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Sept. 13: Wildfire Cooperators Meeting, LSU-A Dean Lee, 1 p.m.
Sept. 14: Rapides Forest Awareness Planning Meeting, LFA office,
9 a.m.
Sept. 20: La. Forestry Commission, LDAF, 10 a.m. Call (225) 925-4500.
Sept. 20: Reading Your GPS, DeRidder, War Memorial Center, $40. Pre-registration required.
Sept. 26: Fire Prevention Council, LFA office, 10 a.m.
Oct. 4, Board of Directors Meet, Country Inn & Suites, Pineville, 1:30. SFI committee at the LFA office at 10 a.m.; Administrative Affairs at 11 a.m. and ForPAC at noon.
In-Woods Logger Rescue, Oct. 24, DeRidder, Fairgrounds; Oct. 25, Many, LSU AgCenter; Oct. 26, Shreveport, Walter Jacobs Park; Oct. 27, Homer, Research Station; Oct. 28, Alexandria, LSU-A Dean Lee, Oct. 29, Winnfield, TBA. $50 Pre-registration required.
Oct. 5: Longleaf Restoration Field Day, Southern Forest Heritage Museum, $15 includes lunch.
Oct. 28, Mystery Theatre at Southern Forest Heritage Museum. Call (318) 748-8404 for info.
Oct. 29: Legends and Lore at Southern Forest Heritage Museum. Call (318) 748-8404.
Nov. 1: Board of Directors Meet, Country Inn & Suites, Pineville, 1:30 p.m.
Road Building with GPS, Nov. 8, DeRidder, War Memorial Center; Nov. 15, Ruston, La. Tech; Nov. 17, Pineville, Country Inn. Pre-registration required.
Dec. 10 - Jan. 28: Smithsonian Exhibit at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum. Free.
Tuesday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 - 4 p.m.
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LFA joins H2-B lawsuit to be tested in Louisiana
Could harm forestry, seafood industry and others
The Louisiana Forestry Association joined the Forest Resources Assn.,and five other industries to bring suit against the Dept. of Labor over the new wage rates under the H2-B laws governing guest workers. The suit, which will be heard in federal court in Alexandria, asks the court to stop the rule from going into effect Sept. 30. If it does go into effect, it will raise the wages about 70% in Louisiana. Most tree planting contractors use guest workers under the H2-B program. The new rule requires they be paid the "prevailing wage" in an area. In Louisiana, that would increase from the old rate of $9.60 per hour to $16.31 per hour. It would also increase overtime rates as well.
The suit points out the harm that would be done to businesses that are already in shaky economic times. Others who have joined the lawsuit are the crawfish processors, the hotel and lodging association, sugar cane growers, shrimp processors and the outdoor amusement business association.
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About 500 attend annual meeting at L'Auberge
Edwin Edwards a surprise guest
About 500 people attended the LFA annual convention at the L'Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles. One surprise guest was former governor Edwin Edwards who joined his biographer Leo Honeycutt for the Thursday breakfast. Edwards gave remarks about the current business of forestry and reflections on the political scene. He also signed autographs for those purchasing the Honeycutt book.
Speakers, awards and prizes are always a part of the annual meeting. Winners of some of the prizes included:
* $2,000 Dream Trip - David Maxey
· Shotgun card raffle - John Barnett
· ForPAC shotgun - Mona Elkins
· Yeti Cooler - Don Kimberley
· I-Pad - Jay Evans
* Bushnell binoculars - Gary Beacher
The youngest member of the audience was six-week old Ryland Greer, whose father Jesse Greer became the youngest winner of the Outstanding Logger Award. Also honored was Horace White of Pineville, who is the Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year.
You can view copies of the speakers' presentations and photos from the meeting at the website at www.laforestry.com.
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IP will buy Temple-Inland
Deal should close in first quarter, 2012
The boards of directors of both International Paper and Temple-Inland Inc. have approved a merger agreement for the two companies. IP will acquire all the outstanding common stock of Temple for $32 per share plus the assumption of Temple's year end debt. The total value of the transaction is $4.3 billion. In Louisiana, Temple has the Bogalusa papermill and a sawmill in DeQuincy.
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Longleaf tour Oct. 5
A longleaf restoration field day will be Wednesday, Oct. 5 starting at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum, 20 miles south of Alexandria. Participants will also be taken to the field to learn more about longleaf pine forests and about generating wildlife and timber values. A shrimp boil will be held for lunch. Cost of the day is $15. Click here for the sign-up form on our website.
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Three G-P mills curtailed
Located in Crossett, Ark.
Georgia-Pacific has announced a "curtailment" of two plywood mills and a stud mill in Crossett, Ark. "This is not a closure," said Teresa Walsh, G-P spokesperson. "This is a curtailment." The layoff involves 690 employees. A similar closure in 2007 lasted about 18 months.
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This is our email newsletter to our members! We send these timely bulletins only to our members who have an email address on file. You can always view this on our website at www.laforestry.com.