On April 15, Debbie and David Gray were honored as Certified Forest Stewards for their work in maintaining and improving their land. Robert Edmondson, Texas Forest Service representative, presented the certificate and Stewardship Forest sign.

Debbie and David Gray moved to Blanco County in 1976 and reared three sons here.

They planted trees, controlled cedar and tried to improve their property. When they heard about the Texas Forest Service Land Stewardship Program, they invited TFS staff Forester Robert Edmondson to visit in July of 2008. Robert saw the ranch and wrote up a land management program, complete with maps of ground and tree cover, soil types and elevations. The plan also included resource descriptions, land owner objectives, recommendations (such as trees to plant in the area), and compact discs with attachments filled with lots of information. He also made suggestions on how to water wildlife and how to protect young volunteer trees from predation by deer and rabbits and how to manage oak wilt.

This is all a free service to land owners with ten or more acres who want to do the best they can for their property and nature.

The goal of the Forest Stewardship Program is to offer a multiple resource approach to managing non industrial forest lands. The foresters provide technical and planning guidance helping land owners develop Forest Stewardship Plans. They help land owners meet their objectives for their property.

The Grays appreciate Robert for his service to the Certified Forest Stewardship Program.

For more information on this program, visit http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu or http://www.texas conservation.org or call the TFS Stewardship Coordinator at 979-458-6650.