Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
1/8/99
Contacts:
Paul Wray, Forestry Extension, (515) 294-1168
Elaine Edwards, Extension Communication Systems, (515)
294-5168
Tri-State Forestry Conference Scheduled
AMES, Iowa -- Forest landowners interested in learning how to better manage their forested land are encouraged to attend the Fifth Annual Tri-State Forest Steward Conference scheduled for Saturday, March 13 at the Sinsinawa Mound Center in Sinsinawa, Wis. This conference is one of the largest of its type in the country.
"Studies indicate that most landowners have more than one objective for their woodland acreage and often the primary objective is not timber management," said Paul H. Wray, Iowa State University Extension forester. "This conference has been designed with landowners' diverse interests in mind."
The conference offers a wide variety of programs designed to help make landowners better stewards of the natural resources found on their property. For those interested in growing timber as a crop, part of the conference will focus on management aspects to improve the woodland resource and the economic returns from products harvested from the woodland. Topics in this area include nurturing an abused woodland, using prescribed burning in woodland management, evaluating a woodland's health, how soils and site conditions affect tree growth, conifer plantation management, selling timber with a contract and logging aesthetics in mind, green certification and its tie to forest landowners, and federal income tax implications of owning and selling timber, said Wray.
For landowners with non-timber interests, the conference will include presentations on woodland mushroom identification, managing damage from woodland wildlife, savanna restoration, basic tree identification, winter tree identification, how to attract woodland birds to your property and how to recognize signs of culturally-significant sites on your property.
Programs of interest to both groups include presentations on forest succession, directional felling techniques and chain saw safety, controlling soil and gully erosion, how to develop riparian forest buffers and filter strips, exotic species identification and control, chain saw maintenance and chain sharpening techniques, and cost-share programs available to forest landowners.
The conference registration fee is $35 per person or two for $60, and includes a continental breakfast and a luncheon. Landowners interested in attending the conference must register by Feb. 26. The conference brochure includes a registration form and is available at ISU Extension county offices, Soil & Water Conservation District and Natural Resource Conservation Service offices, Iowa Department of Natural Resource (DNR) forestry offices or by writing or calling Paul H. Wray, 251 Bessey Hall, ISU, Ames, IA 50011, (515) 294-1168.
The conference is co-sponsored by ISU Extension, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, the Departments of Forestry at Iowa State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences.
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Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.