Idaho has abundant forest land. Many people do not realize that over 2 million acres (11% of Idaho’s forests) are owned and managed by thousands of non-industrial private owners.

Each landowner has unique goals for his or her forest property, ranging from timber income to simply "a place to get away from it all".

However, one goal common to most forest landowners is to steward their forest land, for their own goals and future generations. The educational programs listed here are designed to help private forest owners and those who work with them strengthen their forest stewardship skills.

Forestry Shortcourse

Click here for the on-line flyer for this program

This multi-session program enriches private forest owners' basic understanding of forest ecology, silviculture, insects, disease, goal setting, record keeping, and other forest stewardship issues. In the process, participants work on a management plan for their forest (Credits available: 2 UI Graduate Credits; 18 Idaho Pro-logger; 8 Idaho Department of Agriculture Pesticide Recertification Credits).

• Rathdrum, ID. November 5 to December 17, 2009. Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. Rathdrum City Hall, 8047 W. Maim Street, Rathdrum, ID.
• Sandpoint, ID. June 9 to July 14, 2010. Six Wednesday mornings from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 South 1st Street.

Family Foresters Workshop

Click here for the on-line flyer for this program.

This annual program, offered jointly by the UI and WSU Cooperative Extension systems, updates consulting foresters, state-employed service foresters, and other natural resource professionals on emerging technology and knowledge applicable to family forests (also known as non-industrial private forests).

• Spokane Valley, WA. Friday, January 22, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

An Introduction to Conservation Easements

This two-hour program will feature a short introduction to conservation easements followed by a panel of representatives from public and private institutions that set up conservation easements and a landowners who has enrolled in one.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Thursday, February 11, 2010. 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

• Plummer, ID. Friday February 12, 2010. 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm.

Backyard Forests

This program will help homeowners with less than five acres of forestland apply basic forest management concepts to "home landscape" forests.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Monday, February 22, 2010. 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

LEAP Update

This program is designed to deepen and expand the training provided in Logger Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP). LEAP updates are co-scheduled with spring first aid training, so participants can get all 16 credits required by the Idaho Pro-Logger Program within two days. Specific program details will be announced this winter.

• Orofino, ID. Wednesday-Thursday, March 3 - 4, 2010.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Tuesday-Wednesday, March 9-10, 2010.

• Troy, ID. Thursday-Friday, March 11-12, 2010.

• St. Maries, ID. Tuesday-Wednesday, March 16-17, 2010.

• Bonners Ferry, ID. Wednesday-Thursday, March 24-25, 2010.

This program helps forest homeowners make their homesite less likely to burn and easier for firefighters to access, in the event of a local forest fire.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Monday, March 8, 2010. 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

• Additional sessions of this program can be scheduled for interested groups of 10 or more. To make arrangements, please contact: Chris Schnepf (Idaho Panhandle) at (208) 446-1680 or Randy Brooks (North-Central Idaho) at (208) 476-4434.

Family Forest Owners and Managers Conference

This annual conference brings together family forest owners, consulting foresters, agency program managers, and other partners to learn about and discuss current trends and topics in the world of sustainable stewardship management of our forest resources. The Idaho Forest Owners Association and the Idaho Tree Farm Program conduct their annual meetings in conjunction with this program.

• Moscow, ID. Monday-Tuesday, March 22-23, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

"Ties to the Land" - Your Family Forest Heritage

This facilitated workshop will explore planning for an orderly transition through succession planning and the human side of estate planning. It will focus on: maintaining family ties to the land from generation to generation, building awareness of the key challenges facing family businesses and motivating families to address the challenges.

• Moscow, ID. Wednesday, March 24, 2010. 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.

• Sandpoint, ID. Saturday, April 17, 2010. 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Using Your GPS

A Global Positioning System or "GPS" is becoming as common to work and play in forests as a compass. This one-day program will introduce participants to the science underlying GPS use and feature field exercises to acquaint them with basic tasks that can be done with a GPS, such as measuring acreages of tree planting units.

• St. Maries, ID. Friday, March 12, 2010. 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

• Sandpoint, ID. Friday, April 9, 2010. 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

• Bonners Ferry, ID. Saturday, April 10, 2010. 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

• Orofino, ID. Friday, April 16, 2010. 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Thinning and Pruning Field Day

This program will feature two-three hours indoors discussing basic concepts of thinning and pruning, followed by a hands-on field tour to learn about thinning, pruning, forest genetics, and chainsaw safety firsthand.

• Orofino, ID. Friday April 9, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

• Kellogg, ID. Saturday, May 15, 2010. 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

• Bonners Ferry, ID. Saturday, June 5, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Logger Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP)

Logger Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP) is a nationally acclaimed Extension program that helps loggers improve their skills related to forest ecology, silviculture, and water quality through presentations, discussions, videos, and other learning experiences.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Wednesday-Friday, April 21-23, 2010.

• Orofino, ID. Wednesday-Friday, April 28-30, 2010.

Measuring Your Trees

Good decisions require good information on your forest - whether you are preparing for a timber sale, determining how much or what species to thin, or managing other values. This program will feature two to three hours indoors learning how to measure trees, with the rest of the day spent outdoors conducting hands-on measurements to estimate a variety of forest characteristics.

• Orofino, ID. Friday, May 7, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Saturday, May 8, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Pruning to Restore White Pine

This indoor/field program will help you reduce white pine mortality from blister rust. It will cover blister rust disease cycles, blister rust hazard assessment, canker identification, silvicultural strategies in young white pine stands, and blister rust pruning methods.

• Kellogg, ID. Friday, May 14, 2010. 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Idaho-Washington Forest Owners Field Day

This one-day program will feature a wide variety of exhibits and short educational sessions for both new and experienced forest owners. It is held cooperatively between a variety of agencies and organizations that support family forest owners.

• Rathdrum Prairie, ID. Saturday, June 12, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Adaptive Silviculture on the McGovern Forest

Dr. Karel Stoszek is an emeritus professor with the UI Department of Forest Resources who has long advocated approaches to silviculture that maximizes flexibility in response to small scale variations in stand and site conditions. He has been experimenting with these approaches on the McGovern Forest, a property donated to the University of Idaho to demonstrate family forest management alternatives. This field day will be spent in the woods with Karel observing and discussing his adaptive silvicultural treatments.

• Coeur d'Alene, ID. Friday, June 18, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Forest Insects and Disease Field Day

This program will feature a full day giving participants first-hand contact to the variety of insects and diseases that can affect forest growth and health, integrated with discussions of related management strategies.

• Sandpoint, ID. Friday, July 16, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

• Orofino, ID. Friday, July 23, 2010. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.