Author: Chad Niman
Major Program: Forest Education: Health, Management, and Utilization
In 2020, 3 individual remote wood products programs were held highlighting and celebrating “Forest Products and Stewardship Week”, as part of the campus “Sustainability Month” (October) and “National Forest Products Week” (celebrated nationally in US since 1960). Renee Williams created a Promotional Flyer for use in the Forest Products Awareness Campaign. Forest products play such an important role in our everyday lives as well as the management of our forests
Author: Christan Miracle
“The Kentucky Master Logger WebTV Program was hosted in 30 Kentucky County Offices spread out throughout Kentucky to reduce drive time and travel for the logging workforce by providing relevant and timely information delivered close to home. All of the content was delivered live from the UK Forestry and Natural Resources Departments Webinar Studio housed in the Thomas Poe Cooper Building on Campus and streamed to the 30 participating county offices. 376 Master Loggers were dispersed throug
Author: Ellen Crocker
Forests are central to Kentucky’s economic and ecological wellbeing. The state is 47% forested with over 12 million acres of woodlands and the forest sector contributes over $13.5 billion annually to the state’s economy including over 60,398 jobs. The vast majority of woodlands in the state are family owned. Supporting these woodland owners is key and Extension specialists and county agents across the state, partnering with agencies like Kentucky Division of Forestry as w
Raising awareness of forest health issues is key for improving Kentucky’s privately owned woodlands. We (Ellen Crocker and Megan Buland) had planned a series of forest health field days in 2020 to engage people about forest health threats and their management. However, Covid restrictions prevented us from moving forward with those plans in-person. Instead, we developed a series of Virtual Forest Health Field Days using the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform, partnering with the Kentuck
Author: William Thomas
The University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resources launched the live From the Woods Kentucky (http://www.FromtheWoodsKy.org) radio program in 2018 on the university’s radio station (WRFL 88.1 FM). The COVID-19 pandemic forced the radio station to suspend operations in 2020 but the weekly From the Woods Kentucky show continued as a series of podcasts that are supplemented with audio from a new Forestry Extension program called From the Woods Today (https://forestry.ca.u
Author: Tracie Goodman
McCreary County has three lumber yards and 29 active certified Master Loggers. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I was able to provide continuing education training to 14 Master Loggers in collaboration with McCreary Hardwoods. Since March of 2020, the McCreary Extension Office has not been permitted to use our rented facility for in-person programming. McCreary Hardwoods generously offered their meeting room to accommodate any Master Logger who needed continuing education training in order to renew
Author: Charles May
The Kentucky Master Logger WebTV Program was hosted by Perry County Extension Service and 30 additional Kentucky County Extension Offices spread out throughout Kentucky to reduce drive time and travel for the logging workforce by providing relevant and timely information delivered close to home. All of the content was delivered live from the UK Forestry and Natural Resources Departments Webinar Studio housed in the Thomas Poe Cooper Building on Campus and streamed to Perry Co
Author: Bobby Ammerman
Coauthored two articles and provided recorded presentation for Agriculture Economics newsletter. “2020-2021 Economic Situation & Outlook”;Contributing authors: Dr. Jeff Stringer, Chad Niman, Billy Thomas, Bobby Ammerman, Dr. Thomas Ochuodho of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. Niman, C. and B. Ammerman. "It May be a Good Time to Sell Your Mature Hardwood Timber." Economic and Policy Update (21):6, Department of Agricultural Economics, Universit
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Kentucky’s forests cover nearly half the Commonwealth but only scattered information had existed on the overall economic impact of Kentucky’s forest and wood industry. To address this shortfall, a team of faculty and staff from the University of Kentucky Departments of Forestry and Agricultural Economics (Drs. Jeff Stringer, Alison Davis, and Terrell Baker along with staff members Bobby Ammerman and Billy Thomas) worked closely to compile data from a wide variety of sources for the K
I conducted 2 of these workshops on 6/10/2021, 6/14/2021, and 6/15/2021. During the workshops we explained why these species of woods were chosen to produce these products. We also discussed/provided general information pertaining to forestry practices in Kentucky including the Kentucky Forest Conservation Act, food from the forest, and its impact on our forest and the economic impact the Forest Products Industry has on Kentucky’s economy. I also discussed the impact each speci
The Center for Forest and Wood Certification builds regional forest and wood certification capacity through the delivery of unbiased information; technical assistance; and the development of programs for landowners, loggers, and forest products industries to participate in certification in a sustainable and affordable manner. The Center focuses on providing solutions to certification bottlenecks, enabling the private sector to effectively participate and benefit from certification. The
Families own over 75% of the 12.3 million acres of woodlands in Kentucky. Unfortunately, these family woodlands are facing unprecedented threats from invasive insects, invasive plants, climate change, poor timber harvesting practices, woodland fires, and timber theft/trespass. To continue to support these families during the COVID-19 pandemic and connect them with forestry and natural resource organizations who can assist them the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resourc
Author: Nicole Rhein
The Kentucky Master Logger WebTV Program was hosted in 30 Kentucky County Offices spread out throughout Kentucky to reduce drive time and travel for the logging workforce by providing relevant and timely information delivered close to home. All of the content was delivered live from the UK Forestry and Natural Resources Departments Webinar Studio housed in the Thomas Poe Cooper Building on Campus and streamed to the 30 participating county offices. 376 Master Loggers were dispersed throughout th
Author: Laurie Thomas
Kentucky Master Naturalist ProgramDr. Ellen Crocker, Extension Specialist and Laurie Thomas, Senior Extension Associate, Forestry and Natural Resources ExtensionThe Kentucky Master Naturalist (KYMN) program was developed by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension with valuable input from stakeholders at public and private organizations whose interests align with the mission of the KYMN program. The mission of the KYMN program is to develop a cohort of well-informed volunteers to advance
Despite the ecological and economic advantages of using cross laminated timber (CLT) products, the North American building industry has been slow to adopt this emerging architectural component. However, this trend is rapidly changing. Many parts of the world have embraced laminated timber (CLT) and mass timber as components in large scale architectural projects. As cross-laminated timber is emerging across portions of the US, this region is far behind despite the abundance of forest resources an
In 2020, 7 programs were delivered covering hardwood grading systems, hardwood lumber inspection, cant product specs, material handling, defects and characteristics, wood drying, and hardwood markets targeted forest and wood industry training for sawmill and wood industry employees. The trainings allowed 1 business to get up and going, and 4 others to be able to expand their operation. Feedback from employers identify 17 renewable wood industry jobs created as a result of hardwood market and gra
