Forest Stewardship Projects
The Forest Stewardship Program has been involved with several projects, including developing online learning opportunities and surveying the needs and interests of local forest landowners.
Virtual Cruiser Vest
What is the Virtual Cruiser Vest?
WSU Extension has teamed up again with the National Learning Center for Private Forest and Range Owners (www.forestandrange.org) to develop another free, web-based learning module for forest landowners. The Virtual Cruiser Vest module teaches forest landowners the basic principles of taking a forest inventory and measuring trees. Learn at your own pace over the course of ten lessons, which include video clips, diagrams, and exercises to help you get started. Things you will learn include how to identify individual stands on your property, the basics of plot sampling, how to establish an inventory plot, and how to measure individual trees. There are also optional lessons on how to work with your inventory data in a computer program called the Landscape Management System (LMS).
Why learn about forest inventory?
An inventory is a cornerstone of forest stewardship planning and ensures that your forest is healthy, productive, and meets your objectives as a landowner for years to come. After all, in order to assess the needs of your forest and plan for the future, you have to know what you have! A forest inventory will help you quantify what you have and identify needs and opportunities for forest health, wildlife habitat, timber production, aesthetics, and carbon storage. An inventory will give you insights into species composition, tree density, basal area, and volume, and it will help you document growth and change in your forest over time.
Access the Virtual Cruiser Vest
A fully-functional draft version is now available at http://www.ruraltech.org/virtual_cruiser/index.htm. It is considered a draft version because it is still in the review process and is subject to changes and improvements. We invite you to explore and use this draft, however, and provide your own feedback as we make improvements. As the module is finalized, an update will be posted at the address above and also on www.forestandrange.org.
Economagic
What is Economagic?
Economagic is a web-based learning module is designed to guide forest landowners through some of the basic concepts of forestry economics and finance. These concepts are often not well-understood and may appear to be the workings of "Econo-Magicians." Despite its tongue-in-cheek name, the intent of this learning module is to reveal that there really isn't any magic involved at all–just the careful application of a few key principles. Furthermore, you don't have to be a math or an economics wizard to practically apply these concepts to your forest, both in everyday management decisions and long-term planning.
Why learn about forest economics?
Most forest landowners aren't "in it for the money." However, your forest is still one of your most valuable assets. Regardless of your ownership objectives, you will regularly be faced with decisions that have significant economic implications, such as what species to grow; how much to spend on stand improvement activities for forest health, wildlife and wood quality; whether or not to purchase new equipment; when to harvest; whether or not to invest in additional land; etc. The concepts and tools presented in this web module will help you to make more informed management decisions and to plan for the long-term financial health of your forest. These concepts and tools also have broader applications for your personal finances (borrowing and investing).
How do I access Economagic?
Economagic was developed in partnership between WSU Extension and the Rural Technology Initiative at the University of Washington. The learning module is sponsored by the National Learning Center for Private Forest and Range Owners (www.forestandrange.org) and is available as a free resource. You have the option of becoming a registered user of the site (registration is free) or you can have access to the same content by logging in anonymously as a guest. Go to Economagic.
Forest Landowner Survey
Why was a survey done?
Our goal is to provide high-quality, useful, and relevant information and resources for forest landowners in the Snohomish and Skagit County area. In order to improve our programs and services, we needed to better understand the values, interests, and needs of local forest landowners. We conducted a mail survey in the fall of 2007 to collect feedback on forest ownership values, forest stewardship education topics of interest, education delivery preferences, and demographic trends.
Who was the survey sent to?
The survey was sent to folks who own forestland in Snohomish or Skagit County and also live within the region. These landowners were identified through public tax records. All landowners who were enrolled in a current use tax program (Designated Forestland or Open Space Timber) received the survey, as well as a random sample of those who pay the Forest Patrol (DNR fire protection) assessment. Members of the local chapter of the Washington Farm Forestry Association also received the survey. A total of 2,915 surveys were sent out. 1,053 survey recipients (36%) responded. This is a very high response rate for this type of survey, providing us with robust data and a good picture of landowner needs and interests in the Snohomish/Skagit area.
Survey Results
For those interested in the results of this survey, an online streaming video is available of a presentation given to the North Puget Sound chapter of the Society of American foresters summarizing the key results of the survey. The results of the survey continue to be analyzed and used to improve our programs. Thank you to all who participated in this study.
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This site last updated 11/19/2009
Announcements
11/19/2009 – The November newsletter is now available.
11/19/2009 – The Ties to the Land estate/ succession planning workshop has been postponed again - probably until April.