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Kurt Atkinson, assistant director, Oklahoma Forestry Services was recently honored with a national forestry award at the Southern Group of State Foresters meeting in San Antonio. The Two Chiefs' Partnership Award is a joint award of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and United States Forest Service (USFS) for outstanding conservation and forest stewardship efforts. Atkinson was recognized for working collaboratively to support conservation and forest stewardship throughout his forty year career with Oklahoma Forestry Services.

???Through Kurt's leadership and partnering efforts, NRCS forestry activities in Oklahoma have rapidly accelerated in recent years,??? said Vickie Christiansen, USFS, associate deputy chief, State and Private Forestry. ???Kurt promoted a closer working relationship between Oklahoma Forestry Services and NRCS, and encouraged NRCS to expand their forestry activities in southeastern Oklahoma.???

Atkinson was heavily involved in the formation of an Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), with local emphasis in southeastern Oklahoma. To date, $1.9 million in EQIP financial assistance has been targeted to forest landowners as a result of this partnership. Atkinson's efforts have had a significant impact on the extent and quality of forest landowner technical assistance provided in Oklahoma.