The Virginia Department of Forestry hosted a group of Eurasian forestry professionals from Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan for two days (July 23 & 24) as part of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s SABIT (Special American Business Internship Training) program.
The delegation of 18 timber and wood processing professionals are in the USA for three weeks (July 18 – August 8).
“The delegates were very engaged during their entire visit with us,” said State Forester of Virginia Bettina Ring. “They paid close attention to every presenter and asked a lot of great questions. My team and I were honored to have had the opportunity to host the group and to work with the U.S. Department of Commerce on the visit.”
The delegates are executives of companies and organizations (four national/regional government entities and 14 private companies) operating in areas ranging from forest management to timber harvesting and processing of value-added products. After spending a few days in Washington, DC, they traveled to Charlottesville, Va., to learn about trends and best practices in forest management, timber harvesting, and primary and secondary wood processing.
On day one, a team of VDOF professionals delivered presentations before taking the group to the Augusta Forestry Center to see how a hardwood nursery works. On day two, the group traveled to the Shenandoah Valley to tour the W.R. Deacon & Sons hardwood mill, heard a presentation on Lean Manufacturing by Dr. Urs Buehlmann of Virginia Tech and took a forest management tour of the historic Cyrus McCormick (inventor of the mechanical reaper) farm.
From the National Association Of State Foresters: https://stateforesters.org/news-events/blog/virginia-agency-hosts-eurasian-forestry-professionals