About the 2019 Getting to Know Your Woodlands Webinar Series: A Primer for Beginners

The 2019 Getting to Know Your Woodlands Webinar Series: A Primer for Beginners was targeted at Kentucky’s private woodland owners and 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 that was hosted by county extension offices with county extension agents/staff serving as local hosts. The program was web-based using the Blackboard Collaborate and ZOOM webinar systems and offered five evenings of educational programming broadcast to each hosting county extension office.

Webinar dates, titles, and instructors for each of the 2019 Getting to Know Your Woodlands Webinar Series: A Primer for Beginners

• February 21, 2019. Getting to Know Your Woodlands. Dr. Don Bragg (USDA Forest Service), Dr. Bill Hubbard (Maryland Extension), Walt A. McPhail (Distinguished Tree Farmer), Derrick Phinney (Clemson Cooperative Extension)
• February 28, 2019. Managing Your Woodlands. Dr. David (University of Georgia), Dr. Kyle Cunningham (Arkansas Extension), Dr. Wayne Clatterbuck (University of Tennessee)
• March 7, 2019. Identifying and Managing Woodland Threats. Dr. David Coyle (Clemson University), Dr. Lauren Pile (USDA Forest Service), Dr. Hank Stelzer (Missouri Extension)
• March 14, 2019. Wildlife and Woodlands. Dr. Craig Harper (Tennessee Extension), Dr. Bronson Strickland (Mississippi State Extension), Dr. Mark McConnell (Mississippi State Extension)
• March 21, 2019. Forestry and Wildlife Assistance in Kentucky. Billy Thomas (UK Forestry and Natural Resource Extension), Dr. Ellen Crocker (UK Forestry and Natural Resource Extension), Pam Snyder (Kentucky Division of Forestry), Clay Smitson (Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources), Deena Wheby (Kentucky Natural Resources Conservation Service)

Background information on Kentucky’s Forests

General information about Kentucky’s forests and the vital role they serve can be found in UK Extension publication FOR-53: Kentucky Forest Fact Sheet http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for53/for53.pdf and from the Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Reports at http://forestry.ca.uky.edu/economic-report. 

Table 1. Amount of forestland, ownership, and number of trees (according to the most recent Forest Inventory and Analysis performed by the US Forest Service and the Kentucky Division of Forestry in 2016). These data are collected from randomly distributed plots across Kentucky with each plot representing approximately 6,000 acres. While the statistics hold up very well at the state and regional level the standard errors on county level data can be large. However, this data represents the best estimates that we have for county level forestry information—we just wanted to ensure you were aware of its limitations.

Breckinridge County hosted the series of classes, and the class attendance continued to grow each week.  

Woodlands play a very vital role in the county, with 42% of the land is wooded (156,147 acres) with 94% being privately owned and 78,563,199 trees are greater than 1 inch in size.  According to the most recent Forest Inventory and Analysis performed by the US Forest Service and Ky Division of Forestry in 2016 the value of sawtimber trees by grade showed that most of the timber in Kentucky is concentrated in the lower grades, something we need to work on in the county as well.  The class participants reported that they are managing a total of 12,854 acres of woodlands.  The participants indicated before the webinars began their knowledge of the topic was approximately 2.5 (on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being the highest) .  After the series, they reported their knowledge level had increased to 3.28.  They also reported that they have a 90% confidence level in knowing who to contact if they have questions on their woodlands, and 55.56% reported that they plan on contacting someone after the series.  

The program grew each night with participants bringing friends with them to learn a new topic.  The county participants reported that they were highly satisfied with the information presented (3.23), highly satisfied with the presenters (3.22), Extremely satisfied with the location of the training facility (3.59).  They also reported that they had a high understanding of the information presented 95.83%, and they would recommend a Woodland Owners Webinar with a score of 8.51.  

The Woodland Owners Webinar is the first of its kind presented in our county.  We actually brought in clients from other counties, and new customers to our Extension Office Facility.  It was amazing to see so many of the students attentive and ready to come in and get started, so much so that they did not want to stop for dinner.  Being new to Extension the questions were abundant on other topics that we could provide for them in their farming operation or their business.  

Long-term impacts: increased revenue, improved woodland productivity, improved wildlife habitat, and improved woodland health

• The long-term impacts from this program will result in participants’ enhanced ability to address a variety of woodland related issues, resulting in increased revenue, increased woodland productivity, and improved woodland health.