Mark your calendar for the 2014 FLC Annual Meeting -- May 2-3 in Mt. Shasta. The Annual Meeting will be held at the Best Western Treehouse.

Welcome to Our New Website!

As we explored the initial idea of a new website, the Communications Committee and staff, at the direction of and collaboration with the Board of Directors, discussed what information, resources, tools, etc. are important to FLC members and others. In developing the new website, we worked to keep some menus the same and add new features. There are more features to come in the near future. We have highlighted some of the new features in this first phase along with what you can expect for future phases.

First Phase Includes
Aside from the overall design and usablity of the website, there are similar features as well as new features. Here is a glimpse of new features.

• Interactive Calendar (click on the Calendar menu, then click on an event in the calendar and see what happens).
• Membership Spotlights – featuring highlights of members from recent newsletters.
• Resources – Newsletters, Other Sources and more to come. The Other Sources includes contact information for related or allied professional organizations, such as Associated California Loggers, California Licensed Foresters Association and other agencies/organizations such as CalFire and the California Farm Bureau Federation.
• Managing Your Forest – this section currently features Ask A Forester, Glossary of Forestry Terms and a link to MyLandPlan, an online resource by the American Forest Foundation. For the Ask A Forester feature, you can submit a question online and you will be provided with an answer; this answer will also be posted on the website under a particular category. This feature is still being developed and expanded to include more information on estate/succession planning, harvesting, financial information (taxes), etc.
• Supporters – our appreciation of major contributors and donors to FLC is featured here with a list of our supporters and information about how you can contribute and at what level.

What Is Coming?
We will continue to enhance existing features and information and at the same time add new features in the next three months. New features include:

• Members Only – information and resources available to members only; password protected area where members can download newsletters, a membership directory, as examples.
• E-commerce – the option to register and pay online for Membership Dues (new and renewing), Annual Meeting and Field Day registration, and make donations.
• Forest Forum – an online discussion forum for members (benefit of membership) to pose questions, share information, etc.
• Classified – place for members to place an online advertisement such as selling forest land, want to acquire more forest land, equipment for sale, etc. Note: there will be a fee for nonmembers; complimentary for FLC members.

Feedback Appreciated
While the Board of Directors and the Communications Committee are composed of landowners throughout California representing the interests, ideas and needs of the membership, there is always room for feedback. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please submit your comments and feedback to Deidre Bryant, Executive Director, deidreb@forestlandowers.org.

We will continue expanding FLC’s presence online to benefit our members.

Member Spotlight

Denise and Steven Levine

I am Denise Levine, the newest member of the Communications Committee. Our family owns almost 200 acres of the Napa River Watershed in the Mayacamas Mountains, the ridge that runs between the Napa Valley and the Sonoma Valley. Heavily forested and one of the original homesteads in the western hills, my father bought the property in the late 1970s with the intent to do a select harvest.

Our Forest contains Dougas Fir (41%), Coastal Redwood (25%), Bay Laurel (20%), Madrone (8%), Black and White Oak (3%), Tanoak (2%) and Miscellaneous Hardwoods (1%). The understory consists of hardwoods, shrubs, grasses and forbs. Species include buckeye, big leaf maple, alder, ash, willow, pacific yew, coyote brush, manzanita, chamise, gooseberry, toyon, hazelnut, buckbrush, coffeeberry, elderberry, dogwood, bear grass and poison oak.

In 1983, my husband Steven Levine and I moved into the original house, built in 1929. A year later, my father began the last timber harvest for almost twenty years in Napa not resulting in a clear cut conversion to vineyard. Long, expensive and ending in a lawsuit with Napa County (which Napa eventually lost), the harvest proceeded, but took its toll on everyone involved.

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Calendar of Events