Fall Workshops for Woodlot Owners

The Association for Sustainable Forestry (ASF) has announced a program of fall workshops for woodland owners interested in uneven-aged management and growing high-value trees. One of these workshops will be offered in Antigonish County on Sept. 11, 2010, and another will be offered in Pictou County on Nov. 13.

The Uneven-Aged Management Project is designed to educate woodland owners and silviculture contractors interested in growing long-lived, shade-tolerant tree species and quality forest products. It focuses on silviculture practices associated with uneven-aged management—selection management, crop tree release, and crop tree pruning–and on funding available for these treatments through the ASF’s Category 7 Quality Improvement Silviculture Program.

The workshop schedule is as follows:
• Sept. 11, St. Andrews, Antigonish County
• Oct. 2, Carleton, Yarmouth County
• Oct. 9, Wentworth area, Colchester County
• Oct. 23, Mabou area, Inverness County, Cape Breton
• Nov. 6, Black Rock area, Kings County
• Nov. 13, Pleasant Valley area, Pictou County

Woodlot owner workshops include morning session, held indoors, and an afternoon a visit to a woodlot where quality-improvement silviculture treatments have been or could be conducted. The workshops emphasize ”how to’s” of uneven-aged management, with opportunities to learn through hands-on exercises conducted in the field. Woodland owners learn how to ensure that quality-improvement silviculture treatments are successful and cost effective. Topics to be discussed also include how to decide which trees to harvest and which to retain, ecosystem-based forest management, and challenges of doing this kind of work.

Space at these programs is limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Pre-registration is required.

This outreach project is administered by the ASF and is being funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources as part of a program to increase the number of small, private woodlot owners who use uneven-aged forest management methods on appropriate sites. The project is being conducted on behalf of the ASF by the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association in collaboration with Picea Forestry Services and Woodlot Management of Bridgewater, NS.

Interested woodlot owners and contractors are encouraged to contact the Category 7 Outreach Project at 902-673-2278 or outreach@asforestry.com.