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Ohio couple named Outstanding Tree Farmers of Year, by ATFS

By DOUG GRAVES

CADIZ, Ohio — Koral and Randy Clum of northeastern Ohio have dedicated their professional and personal lives to managing forests for healthy trees, wildlife, clean water and air.

So when they purchased the 152-acre Hepatica Falls Tree Farm 25 years ago, they shaped it into a showcase of productive, sustainable forestland, all while helping others manage their woodlands for generations to come. Their efforts didn’t go unrecognized, as the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) has honored the couple as its Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year.

The ATFS is a program of the American Forest Foundation, which works to provide hands-on support for more than 20 million family forest owners, giving them the tools they need to manage healthy and sustainable woodlands. ATFS is the largest and oldest sustainable woodland system in the United States.

While the Clums had spent much of their careers in forestry, they hadn’t managed their own property until they acquired their tree farm. Since then, they’ve been dedicated to creating a working forest that produces high-quality timber while managing for water, wildlife and recreation – as well as using their woodland to educate others about the benefits of the forest and good management principles.

“It’s an amazing honor and I feel blessed to have worked with all the people who we’ve worked with,” Koral said. “We’re honored to be recognized in this way.”

“What’s been important to us about the ATFS is the education component,” Randy added. “It’s a way to meet other tree farmers, to expand their knowledge, to expose them to bigger and better things and to what other tree farmers have been doing for the last few decades.

“It’s good principles. It’s good standards. It’s what tree farming is all about: clean air, clean water, timber, recreation, aesthetics, all rolled into one package.”

Koral’s interest in forestry was keyed during a summer camp in Wisconsin called Trees for Tomorrow. After graduating at the top of her forestry undergrad class at Iowa State University, she was hired in 1980 to work in Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio, giving her the distinction of being Ohio’s first female state forester.

Randy earned his forestry degree at Ohio State University in 1977. He and Koral worked together as foresters at Shawnee before moving on to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Today, they own Clum Forestry Consultants, often using Hepatica Falls Tree Farm to show clients how forest management methods can transform and improve their land.

They are frequent speakers on forest management during seminars, field days and other educational workshops. The couple have also served on numerous advisory boards and held officer positions for organizations such as the Ohio Society of American Foresters, Ohio Tree Farm Committee, Ohio Farm Bureau and the East Central Ohio Forestry Assoc.

“The Clums are model landowners who have done great work on their land, for sustainable wood, clean water, improved wildlife habitat and recreation,” said Tom Martin, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, the nonprofit conservation group that manages ATFS.

“They are terrific stewards of their land, and have also taken that a step further to reach out to their neighbors and their community to all work together to make our forests healthier. This type of sharing and education is a key value of ATFS.”

Their tree farming venture began in 1993 when Randy learned a 149-acre property with a small gorge area and a waterfalls was for sale. Six months later he and Koral made the purchase, naming it Hepatica Falls. “Hepatica” is derived from the small wildflower that grows in the area.

“Removing pines and creating mini clear-cuts has had a major impact on wildlife,” Randy said. “We basically created salad bars for the wildlife and created so much diversity, as far as edge effect and young successional stages for different species of animals, birds, insects and pollinators. It worked out better than we imagined.

“Some people feel that cutting trees is hard on the wildlife, but in this part of Ohio the missing component for a lot of wildlife is the early successional forest, the young trees.”

Managing their land for timber sales, the Clums have adhered to the high standards of ATFS certification. This requires tree selection with consideration for forest health, spacing, risk, markets, aesthetics, wildlife and long-term productivity.

According to Martin, the Clums’ best management practices and their love of the land have ensured erosion control near Stillwater Creek, and they have protected and improved habitat for wildlife including bobcats, coyotes, river otters, deer, spring peepers, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, wood ducks, turkey vultures, red-tailed hawks, pileated woodpeckers, woodcocks, barred owls, kingfishers, wrens, towhees, scarlet tanagers, goldfinches, hummingbirds and the Louisiana water thrush.

Each year, ATFS recognizes four regional Outstanding Tree Farmers out of the 73,000 nationwide.

12/5/2018