By SHERRI TAYLOR
News Editor

It's not the end of a rich and interesting career in forestry - just a new chapter for Dr. G.H. Weaver, former Director of the School of Forestry at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. Dr. Weaver retired this summer turning the reins over to new director John Adams and his associate Mark Gibson.

Dr. Weaver came to Ruston in 1992 after teaching at such schools as Mississippi State University for 16 years where he was the assistant dean of forestry, Stephen F. Austin University, Oklahoma State University and his alma mater, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Raised on a dairy farm, Dr. Weaver quips that he chose a career in forestry because he didn't like getting up at dawn to milk cows. However, the real reason was one of economics.

"I watched timber sales there in southern Indiana," Dr. Weaver said. "I saw folks buy land, sell the timber and pay for the whole package."

While it's still possible to get a really good value on timber land, things have changed in the intervening years, due mostly to technology, according to Dr. Weaver. He uses an illustration to prove his point.

After World War II, agriculture began to take advantage of the available technology: fertilizing fields, new techniques of cultivation and the study of genetics.

"In forestry, we are just past the World War II stage of agriculture," he explained. "There are a lot of methods we can borrow from agriculture. We should capture the technology available now."

He pointed out that after all, trees are simply another renewable agricultural crop, although on a much longer rotation schedule.

Dr. Weaver said that new models show, in the future it will be possible to grow all the wood needed worldwide on 5% of the forest land available with intensive land management practices. With today's methods, it takes 40%.

"For individual forest land owners, that's good news," said Dr. Weaver. One reason for that is because here in the South can be found some of the best land for producing trees.

"It used to be the practice to plant trees on the worst land," he said. "Now we look for the best areas to grow trees." That can be found here in the Southern United States.

However, he said it is a big challenge for individual landowners to see the advisability of spending $200 per acre to put land in trees. In spite of the fact that with today's management of forestlands, it's a proven fact that profits can be made if land is carefully tended, he said.

"We could triple our volume per acre," Dr. Weaver stated, "if land management would catch up with agriculture. Instead of cotton, rice and soybeans, we need to look at trees as a crop."

In years previous, big companies even looked at things differently. If they needed more trees, they simply purchased more land. Today, big companies have fewer acres of timber land but they manage it intensely and get the best value from their trees.

"The important thing is to focus on management of property," Dr. Weaver said. "Every forest landowner needs a forester." The days of letting the family farm grow up "naturally" into trees for harvesting have passed.

Dr. Weaver's view of the future is simple. Timber growers will do a better job on less land and still make a profit. Loggers will be forced to focus on new technology to keep up with the market.

"There's no doubt that some day there will be fewer logging contractors producing more product," Dr. Weaver said. "Just as in today's agricultural business where 5-10% of the farmers produce 80% of the crop, forestry will follow that pattern." He believes this area, with its perfect conditions for growing trees, has an excellent chance of remaining a major producer of the world's timber needs long into the future.

As for his future, he will stay in the forestry business, operating a consulting firm under the title of Stage Coach Road Forestry. He and his wife Carla will commute between Ruston and their home in southern Indiana frequently. They have strong ties to the area since their daughter Shanna McCracken lives in South Texas with her three boys ages 18 months to 6 years. Their son Andrew is a major in the Air Force. He has a daughter 2 and a son 6 years old. Dr. Weaver manages several large tracts of timber here and will continue to do so.

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