Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Winter Invasives
- Nov. 20
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Karen Snape, Virginia Cooperative Extension, will continue with her invasive species series and explain how to identify some of the most common exotic invasvies in Virginia.
Contact Karen Snape, 540-231-6494, ksnape@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
Southwest Virginia Tree Syrup School
- Saturday, November 21
- 9 - 12:00
- Virtual - ZOOM
- Free
This annual Wise County based event will feature a mixture of sessions focused on the needs of beginning and recently established syrup producers. This year’s School is not limited to maple syrup production but will interest anyone making or using syrup made from other species. Not sure you want to make syrup from your sap? We will have a presentation that will focus on finding and accessing new markets for your tree sap. Another talk will discuss using small, backyard equipment including a small reverse osmosis system. Joe Boggs, an entomologist with Ohio State University Extension will discuss the impacts of the Asian Long-horned Beetle, and help us understand the potential impacts of this pest on syrup production. Due to the interest expressed we are including a session on making syrup from “new” species such as Birch, Beech, Box Elder, Black Walnut, and Sycamore.
The School’s program is being organized by the Cooperative Extension Service, Wise County, Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment, and the High Knob Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalist. Support for this and other workshops is from Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services through a Specialty Crop Block Grant “Expanding Livelihood Options for Virginia Land Owners through Tree Syrup”. Join us for this opportunity - learn how to start and improve your syrup operation.
Please register before noon on Friday November 20 so we have time to send you the detailed program and the link to the program.
- Register on-line
For more information, please contact Phillip Meeks, Extension Agent Agriculture & Natural Resources/Powell River Project, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Wise County E-mail: pmeeks@vt.edu or Tom Hammett, Virginia Tree Sap Program, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Virginia Tech E-mail: himal@vt.edu.
December
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Holiday Greenery
- Dec. 4
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Join Bill Worrell, Virginia Cooperative Extension, to learn about the booming greenery business in SW Virginia and learn how you could profit!
Contact Bill Worrell, 376-889-8056, bworrell@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
2021
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Managing Hardwoods
- Jan. 8
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Join Jennifer Gagnon and special guest David Richert on an on-going timber harvest site, for a discussion on the art of managing Appalchian hardwoods
Contact Jennifer Gagnon, 540-231-6391, jgagnon@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
On-line Woodland Options for Landowners
- January 11 - April 2
- On-line
- $45/family
- Jan. 11 - April 2
- Syllabus
This 12-week self-paced on-line course teaches the fundamentals of forest management.
Topics include:
- Setting management goals and objectives
- Forest history
- Stewardship and sustainability
- Marking your boundary lines, and locating, reading, and understanding your deed
- Using maps, photos, Google Earth, and soil surveys
- Forest ecology and management
- Sources of assistance and planning options
Upon completion of the program, you can have a draft forest management plan. Natural resource professionals serve as mentors and the class winds up with an optional end-of-the-semester hands-on field trip.
There are two levels of participation.
- Basic level - requires completing reading assignments, quizzes and evaluations (1-2 hours per Module)
- Advanced level - includes all of the basic level requirements, plus field activities (3 or more hours per Module, depending on the size of your property)
Participants can choose to complete none, some, or all of the advanced level activities.
All students will receive 3 books:
- Common Forest Trees of Virginia
- American Forests: A History of Resiliency and Recovery
- Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas
As well as access to an on-line tree identification module.
Over 1,000 landowners across the US have participated in this class.
Contact Jennifer Gagnon, 540-231-6391, jgagnon@vt.edu for more information.
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Managing Pines
- Jan. 15
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Join Adam Dowing for a discussion on managing pine forests in Virginia.
Contact Adam Downing, 540-948-6881, adowning@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Winter Tree ID
- Jan. 22
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Identifying trees in the summer can be relatively easy - leaves provide a lot of good clues. However, you can also become an expert at identifying trees in the winter using bark, buds, and leaf scars. Join Jason Fisher to learn how.
Contact Jason Fisher, 434-476-2147, jasonf@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Forest Soils Part 2 - It's Alive!
- Jan. 29
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Neil Clark has been learning a lot about soils this winter. Join him to dig deeper into this beautiful and exciting below-ground world.
Contact Neil Clark, 757-657-2572, neclark@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Weird Trees
- Feb. 5
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Sometimes trees are, well, weird. Karen Snape will show you some tree species that don't conform to normal expectations.
Contact Karen Snape, 540-231-6494, ksnape@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: Tree Syrup
- Feb. 12
- 12 - 12:15 p.m.
- Zoom
- Free
Everyone knows maple syrup comes from sugar maples, But did you know we can make syrup from a number of other tree species, including red maple, black walnut, and sycamore?
Join Bill Worrell and special guest Phil Meeks (VCE) for a demosntration of harvesting sap from living trees.
Contact Bill Worrell, 279-889-8056, bworrell@vt.edu for more information.
Archived on The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program's YouTube Channel
Woods & Wildlife Conference
- February 19-20
- Virtual
- $25/household
Over 10 million acres of Virginia's woods are privately owned. The Woods & Wildlife Conferences provide information, tools, and personal contacts to help private woodland owners keep their woods, and the wildlife that live in them, healthy and productive.
A variety of topics are offered to appeal to owners of both small and large tracts, and both new and experienced owners.
- Agenda coming in December
- Registration opens in December
Contact Jennifer Gagnon, 540-231-6391, jgagnon@vt.edu or Adam Downing, 540-948-6881, adowning@vt.edu, for more information.
Central Virgninia Beginning Woodland Owner Retreat
- March 19-20 - Tentative pending COVID-19 developments
- Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, Appomattox
- No Lodging: Individual: $40*, Couple: $70*
- Lodging: Individual: $90**, Couple: $170**
New woodland owners are invited to join the Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Cooperative Extension to learn about hardwood and pine forest management, legacy planning, and management planning and certification. You will also get hands-on experience with tree identification, forestry equipment, and timber measurements. You will have the opportunity to interact with natural resource professionals from various agencies in Virginia, as well as with other landowners.
- Registration opens in January.
Contact Jennifer Gagnon, 540-231-6391, jgagnon@vt.edu or Jason Fisher, 434-476-2147, for more information.
Southeast Virgninia Beginning Woodland Owner Retreat
- September 24-25
- New Kent Forestry Center, Providence Forge
- Tentative pending COVID-19 developments
New woodland owners are invited to join the Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Cooperative Extension to learn about hardwood and pine forest management, legacy planning, and management planning and certification. You will also get hands-on experience with tree identification, forestry equipment, and timber measurements. You will have the opportunity to interact with natural resource professionals from various agencies in Virginia, as well as with other landowners.
- Registration opens in January.
Contact Jennifer Gagnon, 540-231-6391, jgagnon@vt.edu or Neil Clark, 757-653-2572, neclark@vt.edu, for more information.
45th Annual Fall Forestry & Wildlife Field Tours
- October dates and locations to be determined
Come help us celebrate our 45th anniversary!
Details Summer 2021.