About the SFNMC

Administrative Offices

Auburn University | College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
Dr. Janaki Alavalapati, Dean

602 Duncan Drive
Auburn, AL 36849-5418

Tel: 334.844.1004

Staff

Annakay Newell - Interim Director & Assistant Research Professor
Nina Payne - Research Associate
Elizabeth Bowersock - Outreach Assistant

Our Mission

The mission of the Southern Forest Nursery Management Cooperative is to develop and disseminate available cultural, biological, and chemical technologies using an integrated system for the economical production and utilization of forest-tree seedlings in the southern United States.

Brief History

The Nursery Cooperative initiated activities in 1972. It was recognized at that time that nursery production in the Southeast was facing a number of critical issues influencing the cost effective production of southern pine planting stock used for reforestation. Nursery managers from forest industry, the states, and the U.S. Forest Service were facing severe pest management problems. The Nursery Cooperative, therefore, devoted considerable research effort to developing effective weed and disease control technologies, and to transfer this knowledge to those individuals in nursery management. During the 1980s, the Nursery Cooperative program moved into the area of seedling quality as research showed that nursery-related factors such as seedling size, fertility, and health affected performance after planting. The Nursery Cooperative continues work in both pest management and seedling quality issues, but now is putting increased emphasis on the environmental impact of pesticides and fertilizers in nurseries, hardwood culture, and the integration of nursery practices with site preparation and post-outplanting operations. All of these research programs are accompanied by rapid dissemination of new information to the Nursery Cooperative membership through research reports, annual meetings, newsletters, and field visits. The Nursery Cooperative increasingly represents the forest-tree nursery community of the South to the EPA and USDA regarding policy and regulatory decisions that affect the nursery business.

Nursery Cooperative Members

The Nursery Management Cooperative currently has 13 members: 6 forest industries, 6 state forestry organizations, and the U.S. Forest Service - State and Private. Together, the Nursery Cooperative membership produces approximately 70% of all the tree seedlings grown in the United States. Members are expected to actively participate in Nursery Cooperative activities by allowing research to be conducted on their nurseries/land and, to a limited extent, provide labor and materials to conduct that research.

Administrative Offices

Staff

Our Mission

Brief History

Nursery Cooperative Members

Member Organizations

State Forestry Organizations

Federal Organizations

Industrial Organizations