Extension forester receives
national award for outreach
By Susan Collins-Smith
MSU Extension Service
PURVIS, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University Extension Service forester has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to private forest landowners in Mississippi and nationally.
Butch Bailey was selected to receive the Extension Forester of the Year Award from the Forest Landowners Association, or FLA. He will be presented with the award during the association’s annual conference in July.
“I have been fortunate to know Butch for many years and to work with him as well as learn from him,” said David Hall, FLA member who nominated Bailey for the award. “I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of this award. Butch has dedicated his life to educating landowners, kids, teachers and anyone who will stop long enough to listen about the importance of forests and sound forest management.
“He has served the public very unselfishly and has made a major impact on how many landowners manage their land and timber in ways that benefit the owner, the natural resource and the public,” said Hall.
Each year, the Extension Forester of the Year Award recognizes an individual Extension employee who is dedicated to landowner education, presents or publishes educational material geared toward private landowners, interacts with private landowners individually or in groups, has worked in Extension for a minimum of five years and is preferably personally involved with FLA.
“I am deeply humbled by the nomination, even more so than the award itself,” Bailey said. “I consider my career as an Extension forester both a profession and a vocation. To be recognized this way for doing what I love to do means a lot. I’m grateful to David Hall for the nomination and to the Forest Landowners Association for the recognition.”
Bailey, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in forestry from MSU, has been an Extension forester for more than 20 years. Based in Purvis, Bailey has committed his career to forestry and natural resources stewardship and education.
He is a 20-year member of the Mississippi Forestry Association, or MFA, where he has served as president and first and second vice president as well as on the board of directors. He is a member of multiple MFA committees, including executive, communications, youth forestry, education and outreach, government affairs, Teacher Conservation Workshop and tree far.
Bailey has led the MFA professional development workshops Project Learning Tree and Teacher Conservation Workshops for two decades. He also helps with 4-H and FFA forestry competitions as well as teaching Boy Scouts merit badge curriculum for forestry and pulp and paper.
FLA is a national organization representing 2,000 members who own and manage over 55 million acres of private timberland across 44 states.
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