This free workshop is made possible with financial support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Western Extension Risk Management Education.
Interested in gaining the skills and resources to take a hands-on approach in improving the health, resilience, and productivity of your forest? Join us for this in-person workshop where local and regional experts will introduce you to simple, do-it-yourself strategies for thinning your forests, mitigating slash, and creating value-added products.
Gain a deeper understanding of the ecological risks facing Western Washington forests due to wildfire, drought, disease, and insect infestation and learn how to evaluate conditions, select trees for harvesting, apply for financial assistance, and more! Instruction will be a combination of lecture, demonstration, and hands-on activities.
More workshop details below.
Workshop topics will include:
Stand Assessment 101: How to "read" and understand what is happening in your forest from an ecological perspective. Learn about species competition, tree canopy classes, and timber quality.
Forest Management Goals and Options: Discuss strategies for reducing fire risk, improving timber growth and quality, and increasing resilience to climate change.
Tree Selection for Thinning: Learn about thinning from below, thinning across diameters, tree spacing, and species selection.
Tree Marking Exercise: Practice marking trees for thinning.
Tree Felling 101: Observe basic tree felling techniques. Learn about open face and boring cut for larger diameter trees, felling small-diameter trees, dealing with a "hang-up," and limbing and bucking.
Utilizing Cut Material: Strategies covered will include lop and scatter, habitat piles, constructed habitat logs, firewood, chipping, etc.
Funding Forest Stewardship: Find out how to fund your forest health work through cost-share programs.
Coffee and snacks will be provided in the morning. Participants are encouraged to bring a sack lunch and water for the day. Please note that we are following state and county health guidance closely and may require participants to wear masks.
This event is being held in a privately-owned forest in Darrington.
Free Site Visits!
Regardless of whether you can make it to the workshop, there are currently a limited number of free two-hour site visits available with a forester from the Snohomish Conservation District or Northwest Natural Resource Group. During the site visit, the forester will help landowners refine plans for managing their forest and answer site-specific questions. To sign up for a free site visit, email Kirk at kirk@nnrg.org.
Speakers
Kirk Hanson | Northwest Natural Resource Group
Stacey Dixon | Snohomish Conservation District
Workshop presented by
Northwest Natural Resource Group
Snohomish Conservation District
This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA.
