The 2023 annual meeting will be held on November 9th and 10th at Queen Wilhelmina Lodge near Mena, AR. The theme of the meeting is "Learning Today for Tomorrow in Forestry". The registration cost is $100.00 for the entire meeting including the banquet on Thursday night and breakfast on Friday morning. The cost for a banquet guest is $25.00. Student attendance sponsorships are also encouraged with a suggested amount of $50.00. A new feature of this meeting is online credit card registration by going to https://OSAF-Wilhelmina.eventbrite.com There will be a small convenience fee added to the registration cost. Mail in registration is available by mailing to OSAF Attn. Glenda Rankin at the OSU Forestry Research Station 4878 E. State Hwy 3 in Idabel, OK 74745-5113. You are encouraged to reserve your room at the lodge now! You can make reservations online or by contacting the park at (479) 394-2863. Use the group reservation #712437. Please direct any registration questions to Bob Heinemann at [email protected] or by calling (580) 286-5175.

As a part of the annual meeting the OSAF awards were presented at the awards banquet. Dr. Rod Will and Dr. Rob Ficklin were recognized as Fellows for 2022. The Volunteer Leadership Award was presented to Bob Heinemann while the Young Forestry Leadership Award went to Joshua Bradley. The Forestry Educator Award was given to Dr. Brian Murray and Joe Friend was chosen to receive the Field Forester Award. The Technology Transfer Award was presented to Dr. Kyle Cunningham and the Joe Fox was given the Outstanding Communicator Award. The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Dr. Vic Ford. In addition to the OSAF awards, division awards was presented also. The Arkansas Division presented the Ted Chancey
Career Forester Award to Larry Nance. The Oklahoma Division presented the Ted Silker Award to Joshua Bradley and the Nat Walker Award to Bob Heinemann. Congratulations to all the those earning these awards and thank you for service to SAF.

The annual meeting of the OSAF was held at the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Pocola, OK on November 9th & 10th. The theme of the meeting was "The Inflation Reduction Act and Potential Impact on Forest Practices Funding". The meeting featured informative presentations by Mark Goeller, Okla. State Forester; Joe Fox, Arkansas State Forester; Dr. Matt Pelkki; and Dr. Omkar Joshi addressing the state of each state's forestry organization and the value of our forests and economic impact as they might be affected by the Inflation Reduction Act. The 2nd day featured Josh Bradley & Eric Brixey addressing FIA in OK and AR, followed by Dr. Rod Will speaking on how climate & weather affect shortleaf pine and post oak. Dr. Ryan Desantis presented on fire history and fire effects on post oak & blackjack oak. Dr. Brian Lockhart was the final scheduled speaker and spoke on "Forest Ethics-To Cut or not to cut". In addition to the division & society business meetings we were privileged to have Terry Baker, SAF CEO, bring us up to date on national SAF activities. The meeting also had the annual awards banquet, the silent auction to raise funds for Foresters Fund, a poster session for students, and a new activity this year, Arkies vs. Okies cornhole toss. 2023 officers were recognized. Chair will be Steve Mattax, Chair-elect will be Eric Myers, and Secretary-Treasurer will be Regine Skelton.

If you are interested in subscribing to receive Arkansas Division OSAF information, please send your email request to [email protected] .