Written by Christian Kanzian and Woodam Chung

For the first time in their history, FORMEC and COFE co-organized a joint annual meeting in Hungary/Austria, October 6-9, 2019.  The meeting was also the result of the joint venture between the University of Sopron, Hungary and the University of Life Sciences Vienna, Austria as hosting organizations.  A total of 280 participants from 30 countries attended this year meeting including over 30 participants from North America.  The conference hosted 110 presentations spread over three parallel sessions in two days that provided insight in the latest development in forest engineering research and technology.  A digital poster session allowed 55 posters to be accessible via web and a kiosk screen. Two keynote sessions presented by six speakers (Rasmus Astrup, Clement Atzberger, Chad Bolding, Woodam Chung, Hans Heinimann, and Martin Kühmaier) focused on smart forestry, sustainability and digitalization in forest operations.

Theme: IMPROVING FOREST HARVESTING OPERATIONS

January 9, 2020 at  Boulder Falls, Lebanon Oregon 

Credits Available: 

• 7 OPL-Reg Credits Oregon Professional Logger Program
• 8 Washington Master Loggers Program Credits
• 5.5 Cat 1 Contact Hours SAF Continuing Forestry Ed Credits

WR.COFE is a regional chapter (western United States and British Columbia) of the COUNCIL ON FOREST ENGINEERING (COFE). COFE is an international professional organization formed to foster the development of forest engineering in industry, government, and education in order to promote the best methods of managing and operating forests, both private and public. COFE serves the forestry profession by disseminating technical information about forest engineering. 

Registration and Fees:  Registration is now handled through: Western Forestry and Conservation.  The fee for this conference is $135. This includes a one year membership in The Council on Forest Engineering

Please use the following secure link to register for the program:  REGISTER NOW LINK

For the first time ever, the the 42nd annual COFE meeting will be held in EUROPE, together with the 52nd edition of the FORMEC symposium from 6-10 October 2019 in Sopron (Hungary).  The meeting is jointly organized by University of Sopron and BOKU University and will include an optional one day field excursion to AUSTROFOMA in Forchtenstein (Austria) will be organized on 9 October.  Official meeting lanugage is ENGLISH.  The 2020 Meeting will also be a joint COFE/FORMEC meeting, but this time held in Oregon, USA!

FORMEC/COFE CONFERENCE WEBSITE

FORMEC is a very similar organization to COFE, just with a more European centric membership.  More information can be found on their website:   https://www.formec.org/

The Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation hosted the 41 Annual Council on Forest Engineering Meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia at the Williamsburg Lodge in Colonial Williamsburg July 15-18, 2018.  The meeting was co-chaired by Drs. Chad Bolding and Scott Barrett with the theme Revolutionary Traditions, Innovative Industries.  Meeting attendance was approximately 70 from 7 countries (Brazil, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, and U.S.) and 21 U.S. states.  The meeting began with a Sunday night icebreaker reception followed by Monday general sessions, a Tuesday field trip, and Wednesday concurrent technical sessions. 

General session topics included: 1) Innovations in Machine Design, Efficiency, and Safety, and 2) Global Forest Engineering Innovations.  Invited industrial speakers included: Chris Harwood, John Deere; Mike Duncan, Caterpillar; and Steve Jones, Peterson Pacific.  Invited global innovations speakers included: Dr. Kris Brown, New Zealand; Dr. Luc Lebel, Canada; Dr. Lars Eliasson, Sweden; Dr. Raffaele Spinelli, Italy; and Mr. Angelo Moura, Brazil.  Sixteen students were also in attendance representing Laval University – Canada, Auburn University, Virginia Tech, University of Georgia, Northern Arizona University, University of Montana, West Virginia University, and the University of Stellenbosch – South Africa.  Concurrent technical session topics included: The Role of Forest Operations, Supply Chain Efficiency, Operational Efficiency, Forest Roads and Site Impacts, The Logging Workforce, Biomass, Harvesting Productivity and Costs, andTrucking and Transportation.  Of the 53 presentations, 16 papers will be peer-reviewed and edited into a special issue of the International Journal of Forest Engineering entitled: “Forest Engineering Innovations and Advancements” that will be published in 2019.         

Meeting attendees not only got up to date information on forest engineering research and innovations globally but also enjoyed a Colonial themed dinner at King’s Arms Tavern on Monday evening.  A full day field trip on Tuesday included stops at the Enviva Biomass Northampton pellet mill in Garysburg, NC, a BBQ lunch and awards ceremony at the Franklin Business Center in Franklin, VA, and visits to both Southeast Fiber Supply and Jerry D. Rose Logging to observe high production in-woods chipping of both hardwood and softwood species.

COFE presented the 2018 Student Communication Award to Patrick Grove for his paper entitled: “Timber Theft: Financial Impacts and Prevention in the U.S. South”.  The Operator Award was presented to Davis Rose of Southeast Fiber Supply who is a core supplier of microchips to the local Enviva Biomass pellet facilities.

Special thanks are extended to our sponsors: Enviva Biomass, Fibria Cellulose, Huber Engineered Woods, Council on Forest Engineering, John Deere, Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, and IUFRO for their support of the meeting. 

This year’s COFE Annual Meeting is being hosted by the University of Maine, School of Forest Resources, and the New England Region Council on Forest Engineering.  The theme of this 40th COFE Annual Meeting is “Forest Engineering, From Where We’ve Been, to Where We’re Going.”  Please see the ‘Call for Abstracts’ page for information about the technical presentation topics.  See the ‘Registration Page’ to register kamagra australia for the conference, and the ‘Hilton Garden Inn Bangor’ link for hotel information and to reserve your stay.

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 Agenda

COFE 2017  “Forest Engineering, from Where We’ve Been, to Where We’re Going”

July 30 – August 2, 2017

Sunday 7/30 Travel Day

4:30pm-7:30pm Registration

5:00pm-6:30pm Executive Committee Meeting

6:30pm-8:00pm Evening Social/Reception at the hotel

Dinner on your own

Monday 7/31

7:30am Registration

The 2016 COFE Annual meeting will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia CANADA on September 19 - 21,  2016.  The meeting will coordinate with the Canadian Woodlands Forum, The faculty of Forestry at UBC, and the DEMO International Conference.   This combination of meetings and in woods equipment demo should be a forest engineering highlight of the year  -  mark your calendars now and stay tuned for additional information! 

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COFE Annual Meeting Registration NOW OPEN!  Early Registration Before June 1st!  

Register today at http://cofe.ca.uky.edu/

For the first time, the 2015 COFE annual meeting will be hosted by the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky. It will be held July 19 – 22, 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky.  The theme of the meeting is “Engineering Solutions for Non-Industrial Private Forest Operations”.  This meeting will have technical presentations addressing the following topics:   

• Forest operations as a mean to restore and improve forest health
• Biomass utilization for energy production
• Best management practices to reduce site disturbances and maintain stream water quality
• Transition to mechanized operations in hardwood forests
• Small-scale forest operations for non-industrial private landowners

For more information about the 2015 COFE meeting, please visit the conference website or contact Conference Chairman:  

Dr. Marco Contreras, Assistant Professor of Forest Management
Department of Forestry College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
University of Kentucky
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