Texas Forestry Association presented the 2020 Outstanding Forestry Educator Award to John Warner during the Association’s virtual annual convention held at the TFA headquarters in Lufkin, Texas on Oct. 28-29, 2020.
“John has spent the past 31 years in the forest, teaching and guiding thousands of Texas landowners, homeowners, and municipalities on urban and forestry issues, advising youth on green careers, and responding to wildfires and natural disasters, both within Texas and around the nation,” said Rob Hughes, Executive Director, Texas Forestry Association. “His longstanding passion and excellence in reaching so many is why we are proud to present this award to him.”
Warner is an urban district forester for the Texas A&M Forest Service. During his tenure, he has piloted new programs and partnered with hundreds of groups, organizations, and non-profits, attained grants, donations, and in-kind services totaling over $1.5 million. He also helped establish the nation’s first funded community health provider to provide outside nature-based exploration on their property through the USFS-funded Nature Explore Classroom. This innovative model has subsequently been adopted at healthcare facilities in Colorado, Texas, Florida, and Washington D.C.
“He leaves behind a palpable legacy, filled with innovation and action, in support of natural resource conservation and the communities and future generations that depend upon conservation and connection to the land, which John has so dutifully served,” said Hughes.
Warner has been awarded the prestigious USDA Forest Service’s Abraham Lincoln Award for Diversity and Inclusion and has been awarded the Texas A&M University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Diversity. He is retiring in 2021 with his wife Kim to their retirement home in Cashiers, N.C.