Ken Laustsen Receives 2021 Austin Wilkins Award

Maine TREE Foundation and the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry selected Kenneth Laustsen for the 2021 Austin H. Wilkins Forest Stewardship Award. The award was presented to him at the 2022 NESAF meeting in Portland.

Ken started his career as a right-of-way foreman doing brush control work, through decades with Great Northern Paper, and finally with the State of Maine, his career was directed towards work in Maine’s forests. He also served in many other ways, including with community groups such as the Girl Scouts, Ducks Unlimited, the Society of American Foresters and with Maine TREE programs such as Project Learning Tree and Tree Farm.

Ken’s plaque states: “In Recognition of your public service to the forest products industry and the State of Maine as the now retired state biometrician, and for your unique ability to make a complicated subject easily understood. Though out your career, you advocated for improved forestry communications and helped people evaluate the credibility and usefulness if forest resource information so that they could make better informed decisions. Your ability to bring that often complex information to the level of your audience is evident with your success in working with many students, teachers, stakeholders, and resource professionals over the years. We owe you our gratitude.”

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