Forested land in Kentucky is vitally important to the economy, wildlife habitat and quality of life for residents. It comprises nearly twelve million acres or 47% of the state and provides 37,500 jobs from 1,125 wood industries in 112 counties. Kentucky forest industries ship $6.4 billion in products each year. It is estimated that $1.5 billion is spent annually on fishing, hunting and wildlife watching. Interestingly, 78% of Kentucky’s timberland is privately owned.

In Madison County, 29% of the land is forested with 98% being privately owned. Woodland management is important to residents as there are many threats. Most Madison County timber is considered lower grade but there exists a great potential for improving quality of trees through forest management, thus it is important to educate woodland owners about management practices and encourage the use of professional foresters such as those from Kentucky Division of Forestry or Kentucky Association of Consulting Foresters. Seeing a benefit to Madison County Woodland Owners, the ANR agent offered a five week Beginning Woodlands Webinar at the Extension Office lead by UK Extension Forestry. Topics were presented by woodland professionals in the Southern Region Extension Forestry team and included information on: Getting to Know Your Woodlands, Managing Woodlands, Identifying and Managing Woodland Threats, Wildlife and Woodlands and Forestry and Wildlife Assistance in Kentucky. The program was web-based using Blackboard Collaborate and ZOOM webinar systems.

The Madison County Extension Office hosted 27 participants with four of them being Master Loggers and had the largest number of attendees out of 30 counties. Approximately 7,661 acres were represented by their attendance with 91% indicating they knew who to contact with woodland questions after their participation. On a scale of 1-4 with 4 highest, area of knowledge in each topic increased from a 2 (before) to a 3 (after) with 53% planning to contact a natural resource professional within the next three months. Participants highly recommended the program to other woodland owners. Plans were discussed for a Woodlands walk at a later time.

Long term, participants of the webinar will increase their ability to address a variety of woodland issues resulting in increased revenue, productivity and improved woodland health. These positive benefits impact the individual, community and Commonwealth.