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Forest Landowners Learn About Forest Products and Measurements
| Name | Howard H. Hiller | | Situation | Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties have large acreages of privately owned forest lands. Timber is big business in these counties with both local and regional markets for both pine and hardwood. There is a fairly large number of small sawmills and woodyards in the area. Area landowners are becoming increasingly aware of the value of properly managing their timberlands, partly as a result of local forestry associations and programs such as Master Tree Farmer and Master Wildlifer. County forestry associations normally meet about four times
annually and the master tree farmer/wildlifer short courses meet over a six week period. One area of importance to forest landowners is learning how much and what kind of timber they have in order to make better management decisions. | | Response | In order to provide a more in-depth and hands-on experience for landowners on this subject, our local forestry committee put together a one day training entitled Forest Products and Measurements. Committee members worked with Forestry Specialists at Clemson University to develop the program, which consisted of a morning classroom session, a field exercise section, and then back to the classroom to solve problems and
hold a question and answer session. A small fee was imposed to cover handout materials and lunch. The classroom portion was held on campus. Twenty-five forest landowners from the surrounding area participated.
The morning session covered conducting tree measurements including
circumference and height; determining basal area, cruising techniques, and determining board feet per acre. After discussing these items in detail, students and instructors headed out to the north Clemson forest for the hands-on portion of the program. Here, students/landowners put to use what was covered in the classroom. Instructors had set up several areas in the forest for the different measurements. Students were placed into small groups and given various measuring equipment. After some
practice runs, they were asked to complete the exercises that let them get some hands-on experience with what was covered in the classroom. As different measurements were taken, results were recorded on forms provided. Additional instructors from the forestry commission were recruited for the hands-on session so that each small group would have assistance whenever there were questions. When all groups had completed the exercises, everyone headed back to the classroom. Here the instructors went over each of the problems they had set up and reviewed the work of the students. A final question and answer session was held. | | Impact | A follow-up evaluation showed that 100% of participants had gained knowledge in tree measurement. The hands-on part of the program had allowed them to practice what was taught in the classroom. Ninety percent of the students felt that they could go out and effectively carry out these measurements on their forest lands. One hundred percent of the students/landowners noted they now had some new tools that will help them more effectively manage their timber lands. |
Last update4/7/2008
This website is maintained by D Jason Caudill.
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