Controversial conversations are in progress between area forest owners today. 
Everyone is well intentioned and trying to make the best of the situation.  Here is a thought on how to sort out what is really going on. 
Who really is making the money and has the power?

I keep hearing of all kinds of government programs and free grants
to encourage forest owners to manage their timber.  The one that catches my attention the most is the USDA  million$ for grants for developing value-added direct marketing businesses.  But there are many more.
It is a multi-million dollar/year business! 

The bottom line....  who is making the money here?
Government administrators....
University professors....
Foundation administrators....
Non-profit agencies.....
"Expert" consultants..
Forestry Business owners who play the games & work the system for their own profit.

What Bugs me the most is....
All these people can not afford to actually do anything real.  They can't  actually solve the problem.  They just have meetings and conferences and do more
research.....  and more meetings and conferences.....  then time in the office...... and more meetings.....
They won't risk becoming successful and then -
not being needed and then un-employed.
(If grants actually worked, and they would actually serve the forest owner and manage the forest, I wouldn't say a WORD!)

Looking back, when Sustainable Woods Cooperative was getting its first
Agricultural Business Development grant from Wisconsin, the first warning
was heard, but not understood.
Bud Sholts told a founding board member and I that we should beware of the Cooperative Developer that had submitted the grant for us.  Bud told us of
poor quality service to another group in the past and "If your forest owners knew how much he was charging per hour, they would not accept it".   
We didn't listen, took the free money, and found out the hard way what poor quality service really meant.



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