The Spring 2006 meeting will occur on Thursday and Friday, April 27 and 28, and will be hosted by Joan Brown and Charlie Possee of the U.S. Forest Service – Nantahala N.F. The meeting will be based at Franklin, North Carolina.

On Thursday morning we will travel to the Highlands Ranger District office and look at some recent white oak, red oak and American chestnut plantings located there. We will then visit an active hardwood timber sale. Both ground and cable systems are being used to log the timber, which is predominately northern red oak, poplar and black cherry. We will also look at the results of a recent prescribed burn within the sale area that included 150 acres of mature upland hardwood and a 20 year-old hardwood plantation.

In the afternoon we will travel to the Wayah Ranger District and look at a northern red oak progeny site that was planted in 1995. Contractors have performed several release efforts using mechanical and herbicide applications to remove grapevine and other competitors from the site. After that we will visit a very productive area that is being analyzed for timber harvest in the near future. It had some group selection cuts done 12 years ago, with hardwood thinnings in between the cuts. We will see how the area has responded, and also look at some competition concerns within the groups.

The Friday session (half day) will be spent touring the Zickgraf Hardwood Flooring mill in nearby Bryson City. The flooring production process is quite fascinating and will be of interest to all. It is state of the art, complete with communication ear pieces so you can hear what’s being said. Please bring your own hardhat and hearing protection, for both the mill and the woods.

A block of 15 rooms (double beds) have been reserved at the Comfort Inn for the nights of April 26 and 27. The address is 313 Cunningham Road in Franklin. The phone number is 828.369.9200. The rooms are reserved under Possee; tell them you’re with the Hardwood Forestry Group. The cost is $59.99 plus tax per night and includes breakfast. We will meet in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn at 8:00 a.m. on both days. To get to the hotel, get on the Hwy 441 Bypass (turn right at the light by McDonalds if you’re coming from Clayton, GA; you’ll be on the bypass coming from Asheville/Dillsboro on Hwy 23/441). There is a traffic light at the Walmart (Hyatt Street)– turn there, and then take an immediate left at Macon Bank (Cunningham Street). Comfort Inn is on your right. You’ll see the hotel sign easily from 441 Bypass. Rooms will be held until a week before the meeting. There is also a Hampton Inn next to the Comfort Inn – they want $75.00 or so for their rooms. The number there is 828.369.0600

Please let Peggy Anderson know at your earliest convenience if you will be able to make the meeting so we can get a head count for the Zickgraf tour.

You can respond to Peggy by email at peggyanderson@fs.fed.us. Her telephone is 803-725-8713. Hard mail is Peggy Anderson, USFS, P.O. Box 700, New Ellenton SC 29809

Any other questions, give me a call at 828.526.3765 or 828.371.0688 (cell).

Thanks!!!

/s/ Charlie Possee
Chair, SEHFG