Contact: Bob Ratliff
A Mississippi State researcher is being honored for her recent study of how changed road-weight limits might affect forestry operations in a North Mississippi county.
Laurie A. Grace, assistant professor of forestry at the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, is receiving a first-place award from the regional division of the American Pulpwood Association.
In her report, Grace explains how Alcorn County's proposed reductions from 80,000 pounds to 57,600 pounds for trucks on hard-surface county roads would reduce the price landowners receive for timber. She also details how the weight-limit changes actually could increase transportation and harvesting costs for loggers by $13.68 per ton.
Grace earlier developed similar analyses for Mississippi's other 81 counties.
The American Pulpwood Association is a nonprofit trade association concerned with issues involving the efficient and safe harvest and transportation of forest products. The organization's south-central division, which is honoring Grace, includes the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.
Douglas P. Richards, forestry department head, said Grace's study should be of significant interest to thousands of state residents.
"Dr. Grace is addressing some very important issues in forestry in Mississippi," Richardson said. "She also is actively distributing the results of her analyses throughout the state and region."
A native of Virginia, Grace received bachelor's and master's degrees at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She holds a doctorate from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.