|
|
Gilbert Roddy (left), John Graham (center)
and Dennis Le Master, head of Purdue's department of forestry
and natrual resources, are dwarfed by a 30-year-old stand of
Douglas fir trees on the Fred van Exk property during their
June 2000 visit. Roddy is trustee for the van Eck estate and
Graham is the estate attorney.
|
<--Previous
page
Michler had five subsequent phone conversations with van Eck and arranged
to have him visit the Purdue campus in December 1999. Bad weather canceled
van Eck's flight from Newark, N.J. Then his health worsened, and van
Eck never got well enough to visit campus before his death, but he did
make arrangements for the gift to Purdue.
The Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation was established to manage van
Eck's California and Oregon timber properties, according to Myron Davis,
director of development for the College of Agriculture.
Net income from the sale of timber from the properties will be used
to support graduate students and provide operational support for hardwood
tree improvement research.
"The periodic sale of timber could net the center, in current dollar
values, between $300,000 and $500,000 a year initially, and more as
the timber grows to maturity," Davis says. "Timber income from the property
could be substantially greater, but Mr. van Eck wanted a conservation
easement placed on the property to preserve its conservation values
and maintain a high quality wildlife habitat."
The remainder of the gift comes from the sale of van Eck properties
in South Carolina and New Zealand.
Le Master says using the California and Oregon properties for field
studies by Purdue faculty and students is a very real possibility.
"I expect a lot of research will be conducted on the Oregon property,
because significant problems are evident there, such as Swiss needle
cast, which causes Douglas fir needles to yellow and drop, which adversely
affects tree growth.
"We now have everything in place to be the world's leader in hardwood
tree improvement research with this gift and our new buildings," Le
Master says. "It's very exciting to my colleagues and me."
Van Eck also left a portion of his estate to the Church of Christ,
Scientist, and endowed a chair in telecommunications technology at his
alma mater, Cambridge University.
Get Word Document
