Straka named Extension Forester of the Year

Tom Straka (’81 Ph.D. forest resource management and economics) received the Forest Landowners Association’s 2017 Extension Forester of the Year award. Straka has been a faculty member at Clemson University since 1989 following eight years at Mississippi State University.

An active consulting forester and researcher, he is a noted forest economist and prolific writer, contributing to both forestry publications and mainstream media. His research centers broadly on

forest resource management and economics, especially the areas of family forest owners, quantitative forest management, forest valuation, and forest policy and history.

Straka received his award from Virginia Tech Professor Emeritus Harry Haney, the former Garland Gray Professor of Forestry who served the university for 28 years. “It is truly an honor to be nominated for this award by Harry,” Straka said. Haney is a former president of the Forest Landowners Association and serves on the organization’s publications committee with Straka.