Completed Project Report


Managing Young Stands: Forest Management for New Forest Owners

  • Award Amount: $40,000
  • Regional Center: Western Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2011 Competitive Grant Program
  • Project Director: Kirk Hanson
  • Email: kirk@nnrg.org
  • Organization: Northwest Natural Resource Group

Extension RME Regional Centers
Extension Risk Management Education Region Map

Project Overview

Throughout the Northwest, industrial timber companies continue to divest forest lands as development pressures increase and timber prices remain low. These lands are broken into small parcels and sold to family landowners who often have little or no forest management experience but desire to live and work in the forest. This project, building on our previous RME workshops, worked with 55 new tree farmers in the Nisqually and McKenna Reserve forest subdivisions to address issues associated with managing these young stands to minimize financial and environmental risks and maximize productivity. NNRG hosted a series of four hands-on workshops and four evening workshops covering aspects of risk management in young stands for new owners and provided technical assistance to participating landowners.

NNRG provided forest owners with forest inventory and management training and tools. This empowered landowners of geographically and ecologically connected parcels to collaborate on management activities that minimized their management costs and maximized economic, ecological and community benefits. Results from surveys of workshop participants indicate they learned new concepts that they intend to apply in managing their forests. Forest owners acquired a greater understanding of management concepts to achieve their primary goals of improving the health of their forests.

NNRG fostered community among tree farmers through workshops and field tours, which encouraged a self-selected group of landowners to conduct ecologically and economically beneficial timber harvests. These harvests have attracted the attention of neighboring owners and demonstrate to new owners the benefits of seeking information on forest stewardship they can apply through active management.

Number of Participants: 55

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

There are no promotional materials available for this project.

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

There are no educational materials available for this project.

REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.

DELIVERY AREA

DESCRIBE ANY UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF THE PROJECT:

HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE THE PROJECT IF YOU WERE TO DO IT AGAIN?

WHAT WERE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR YOUR PARTICIPANTS?

INDIVIDUAL STORIES / EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS / QUOTES