Monthly Archives: February 2020

Tree Farm Leadership Conference in Baltimore

Posted on February 29, 2020 by JohnMatel

I think people should have business cards. I don’t know why people don’t or even if it was a general habit outside my peculiar circle, but I do know that my memory for names and numbers is not good enough … Continue reading →

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Life’s twists

Posted on February 27, 2020 by JohnMatel

I questioned my memory. After all, it happened so long ago and seemed incongruous. Today, however, at the Tree Farm meeting I was talking to a woman from Wisconsin who asked me if I had a degree in forestry. I … Continue reading →

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We need GMOs

Posted on February 27, 2020 by JohnMatel

Too much about the Tree Farm Conference to write about, so I will hit only a few highlights. GMOs Standards of sustainability may not permit the use of GMOs.  Our standards conform to European-based standards of PEFC.  Europeans often have … Continue reading →

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Longleaf resilience and Espen on the ATV

Posted on February 23, 2020 by JohnMatel

Checking out my recently burned longleaf, I discovered that they are already starting to grow of the season, very early. The remarkable thing is that even “completely burned” branches are coming back, as you can see in the picture. My … Continue reading →

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Oak, shortleaf & snow

Posted on February 20, 2020 by JohnMatel

Snow. The weather man said that the moisture came all the way from the Sea of Cortez, like a river in the atmosphere and then some sort of kink in the jet stream. I did not understand exactly what they … Continue reading →

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My Virginia

Posted on February 15, 2020 by JohnMatel

My Virginia I am a Wisconsin guy by birth and a Virginian by choice. I have been in Virginia, with gaps for diplomatic duty, since 1984. Some people say that you cannot be a Virginia unless your family has been … Continue reading →

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Canadian Provinces

Posted on February 7, 2020 by JohnMatel

I attended “The Premiers’ Perspective: A Canada-U.S. Relations Outlook for the New Decade” at Wilson Center on February 7, 2020.  It was advertised as “a conversation with the Honourable Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Premier … Continue reading →

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Planting more trees and my new ATV

Posted on February 5, 2020 by JohnMatel

Chrissy told me not to get any more trees, but someone cancelled a longleaf order and I got two more boxes, 668 trees, native Virginians from Garland Grey. There was no other choice. So back to work filling in places … Continue reading →

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