber Investment Management Organizations to recover, restore and reforest their properties — primarily through the Forest Stewardship Program.

“Russell and his guys work extremely hard to deliver the program and to ensure the landowners and the natural resources they own are managed in such a way that future generations will reap the benefits of that work,” Shane Harrington, Texas Stewardship Program Coordinator said.

Lykins, a graduate of Oklahoma State University, hired on with Texas A&M Forest Service 15 years ago as a trainee forester in Linden, Texas.

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Contacts:

Shane Harrington
sharrington@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-6650

Linda Moon, Communications
lmoon@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-6614

Texas A&M Forest Service Communications
newsmedia@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-6606