Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Fall Seminar Series Presents:

Dan Chappell and Gary Faulkner of the Alabama Forestry Commission will give a talk titled, Alabama’s Forests and Economic Development.

Seminar is held at 11am in Conference Room 1101 in the SFWS Building, 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL.

• Faculty, students and the public are invited to attend this free program.
• Complimentary cookies and coffee will be served.
• CFEs are available by request.
• Advanced registration is not required.
• Parking is available on the 3rd and 4th floors of the South Quad parking deck on Duncan Drive, directly across from the SFWS Building. See Parking Services on Level 3 to obtain a visitor pass.

Abstract:  This one-hour lecture begins with a short introduction and overview of our Agency. We then move into a discussion on the Forest Inventory and Analysis program, how it operates in the state, and what the data of this intensive inventory is telling us about the consistently increasing wood volumes we are encountering state wide, with a mention of the Timber Products Output survey. The abundant fiber supply is viewed as a long-term opportunity for industry as well as a current headwind for stumpage prices. This serves to transition into a look at the scale and broad economic impact of the Forest Industry to Alabama, with an emphasis on the new and expanding industry announcements from this current period of growth. Finally, we look at some economic development concepts that are key to making industrial progress possible but may not be intuitive to a general audience.

Biography: Dan Chappell has served since June of 2016 as the Coordinator of the Alabama Forestry Commission’s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, overseeing a field staff of 6 who collect inventory data from 5,600+ established research plots across the state on a continuous 7-year cycle. Alabama was the first of the fifty states to complete the 2017 FIA survey, and was again first in the nation to complete the 2018 FIA Survey. He is a 2002 graduate of the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forest Resources.  Following graduation, he was an employee of the Georgia Forestry Commission for over 13 years collecting FIA data for the Southeast region of the state.  He is a recent graduate of the 2017-2018 Alabama Public Safety Leadership Academy and of the Auburn University Intensive Economic Development Course put on by the University’s Government and Economic Development Institute. Dan is presently serving as the Chairman of the Southern Group of State Forester’s FIA Committee.  His 2017 Forest Resource Report on the state of the state’s timber growth and supply is available for download on the Forestry Commission’s homepage.   He lives in Montgomery with his wife Elizabeth Anne and 6-year old daughter Betty Alice.

Biography: Mr. Faulkner currently serves as Forest Economic Development Specialist with the Alabama Forestry Commission. Prior to this appointment, he was Principal of The Faulkner Group LLC in 2015 through 2017. Mr. Faulkner retired with the State of Alabama, Alabama Department of Commerce (Commerce) in 2014, after 31 years of service.  At retirement, he served as Director of Business Development reporting to the Secretary of Commerce. Prior to this position, he served as a Senior Project Manager and International Development Representative.

Prior to his tenure at Commerce, Mr. Faulkner held a position with the Alabama International Trade Center as an International Trade Specialist. He began his professional state career at the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) engaged as Chief of Utilization & Marketing. Gary was an Honor Graduate of the Alabama Forestry Academy in 1984.

Mr. Faulkner has degrees from Auburn University in Industrial Management (1974) and Forest Management (1982).  Further, he has Certificates of Training from the Auburn University Intensive Economic Development Training Course and the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute.  He is also an Alabama Registered Forester (#1196 – current).