Educational Resources to Help You Manage Your Woodland
By Amy Grotta, OSU Extension
Every winter for the past six years I’ve taught a Basic Woodland Management Shortcourse. This class is geared to new property owners, or “old” owners who are new to caring for their woodland. It’s a satisfying course to teach because the participants always have lots of questions and so much to learn.
But not all woodland owners can make the weekly time commitment the course entails, and yet we know there is high demand for information by people that are just starting out with woodland management. So I thought I’d devote this space to covering some other educational resources for people who are new to all of this. Here are four educational resources I recommend for Basic Woodland Management. Two are online and two are in-person events.
1. KnowYourForest.org: Contains a learning library with publications and videos on many topics such as tree planting, tree identification, weeds, forest protection laws, and many other topics. Also, a landowner assistance section provides contact information for agencies and organizations in each county that serve landowners.
2. “How to Manage Your Forest”: a series of online, narrated slideshows on a wide array of forest management topics. We use many of these as homework
assignments in the Basic Woodland Management Shortcourse. Available 24/7 at: http://extensionweb.forestry.oregonstate.edu/programs/how-manage-your-forest.
3. Neighbor-to-Neighbor Tours: These summer tours are hosted by woodland owners and sponsored by the Oregon Small Woodlands Association and Oregon Forest Resources Institute. They are great events for learning how other woodland owners do it and as their name implies, meeting neighbors and networking. Check OSWA.org for each year’s schedule of tours.
4. Tree School: Tree School is over for this year, but not too early to make plans to attend next March. This one-day event has something for everyone with dozens of classes and a packed exhibit hall. Call the Clackamas County Extension office (503-655-8631) to be put on next year’s mailing list for Tree School.
When you first move onto or become the owner of your land, it’s good to get to know the names and faces of your new neighbors. Not just your human neighbors! Get acquainted with the plants growing in your new forest, too.
(Reprinted from Tall Timber Topics, OSU Extension, Columbia Co., Spring 2016); Ridge Runner, July '16
Every winter for the past six years I’ve taught a Basic Woodland Management Shortcourse. This class is geared to new property owners, or “old” owners who are new to caring for their woodland. It’s a satisfying course to teach because the participants always have lots of questions and so much to learn.
But not all woodland owners can make the weekly time commitment the course entails, and yet we know there is high demand for information by people that are just starting out with woodland management. So I thought I’d devote this space to covering some other educational resources for people who are new to all of this. Here are four educational resources I recommend for Basic Woodland Management. Two are online and two are in-person events.
1. KnowYourForest.org: Contains a learning library with publications and videos on many topics such as tree planting, tree identification, weeds, forest protection laws, and many other topics. Also, a landowner assistance section provides contact information for agencies and organizations in each county that serve landowners.
2. “How to Manage Your Forest”: a series of online, narrated slideshows on a wide array of forest management topics. We use many of these as homework
assignments in the Basic Woodland Management Shortcourse. Available 24/7 at: http://extensionweb.forestry.oregonstate.edu/programs/how-manage-your-forest.
3. Neighbor-to-Neighbor Tours: These summer tours are hosted by woodland owners and sponsored by the Oregon Small Woodlands Association and Oregon Forest Resources Institute. They are great events for learning how other woodland owners do it and as their name implies, meeting neighbors and networking. Check OSWA.org for each year’s schedule of tours.
4. Tree School: Tree School is over for this year, but not too early to make plans to attend next March. This one-day event has something for everyone with dozens of classes and a packed exhibit hall. Call the Clackamas County Extension office (503-655-8631) to be put on next year’s mailing list for Tree School.
When you first move onto or become the owner of your land, it’s good to get to know the names and faces of your new neighbors. Not just your human neighbors! Get acquainted with the plants growing in your new forest, too.
(Reprinted from Tall Timber Topics, OSU Extension, Columbia Co., Spring 2016); Ridge Runner, July '16
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