Accomplishments in cooperative forest management have earned a Bureau of Forestry employee Mark Lewis prestigious honors from the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters.
Lewis, a service forester with the Cornplanter State Forest District based in Warren County, has been named the 2013 recipient of the association’s CFM Forester of the Year Award, recognizing “outstanding dedication and professional work of the state service foresters” in a 20-state region comprising the regional organization.
"I am very honored to have been selected for the 2014 CFM Forester of the Year award, and I am proud to represent DCNR and the Bureau of Forestry,” said Lewis, “The work being done by CFM foresters in Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast states is tremendous and far-reaching. To be counted among such company is humbling. I am grateful to all those who have helped and encouraged me throughout my tenure with the bureau."
Lewis was picked from among six candidates from the Northeast who were selected for their stellar work in 2013 and throughout their forestry careers. The award was determined by the association’s Cooperative Forest Management Committee for notable achievement in “sustainable forest management;” contributions to the forestry profession, and community involvement.
“We are most fortunate to have someone of Mark’s qualifications and dedication working in the district and representing the Bureau of Forestry as he performs his outreach duties for the general public, and specifically the private forest landowners of Crawford County,” said Cecile Stelter, Cornplanter district forester, and Lewis’ immediate supervisor. “I appreciate the national recognition this award brings to both the bureau’s service forester program and Mark’s stellar achievements.”
Employed by the bureau since 1991, Lewis directs a variety of private land and community programs and initiatives within Crawford County. For the first eight years of his career, he was assigned as a service forester in Venango and Forest counties.
“Mark Lewis has been an active and dedicated service forester for over 22 years and is well-known within his service area and the Cornplanter Forest District,” said DCNR’s Deputy Secretary of Parks and Forest Dan Devlin. “He always offers the highest quality guidance to landowners and has the uncanny ability to relate to landowners, regardless of their age, knowledge level, sex, race or number of acres owned."
Lewis has approved over 120 private Forest Stewardship Plans; has seen his Riparian Tree Planting program enter its 14th year; and oversees the district’s gypsy moth suppression program. A resident of Meadville, he is a popular fixture at community, civic and professional events.
Lewis received his award at a mid-May conference of the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters, held in Stowe, Vt.
(Reprinted from the May 28 DCNR Resource newsletter.)