ATFS Names Heather Wierzbicki Inspector of the Year
Heather Wierzbicki, of Phenix City, Ala,was named the 2004 National Tree Farm Inspecting Forester of the Year and the winner of the Wesley R. Meier Outstanding Inspecting Forester of the Year Award.
Wierzbicki, a Wood Resources Administrator for Mead-Westvaco’s Coated Board Division, became involved in ATFS in 1998. Her interest in the ATFS program grew from her personal drive to help landowners discover more about sustainable forestry and healthy wildlife habitats. Since then, she has taken on several other titles within ATFS. She currently serves as an active member of the Alabama State Tree Farm Committee,is one of ten state district chairs, and is the editor of the state Tree Farm newsletter Green Horizons.
“Our (Inspectors’) passion is not different from yours as Tree Farmers,” Wierzbicki said upon accepting her award. “We too have a deep passion for the land and that’s why we do what we do.”
Her belief in the Tree Farm program and commitment to the Tree Farmers themselves is evidenced in her work with the many Tree Farmers she's worked with and dedicated herself to over the years. By completing 103 reinspections in the last year, she has played a huge role in completely eliminating the reinspection backlog for her district. Wierzbicki has also placed 30 Tree Farm signs and presented 15 new Tree Farm certificates.
Wierzbicki’s outreach efforts go beyond the forest’s edge as she consistently shares information about ATFS, encouraging other foresters to get involved and more landowners to enroll for the benefits that not only ATFS provides but for what sustainable forestry practices provide to the land. In addition, she has organized and conducted Tree Farm Inspector training workshops in her district and has helped train in other districts as well.
With a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Environmental Biology from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, N.Y., along with the MBA she is now in the process of completing, Wierzbicki continues to grow as a leader of not only ATFS but for the entire forestry community.
