Message from IFWOA President, Philip Gramelspacher 

The United States is blessed with some wonderful forests and woodlands.  Each one

has its own unique look or mystique.  When you look at diversity, I believe the forestlands 

in Indiana provide some of the finest and most beautiful places.  We, as woodland

owners in Indiana, have a unique opportunity to manage these valuable pieces of land.

 

Our goal at the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners Association is to help in the management of your woodlands, and at the same time, bond together to form a voice

in the legislative process on issues that are important to our goals.  We are trying hard

to provide you with the tools needed to be successful, while at the same time, earn

your support as a member.  We hope you see enough benefits to continue your

support of IFWOA.  If you are new to our organization, I hope you will feel welcome and

will consider joining our organization.

 

One of the challenges of IFWOA is to stress the importance of larger woodland

holdings, while at the same time, cater to the growing trend of parcels being smaller in

size.  The average size parcel for forestland has declined to 20 acres.  For 60% of us

forest landowners, parcels are less than nine acres.  These figures have surely

changed since they have been released a number of years ago.  This phenomenon

has changed how many of us manage our woods and harvest the timber.  Parcelization

will continue to present challenges from the landowner to the timber buyer in future years.

 

I must say something about our Capital Campaign, which is currently going on.  One of

the issues facing IFWOA is to have enough funds for the organization to function and

provide the services and educational opportunities we desperately want to offer.  To

sustain and build your IFWOA organization, we have developed our Capital Campaign

titled Indiana Woodland Growth Fund.  Through contributions from

individuals, companies and foundations, along with fieldwork, such as TSI and tree

plantings, we hope to build our fund up to $100,000 and greater.  We will not spend any

monies until we surpass our goal of $100,000.  When the goal is reached, we

plan on utilizing only the interest governed from the Capital Fund.  After the $100,000

level is reached, we will move towards the goal of  $250,000.  How fast we get there

will depends on the generosity of individuals and companies.  We are hopeful everyone

will see the need for this Capital Campaign and support the cause.

  

In closing, I hope we can all work together to support IFWOA.  Much our success

depends on you.  Whatever your reason might be for visiting our IFWOA website, I

hope we were able to be of some help.  If you have any comments about our website,

please feel free to drop us a note.

 

Philip Gramelspacher

April, 2008