Forestry webinar series begins Sept. 28

LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service will offer a forestry webinar series on select Tuesdays beginning Sept. 28. The series is designed for woodland owners, farmers and others interested in woodland, timber and wildlife topics.

Times

Sessions in the six-part series will convene at various county extension offices from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET, with local sites connected through a Web-based conferencing system. The presentations originate on UK’s Lexington campus, but the technology allows participants at each site to ask questions.

Series topics include:

• Tree Identification, Sept. 28 — Doug McLaren, extension forestry specialist, will teach participants to identify trees by examining the structural elements.

• How Climate Change is Affecting Natural Resources, Oct. 12 — Extension wildlife professor Tom Barnes will lead a discussion about how the changing climate is already affecting plant flowering and the abundance and distribution of plants and animals.

• Maple Syrup Production, Oct. 26 — Forestry Extension professor Deborah Hill will lead participants through the syrup-making process and address the different maple varieties capable of producing a sap high in sugar. Hill will also discuss opportunities for woodland owners to become sap suppliers.

• Woodland Certification, Nov. 9 — Jeff Stringer, UK forestry professor in hardwood silviculture and forest operations, will lead a session explaining the process of woodland certification.

• Selling Timber, Nov. 16 — Selling timber is often one of the largest financial transactions a woodland owner ever makes. In this session, Billy Thomas, UK Extension forester, will discuss strategies for selling timber at a fair price and review the factors that influence how much money a company will offer and the organizations that can help navigate the timber selling experience.

• Wood Identification, Nov. 30 — Terry Conners, associate extension professor in wood products, will teach the basics of wood structure and show how to identify more than a dozen of the most common types of wood.

Information

Interested participants may register for the entire series or individual webinars through participating county extension offices. More information is available online at www.ca.uky.edu/forestryextension/fallwebinars.php, by contacting a county extension office or Billy Thomas at 859-257-9153 or billy.thomas@uky.edu.