North Arkansas Forest Landowners Training Conference
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Course Descriptions:
There will be three tracks:
1.) Forestry
2.) Women in Forestry
3.) Outdoor Tours
1.) Forestry
This track is designed to provide presentations relating to current and emerging issues in forestry. Presentations will be
held at the UACCB campus and cover an array of topics including:
Monday
Bioenergy markets for Woody Biomass: (Ron Bell, OWOA) Participants will receive an overview on what the current
north Arkansas wood bioenergy market consists of, who the current and near term biomass buyers are, and how the
upcomming Farm and Energy bills will provide additional market opportunities for woodland owners.
Red Cedar Timber Management and Marketing: (Mark Stearns, OWOA) Attendees will study the life cycle of cedar,
under what growth conditions and at what harvest point cedar logs are commercially valuable, what the markets are, and the
indicators that show when a stand is declining in health and value.
Tuesday
Introduction to GPS: (Caroll Guffey, U of A – Division of Agriculture) This session will be both indoors and outdoors.
After a brief introduction participants will learn how to use a recreational GPS (Garmin E-Trex Legend). Marking, naming
waypoints as well as area calculation functions will be covered. Discussion of how this information can assist landowners in
mapping their forests. GPS units will be furnished (Limit of 29 participants).
Carbon Sequestration Market: (George Reinhardt, NRCS and Jimmy Wallace, OWOA) An overview of carbon
sequestration markets as they relate to forest landowners, including insight on the market potential for north Arkansas
landowners.
Wildlife, Wood and Fire: (Jason Milks, TNC) presentation on the development of our state’s wood and wildlife resources
in a fire influenced landscape. Some of the impacts of fire on those resources today and how to manage those resources
best while using fire will be discussed. Presentation will focus mainly on upland hardwood forest development, wildlife
impacts, and uses of prescribed fire for developing both resources on private land.
Internet based Mapping Application: (Carey Wilcoxson, AGFC) Participants will be introduced to the AGFC Internet
Mapping Application and how this technology may assist landowners. Users can create custom maps, using a variety of
tools and backgrounds including aerial photos and topo maps. Insert your GPS coordinates and zoom to a location. View
cities, named roads and AGFC WMA’s. Draw points, lines and polygons on the map. Calculate acres and distances, print,
save and e-mail maps.
2.) Women in Forestry Tract:
Women comprise an increasing percentage of forest landowners. In some cases, women inherit the forest land and are
then left with making critical management decisions. In other cases, women are the primary forest landowner. In addition, in
many situations, women are also equal partners in land management decisions. Unfortunately, many women are not familiar
with forest management, timber marketing, and other topics related to forestry. The objective of this tract to provide
information and training on some basic forest management topics, current issues in forestry, and more detailed information
regarding tax considerations and economics of forest management. Everyone is invited to attend but the sessions will be
geared towards women. Talks will take place at the UACCB campus, with a field trip to the UA Branch Station on Tuesday
afternoon for the log grading talks.
Monday
Know Your Forest: (Tamara Walkingstick and Caroll Guffey, U of A Division of Agriculture) Attendees will learn
about native trees and forest ecosystems of AR, basic tree physiologically, and information about dealing with storm
damage.
Working and Planning for your Forest: (Tamara Walkingstick and Caroll Guffey, U of A Division of Agriculture) In
this session, attendees will learn about forest management plans, markets, contracts, and forest evaluation.
Tuesday
Hot Topics in Forestry: (Tamara Walkingstick, U of A – Division of Agriculture). Several current issues including
biomass utilization, carbon sequestration, exotic insects and diseases, and invasive species affect or have the potential to
affect the future of forests and markets. This session will introduce attendees to some of these hot topics.
Forest Economics…basic costs and revenues: (Caroll Guffey and Tamara Walkingstick, U of A – Division of
Agriculture). This session will cover the business components of timber management including the basics of timber basis
and the costs of timber management.
Introduction to GPS: (Caroll Guffey,U of A – Division of Agriculture) This session will be both indoors and outdoors.
After a brief introduction participants will learn how to use a recreational GPS (Garmin E-Trex Legend). Marking, naming
waypoints as well as area calculation functions will be covered. Discussion of how this information can assist landowners in
mapping their forests. GPS units will be furnished (Limit of 29 participants).
Hardwood Log and Lumber Grading…portable sawmill - Trip to U of A Livestock and Forestry Branch Station to attend
log grading presentations.
3.) Outdoor Tours
There will be an outdoor tour both days of the conference. The first tour will begin at 2:15 Monday, March 17th (van
loading). Two tours will be available on March 18th covering four topics. The topics will be presented in the morning and
repeated in the afternoon. The vans will begin loading at 8:00 AM and will depart at 8:15 AM for the U of A Livestock and
Forestry Branch Station. The vans will return to the college at 11:15 AM. After lunch, the vans will load at 12:40 PM and
depart for the Station at 12:45 PM to repeat the morning tour. Participants on the vans will return to the college at 3:45 PM.
Participants riding the vans should plan on attending the entire outdoor track for AM and PM tours respectively.
Monday
Hardwood Regeneration Methods: (Jamie Schuler, U of A – Division of Agriculture) Participants will travel to the
Bell property and will be presented with methods for regenerating hardwoods, including: herbicide usage, stand
manipulation, and other management operations. Participants will view current hardwood regeneration research taking
place on the property.
Tuesday (AM and again PM)
Hardwood Tree Shelters: (Chris Stuhlinger, U of A – Division of Agriculture) Participants will visit a research site
examining the effectiveness of tree shelters on three different hardwood species, including: northern red oak, black walnut,
and green ash.
Pine Management Demonstration: Attendees will visit a demonstration site to view and discuss methods for pine
thinning, pine regeneration, and prescribed burning for both shortleaf and loblolly pine.
Hardwood Log Grading: (Kyle Cunningham, U of A Division of Agriculture) Participants will be presented with an
overview of standing tree log grades, including how log grades relate to management and standing tree value.
Hardwood Lumber Grading: (David Patterson, U of A – Division of Agriculture) Participants will view a portable
sawmill demonstration and learn procedures and requirements for hardwood lumber grading. Grading talks will compare
standing tree log grade to cut lumber grade.