In 2018, the UK Forestry and Natural Resources Extension team worked with Forestry and Natural Resource professionals from across the southeast US to plan and develop a 3-year regional educational program for woodland owners. The goal of the program is to educate and empower woodland owners to understand and implement forest management practices to make their woodlands healthy and productive. In its second year, the 2020 educational series consisted of five programs on: “Woodland Management: What is Right for You and Your Woodland?”, “Understanding the Financial Aspects of Woodland Management”, “More than Timber: Income Opportunities from Non-timber Forest Products”, “Launching your Woodland Legacy: Intact, In Forest and In Family Ownership”, and “Forestry and Wildlife Assistance in Kentucky”.  More than 20 county extension agents/staff hosted the series at county extension offices across the state; over 300 Kentucky woodland owners participated in one or more of the webinars. Kentucky program attendees owned more than 24,000 woodland acres. 

Across the region, more than 689 woodland owners representing 47,000 woodland acres attended the 2020 series. Overall, 94% of participants indicated they now know who to contact if they have questions about their woodland as a result of this webinar series and over 90% of found the information easy to understand. When asked if they would recommend this program to other woodland owners the attendees reported 7.9 on a scale of 1 (would not recommend) to 10 (highly recommend), indicating a high value being placed on the webinar series. This regional Extension program has connected Kentucky woodland owners with experts from around the region and strengthened relationships with their local county Extension offices and staff while encouraging sustainable woodland management. The final year of this 3-year regional educational program will be conducted in 2021.