Delaware’s 2018 Tree Farmer of the Year has been named.
The honor goes to Doug Simpson of Bridgeville for his longtime dedication to forest conservation and landowner education.
According to Sam Topper, a senior forester with the Delaware Forest Service, tree farming is extremely important.
“Tree farming and the Tree Farm Program is vitally important to every state who participates. Important because, as most people know, trees and forest are important to everybody, not just to folks who own them, for a variety of reasons,” said Topper.
Topper adds the Tree Farm Program and Tree Farmer of the Year seek to highlight those forestland owners for exceptional work promoting sustainable forestry and forest management.
Topper says Simpson fits the bill, devoting his life and career to forests. He owns a handful of different forests and Topper says he works with the Forest Service closely to manage his land sustainably, not just for wood products, but for education, wildlife habitat, and water quality.
Delaware’s first Tree Farm was certified in 1959; today, there are more than 200 Tree Farms covering 20,000 acres in Delaware.