Several Indiana landowners have been recently recognized with the 2023 Charles Deam Forest Stewardship Award by the Indiana Forestry & Woodland Owners Association (IFWOA).
One of the winners was Diane Billings, the owner of Billings Family Farm in Warren County, just west of Lafayette, which includes about 1,000 acres of woodlands.
She says the farm once belonged to the family of her late husband Richard.
“We inherited the farm before years ago and we look back on what’s happened in the last four years we feel like we’ve been affirmed by receiving this Deam award that we’re doing good stewardship,” she says.
Diane and her family installed tree and prairie borders to encourage wildlife habitat and control flooding and erosion along the farm’s border with the Wabash River.
Three generations of the Billings family are active in management, which makes the farm a true “family affair.” The family was nominated for this award by their consulting foresters, Mike and Jennifer Boyle Warner.
Diane says she’s seen the benefits of their labor in a short amount of time.
“Already in the four short years that we’ve been working on this, we’ve seen the return of pheasants. We’ve also seen a bobcat there and there is other wildlife that we usually haven’t seen in the past, so we hope that this is working to improve the habitat,” she says.
Diane shares some advice for those looking to get the most out of their woodland properties.
“First of all, have a contract with a Consulting Forester. They are enormously helpful,” says Diane. “I also want to give a shout-out to Purdue University because they have a wonderful online course about Forest Management which has helped me a lot to become informed, find a direction, and learn what the best practices are. I also want to give a shout-out to the Women’s Learning Circles because they have workshops for women who are landowners—in Indiana, 50 percent of the land is owned by women—so that’s been a big help to take those workshops.”
The other co-winners of the Deam award for forest stewardship were Allen & Peg Royer of Putnam County. Both families have an exceptional conservation ethic, which includes managing biodiversity, wildlife and pollinators.
The Royers spend countless hours on tree planting, managing prairies, invasive species control, and timber stand improvement to ensure they leave the property better for the next generation. They host conservation field days for other landowners and education programs for youth from elementary to college aged. The family was nominated by Sara Campfield of Putnam County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Jeff and Kyla Uebelhor of Martin County were finalists for the award from central Indiana. They have done tree thinning and planting to promote oak-hickory forests while improving wildlife habitat with edge feathering and food plots.
Saint Meinrad Archabbey, with properties in Spencer and Perry Counties, were honored as a finalist from southeastern Indiana. They established conservation easements and a filter strip program along the Anderson River in addition to the thousands of trees they have planted over many decades.
The Deam award “honors outstanding Indiana woodland owners who demonstrate exemplary forest stewardship.” Charles Deam, Indiana’s first state forester, was a pioneer in recognizing the need for protecting woodlands and managing our forests.
Nominations for 2024 will be accepted starting in May 2024. Learn more at www.ifwoa.org.
Click below to hear the full conversation with Diane Billings, owner of Billings Family Farm in Warren County and co-winner of the 2023 Charles Deam Forest Stewardship Award by the Indiana Forestry & Woodland Owners Association (IFWOA).
