Barren County is home to 61,517 acres of forest land of which 82% is privately owned. The Barren County Extension Service worked with the University of Kentucky to provide a five part “Woodlands Webinar Series: A Primer for Beginners.”  The 2019 series targeted Kentucky’s private woodland owners and was designed to assist private woodland owners in the management of their woodlands as well as those with an interest in forests and wildlife. It was a partnership of UK Forestry Extension and numerous Forestry Extension Units from other nearby universities and the Southern Region Extension Forestry team.

In Barren County, the Horticulture extension agent served as the local host for all five evenings of the web-based educational programming using Blackboard Collaborate and ZOOM. The series provided educational programing for landowners and Kentucky Master Loggers.  

During the series, 18 different people attended all or part of the series.  There was approximately 1,879 forested acres represented by the different attendees. Before the series, the participants reported over all topics to know roughly 56% of the information covered and after the program, they reported knowing 83% of the information covered. The three Certified Master Loggers in attendance received continuing education credits and allowed them to stay close to home while receiving the free continuing education.   

Evaluations from each session showed that participants increased their knowledge of Woodlands as well as indicated that they now know whom to contact with specific questions regarding their woodlands. Approximately six of our participants reported planning to contact a natural resource professional for assistance with their property. It was a well-received series with 88% of those in attendance indicating they would recommend the webinar series to other woodland owners.