2011 National Outstanding Inspector of the Year
Brian Cobble, Live Oak, Florida.
Cobble is a senior forester with the Florida Forest Service. He coordinates and administers state and federal cooperative forestry programs on private forest lands. In accepting the Wesley R.Meier Award during the National Tree Farmer Convention in August,Cobble asked the audience if they were familiar with the area where he worked.If not, the musical verse,“Way down upon the Swanee River” might set the southern scene of his tree farming world.
Cobble works on the ground with landowners through state and federal cost-share programs providing technical and financial assistance in reforestation, longleaf pine restoration, prescribed burning, mechanical brush reduction, watershed protection, wildlife management, and exotic and invasive species control. In 2010, Cobble conducted 45 inspections on 13,809 acres and brought nine new properties into Tree Farm.
Cobble is also a registered Mississippi forester. He has conducted forestry workshops and presented programs on forestry topics. He is a certified wildland firefighter in Florida and served on emergency response teams for hurricanes and wildfires in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Montana.
Congratulations are also in order for the 2011 Regional Inspectors of the Year, Michael Heath, Oregon (Left); Sam Topper, Delaware (Middle); and John Joliff, Ohio (Right). ATFS Inspectors are truly the boots on the ground for Tree Farm.
