Q: Tell us about your job at Georgia Pacific. What’s an average day like? What would you say is the most complicated or difficult task?
A: Typically, I leave for work at 7 a.m. and begin with placing/returning phone/radio calls to suppliers, consultants, landowners, etc. Mornings are usually spent visiting suppliers/dealers on logging jobs or inspecting/cruising timber sales for possible purchase. Afternoons generally involve more phone work and visits to consultants and landowners to discuss harvest/sale plans. I end most days around 6 p.m. by checking/answering e-mail, forwarding daily paperwork to the area office and returning phone/radio messages left for me while in the field. I move around a great deal each day, driving approximately 150 miles throughout the four counties that I work. The most difficult/complicated task I perform is cruising (timber appraisal); July heat in Georgia is sweltering, ticks are an incredible nuisance and blackberry briars in the spring are often impenetrable. Cruising can often be complicated if timber sales involve numerous product separations (pine/hardwood, sawtimber/pulpwood, etc). The most stressful aspect of my job involves the administration of delivery quotas to the various receiving mills during periods of oversupply.
Q: In her nomination form, your colleague wrote, “From a young age, [Kevin Lewis] was exposed to the beauty of nature and shares that with others.” What early experiences influenced you to go into this line of work? Who are your role models?
A: Hunting, fishing, and camping at an early age and throughout my life inspired me to enter the field of forestry. Both my older brother (Steve) and brother-in-law (Gary, my sister’s husband) took me hunting, fishing, and camping as often as possible. Growing up in a rural environment before the days of Nintendo and Gameboy prompted me to play in the nearby woods and waterways on a daily basis for entertainment.
Q: What do you think are some of the public’s misconceptions about the environment?
A: I think most public misconceptions concerning the environment are rooted in failure to educate at an early age and misinformation from the media. In sharing Tree Talks, I find that many children do not realize trees are a renewable resource. Likewise, many adults are opposed to the harvest of trees even though most live within a home constructed of wood products. Shockingly, there are some that do not know what paper is made from. In large part, that is our fault. We really do have a neat message to share about our environment and its uses….we just need to do it outside of our working circles. One thing that really strikes home is the public perception that forestry professionals are incapable of planning and exercising sound environmental stewardship practices.
Q: What kinds of volunteer work and/or education/outreach work do you do, in addition to your paid jobs?
A: I am actively involved in sharing Tree Talks with children at local elementary schools. This program was created by Georgia-Pacific to promote environmental education in the classroom through the resource professional. I also volunteer with the National Wild Turkey Federation as a banquet committee member and serve as a leader in the local Boy Scouts of America troop. I coach youth sports (football, baseball, soccer and basketball) in the local community and use every opportunity I get to expose children to the beauty of the outdoors.
Q: We hear you’re in the process of turning some of your private land into an outdoor classroom for community members and local schools. Tell us more about that. Ultimately, what purpose would you like to see this outdoor classroom serve?
A: Our county once had an “environmental forest” that was used as an educational facility by the local schools. Changing land uses prompted the closing of this area several months ago. Many children had shared their first experience with nature at this facility under the guidance of Polly Ward (a local teacher). I had purchased 33 acres at about the same time of the closure and had an idea that I might be able to create an area similar to that offered by the “environmental forest” with some work and a little vision. I plan to create an outdoor “classroom” that will allow children a chance to experience nature and see firsthand how forestry practices are prescribed and applied, and how all this can be accomplished in harmony with the critters, water/soil resources, etc.
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