As a part of the annual meeting the OSAF awards were presented at the awards banquet. Dr. Rod Will and Dr. Rob Ficklin were recognized as Fellows for 2022. The Volunteer Leadership Award was presented to Bob Heinemann while the Young Forestry Leadership Award went to Joshua Bradley. The Forestry Educator Award was given to Dr. Brian Murray and Joe Friend was chosen to receive the Field Forester Award. The Technology Transfer Award was presented to Dr. Kyle Cunningham and the Joe Fox was given the Outstanding Communicator Award. The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Dr. Vic Ford. In addition to the OSAF awards, division awards was presented also. The Arkansas Division presented the Ted Chancey
Career Forester Award to Larry Nance. The Oklahoma Division presented the Ted Silker Award to Joshua Bradley and the Nat Walker Award to Bob Heinemann. Congratulations to all the those earning these awards and thank you for service to SAF.

The annual meeting of the OSAF was held at the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Pocola, OK on November 9th & 10th. The theme of the meeting was "The Inflation Reduction Act and Potential Impact on Forest Practices Funding". The meeting featured informative presentations by Mark Goeller, Okla. State Forester; Joe Fox, Arkansas State Forester; Dr. Matt Pelkki; and Dr. Omkar Joshi addressing the state of each state's forestry organization and the value of our forests and economic impact as they might be affected by the Inflation Reduction Act. The 2nd day featured Josh Bradley & Eric Brixey addressing FIA in OK and AR, followed by Dr. Rod Will speaking on how climate & weather affect shortleaf pine and post oak. Dr. Ryan Desantis presented on fire history and fire effects on post oak & blackjack oak. Dr. Brian Lockhart was the final scheduled speaker and spoke on "Forest Ethics-To Cut or not to cut". In addition to the division & society business meetings we were privileged to have Terry Baker, SAF CEO, bring us up to date on national SAF activities. The meeting also had the annual awards banquet, the silent auction to raise funds for Foresters Fund, a poster session for students, and a new activity this year, Arkies vs. Okies cornhole toss. 2023 officers were recognized. Chair will be Steve Mattax, Chair-elect will be Eric Myers, and Secretary-Treasurer will be Regine Skelton.

The meeting is titled "Encouraging New Growth and Ideas in a Post-Covid World". The meeting will be held in Norman/Goldsby, OK on April 13-14, 2022. It will begin with a group dinner at Land Run Grill in Norman at 6:30 p.m. in Norman. The remainder of the meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Best Western Plus meeting room. There will be a presentation on carbon offsetting and grad student presentations. After lunch, there will be a field tour at the Oklahoma Forestry Services Forest Regeneration Center. The field trip is designed to brainstorm ideas among foresters on encouraging plantation forestry in Oklahoma and beyond. There is no registration fee. CFE credits will be available through the SAF. More details will be provided to attendees.

The OSAF 2021 annual meeting was held on Nov. 18-19 at the Kiamichi Technology Center in Idabel, OK. The meeting title was "Forestry Paradigms: Thinking Outside the Box". After the Policy & Planning and Executive Committee meetings there was a lunch for all in attendance and an opportunity for fellowship. Chair, Jeri Irby welcomed attendees and chair-elect Brian Lockhart introduced several informative speakers addressing topics such as Hochatown mitigation and preparedness project by Don Cook with Oklahoma Forestry Services. He was followed by Alex Schwartz with the USFS talking about the Hochatown wildland-urban interface vegetation management project. Rounding out the afternoon presentations was Ed Hurliman with an interesting presentation on mixed species management. The evening program was held at the Museum of the Red River and included the silent auction, poster session, and the annual awards banquet. Those recognized were Jaret Rushing, recipient of the OSAF Technology Transfer Award, Dr. Rod Will receiving the OSAF Volunteer Leadership Award, Greg Hay receiving the OSAF Field Forester Award, Joe Fox receiving the OSAF Forest Policy Enhancement Award, and Dr. Tom Kuzmic being the presented the Lifetime Achievement Forestry Award from the OSAF. The Arkanasas Division awarded the Ted Chancey Career Forester Award to Eric Myers, and the Dr. Tim Ku Outstanding Educator Award to Regine Skelton. The newest OSAF Fellows, Larry Nance, Randal Holeman, and Karl Hansen were also recognized. The Friday morning session included updates from SAF CEO Terry Baker, SAF President Gene Kodama, and District IX councilman Tim Phelps. There were then updates from Joe Fox of the Arkansas State Forestry and Mark Goeller of Oklahoma Forestry Services. After Arkansas and Oklahoma division business meetings there was an OSAF business meeting followed by a passing of the gavel from Jeri Irby to Brian Lockhart. After door prizes were handed out and the silent auction concluded, the meeting was adjourned.

The Ouachita SAF had 3 members elected as Fellows in 2021. The rank of Fellow recognizes SAF members for long-standing service to SAF, the profession, and are ambassadors for the advancement of forestry. The OSAF members elected as Fellows are Karl Hansen and Larry Nance from the Arkansas Division and Randy Holeman from the Oklahoma Division. They are among 27 SAF members who were elected Fellow in 2021.

The Ouachita SAF lost a special member and friend on February 22, 2021 with the passing of Robert "Bob" Levins. Bob served for more than 40 years in the Arkansas National Guard. He earned a degree in forestry from Arkansas A&M (now the University of Arkansas-Monticello). His 50 year forestry career included management positions with Fordyce Lumber Co., Georgia-Pacific, and the Arkansas Forestry Commission. He was inducted into the Arkansas Foresters Hall of Fame and received Ouachita SAF's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was an SAF Fellow and a Golden member. He served for many years on the OSAF executive committee and was the chair of the OSAF history committee for many years. He was also active in Arkansas division and chapter events. His friendship and service will be missed greatly.

Many of the documents which show the activities of the OSAF since it was formed are now stored in the Arkansas Archives. These documents may be searched at Archives.Arkansas.Gov. Searching this site will not allow you to see the actual documents, it will only let you know what is available. Actual documents may only be viewed in person. Thanks go to Bob Levins and Robert McFarland as chairmen of the OSAF History Committee for preserving those documents which describe the history of our society. Any questions regarding historical documents of the OSAF should be directed to Robert McFarland.

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