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Conservation Forestry Field Days for Family Forest Owners

The American Forest Foundation’s Center for Conservation Solutions and project partners have organized a series of landowner fields days in Florida. The field days will highlight and recognize the longleaf pine habitat restoration and conservation accomplishments at the host properties and discuss the forest management strategies used to ensure long-term economic and ecological benefits.

The field days will consist of an outdoor tour where participants can learn from resource professionals about conservation forestry management for declining wildlife species dependent upon fire-maintained southern pine communities, in particular the gopher tortoise. Speaker topics will include growing season prescribed fire, utilizing herbicides to control the hardwood midstory, gopher tortoise biology and ecology, and available cost-share assistance for habitat management, including new Farm Bill funding opportunities. The field days will also include information on the new gopher tortoise permitting process.

Dates and locations for the upcoming field days:

October 25, 2008, 9 am to 1:30 pm ET
Langford-Every Tree Farm, Union County, FL
For more information and to register contact Jay Tucker, Florida Division of Forestry, at (386) 496-2190 or tuckerj@doacs.state.fl.us

November 15, 2008, 9 am to 1:30 pm CST
Jon and Carol Gould Tree Farm, Washington County, FL
For more information and to register contact Washington County Extension at (850) 638-6180

Project partners for the Florida field days include: the FL Division of Forestry, University of FL IFAS Extension, FL Fish & Wildlife Commission, FL Forest Stewardship Program, and the U.S. Forest Service