Winter 2024 17 Vision. It’s a simple word: only six letters, just three consonants, three vowels. We often find, however, that simple words can have complex meanings or even multiple meanings. For example, some people hear vision and they think of those wonderful bodily organs, our eyes. Others hear it and think of images (more than a few fantastic examples you’ll find within the pages of this issue!). For purposes of this column, however, vision will be used in a third way that means to define guiding principles, particularly for the application of vision to forest management. Upon meeting our clients, one of the first things we do as consulting foresters is ask, “What is your vision for the property? What are your near- and long-term goals? What sorts of things do you want, and equally importantly, what sorts of things DON’T you want?” Landowner visions for their property are as complex and varied as the landowners themselves. Some are primarily interested in revenue in the form of timber sales or recreational leases. Others want to conserve the forest to ensure it is growing healthy trees and protecting clean water and air with little regard for harvesting those trees. Yet another group has wildlife management as their primary vision. Finally, a common vision is stewardship. Landowners want to foster a place that can be handed down through the generations so that their children and grandchildren can not only observe how the current stewards have managed the property, but also use that as a primer for their own vision once they become the owners and stewards of the land. Our task, as consulting foresters, is to engage our clients. We assist them in developing their vision. We help them prepare formal management plans and then provide recommendations to implement those plans. We are humbled and honored to be asked to help, and we take great pride in putting our education and experience to work for the benefit of the landowner, their families, and in some larger sense, the bountiful natural resources endowed throughout our Commonwealth. —The Executive Committee of the Virginia Chapter ACF VIRGINIA CHAPTER Association of Consulting Foresters Vision (PHOTO BY AVERY OWENS)
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