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Promoting Conservation Forestry in the Lowcountry
| Name | Robert M. Franklin | | Situation | With increasing population and development pressures in the region, forestland owners in the coastal region of the South Carolina Lowcountry are being asked to manage their land for timber, wildlife, aesthetics and ecological values. They want to know how to best manage their property for conservation values, yet provide periodic income from their land and restore ecological values. They also want and need competent, well-trained natural resource professionals who can help them meet their conservation management goals. | | Response | To meet these needs, the area agent collaborated with the Partners in the Lowcountry Forest Conservation Partnership (LFCP) to provide four training workshops in May 2005. Two were for landowners and two were for natural resource professionals. The programs were held on two properties set up as demonstration areas for the LFCP. On May 4 & 5, 2005 two programs on Bottomland Hardwood Management were held at Rose Hill Plantation in Beaufort County. Twenty-six foresters who manage 360,000 acres of land in the area and eight landowners who own 3,129 acres of land attended the programs. On May 18 & 19, two programs on Implementing
Conservation Forestry on Pine Lands were held at Quinby Plantation in Berkeley County. Twenty-one foresters who manage 130,000 acres of land and nine landowners who own 6,000 acres of land attended the Quinby workshops. | | Impact | In the four programs, ninety-two percent (92%) of the participants rated the content and instructor effectiveness as "Good" or "Excellent." Eighty percent (80%) reported increasing their knowledge on various aspects of conservation forestry and planned on implementing at least some of the practices on lands that they managed or owned. They further indicated that the knowledge gained would help them save $72,000 and earn $147,000 in their future management activities. These participants will be surveyed at a later date (one year later) to determine actual program impact. |
Last update5/9/2008
This website is maintained by Amy West.
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