Rowings receives Forestry Award

Saturday, April 9, 2011
photo contributed David and Jean Rowings receive the Koenig Forestry Award from Jeremiah Lemmons (right), chairman of the Sycamore Trails RC and D Forestry Committee.

David Rowings has been named the winner of The Koenig Forestry Award. He is being honored for the outstanding stewardship of his property in Putnam and Parke counties.

Since a tornado hit the homestead property in 2007, he has been working to address the impact of the storm. Rowings currently manages 550 acres of forest, and along with family members, farms more than 2,000 acres of tillable ground.

He was also the recipient of the Putnam County Soil and Water Conservation District's 2010 Woodland Conservationist of the Year Award. Rowings has worked with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Putnam County, utilizing the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to complete forest stand improvement on several tracts of his forestland.

The annual awards banquet for Sycamore Trails Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Forestry Committee drew nearly 60 woodland owners, family and friends to Oak Ridge Golf Course and Steakhouse near Brazil on March 19. The group celebrated another year of caring for forestland in west-central Indiana with festivities including dinner, awards, a speaker, a live auction and door prizes.

Keynote speaker Mike Jenkins, assistant professor of forest ecology at Purdue University, shared a presentation called Saving all the Pieces: Biodiversity and Conservation in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A special feature this year was the awarding of The Koenig Forestry Award, a memorial award honoring the late Bob Koenig, an outstanding Hoosier professional forester and past Putnam County resident. Koenig was instrumental in getting the Sycamore Trails Forestry Committee started in 1970, and was a tremendous asset to the group until his passing in 2009.

Anyone who has an interest in woodlands or controlling invasive plant species, may check out Sycamore Trails as a source of information and a way to network with people with expertise in these areas. Sycamore Trails RC and D Council is a nonprofit organization serving nine counties in west-central Indiana, with the support of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Learn more at www.sycamoretrails.org or call 653-9785.

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