Arkansas State Forester Joe Fox selected as president of national forestry group

Arkansas State Forester Joe Fox was selected as President of the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), a group of national, state and territorial foresters.

As Arkansas’s State Forester, Fox directs the Forestry Division of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. He joined the Division in May of 2012.

Preceding the appointment to State Forester, he was the Director of Conservation Forestry for the Arkansas Field Office of The Nature Conservancy where he directed and promoted conservation forestry project development, conservation planning, and forest land acquisition throughout the state.

“I am honored to represent State Foresters and Arkansas as President of NASF,” said Fox. “Wise forest management and safe wildland fire operations are central to our collective work and dependent on our collective capacity. My greatest hope for this year is that we are able to build greater collaboration and communication within the forestry community. Together we can achieve so much more for our forested landscapes.”

Fox is a native Arkansan who worked as a procurement forester in a family-owned lumber business in Pine Bluff and Sheridan for over 20 years. He is a former president of the Arkansas Forestry Association and former chairman of the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

He previously served as the Vice President of NASF and is the Chair of its Forest Resource Management Committee. He holds two bachelor’s degrees from North Carolina State University in forestry and agricultural economics.

There are an estimated 19 million acres of forest in Arkansas, or 56% of the state, according to the Arkansas Farm Bureau. Federal estimates as of 2016 show the United States with 818.8 million acres of forest, or about 36% of the country.