ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. — On May 5th, the Northeastern Loggers’ Association honored Kathleen Wanner as their 2021 awardee for Outstanding Contributions to Forest Industry Education at the organization’s annual Loggers Banquet in Essex Junction, Vermont.
Kathleen Wanner is an excellent communicator and has spent most of her adult life immersed in language. As the parent of a deaf son, she immersed herself in learning American Sign Language and spent twenty years as an interpreter in Vermont’s public school system. She also worked for years as a freelance technical writer before entering the wood industry. Wanner is now the Executive Director of Vermont Woodlands Association and Chair of the Vermont Tree Farm Committee. Both organizations help private landowners sustainably manage their forests. Wanner is also involved with Project Learning Tree, an organization that helps educate the next generation of forest stewards and forest landowners as well as helps teachers, non-formal educators, parents, and caregivers connect children to nature. Across the organizations she works with, her example of identifying needs, making and implementing a plan, recruiting and organizing volunteers, and being present at events has earned her a reputation for professionalism.
The purpose of the Northeastern Loggers’ Association, Inc. is to serve its membership and the region’s forest industry by developing and promoting programs and services that strengthen the community as a whole and help members produce products and environmental benefits to meet the needs of the American people.
–Northeastern Loggers’ Association, Inc.
