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Ashland County forest staff say vacancy being recruited; timber sales and town payments reported
Summary
Forestry staff told the committee a county forest liaison vacancy is being recruited with an anticipated June 9 start, timber sales near Glidden are moving toward bid and the county distributed revenue checks to towns, including a half-percent arrangement for Gordon.
Ryan Forrester, team leader for Ashland–Iron County forest staff, told the Work and Renovation Committee that the county forest liaison position is vacant and that recruitment is under way with an anticipated start date of June 9.
Forrester said Garrett Lonke, forest ranger based in Mellon, will assume liaison duties in the interim and that the team has already met about 73% of an 848-hour annual assistance standard for the county, leaving roughly 220 hours to complete before the fiscal year ends. "We are committed to 848 hours in our fiscal year of assistance to Ashland County Forest," Forrester said.
Garrett Lonke described timber-sale activity: a sale is being prepared near Eastside Fire Lane, near Glidden, to go out for bid; another marked sale awaits final maps and paperwork before bidding and subsequent closeouts. Staff will continue recon and sale closeouts this spring.
Forrester and other staff provided a revenue breakdown from the prior year and said the county mailed statutory payments to the four towns that host county forest lands. He said the town of Gordon receives one half of 1% of revenue after other disbursements in recognition of a key road used to haul timber. "We agreed to give the town of Gordon one half of one percent of revenue after we paid everybody else," Forrester said, explaining the committee’s prior decision to compensate Gordon for road maintenance that supports timber extraction.
The committee was also introduced to a new limited-term forester, Sam Shaw, and to Dan Natsky, who started as a forester the previous day and has field experience from out of state.
Ending: Staff said they will continue recruitment and bring future updates on sales and staffing. No formal committee votes were recorded during the meeting.
