James Floyd, a forestry instructor on Holmes Community College’s Grenada and Goodman campuses, received the 2024 Outstanding Youth Forestry Leadership Award during the 87th Annual Meeting of the Mississippi Forestry Association (MFA). MFA President Matthew Raff presented the award and was joined by several natural resource students from the college.
For nearly a decade, Floyd has coordinated the state’s FFA Forestry Competition, an event designed to spark students’ interest in forestry and promote it as a career path.
“When I coordinate this event, I’m looking for the forestry team that has it all,” Floyd said.
To succeed in the competition, students must correctly use forestry terminology, recognize sustainable silvicultural practices, identify tree species, measure tree volume, compete in orienteering and demonstrate safety protocols.
Floyd draws on personal experience for this role, having competed in North Carolina’s FFA Forestry Competition as a high school student. Just a few years earlier, Dean of Career Technical Programs Dr. Luke Jones competed in Mississippi’s Forestry Competition and his team won the state and represented Mississippi at Nationals.
“To compete at this level takes leadership,” Floyd said.
The Outstanding Youth Forestry Leadership Award was designed to recognize and publicize outstanding achievements by Mississippi’s youth leaders in the areas of forestry and sustainable forest management.
Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state. For this reason, Mississippi’s forestry license plate boasts “First in Forestry.” This is an awesome accolade, because it’s not just about the trees. This slogan reflects our land owners and natural resource manages.
“As a forestry instructor, I have the opportunity to work with two of my favorite resources: trees and the young people that wish to manage them,” Floyd said.
For more information about the forestry program at Holmes, contact Floyd at jafloyd@holmescc.edu.
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