Green Horizons

MDC Forester, Mark Grueber, "quizzes" participants on tree ID at the St. Peters short course.

Since its rollout in January, more than 200 forest landowners have attended MU Extension’s Missouri Woodland Steward Short Course and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Our main goal of reaching "new" landowners is being achieved with over 85% of those attending having never participated in a similar course like Master Tree Farmer or Master Wildlifer. Landowners of all ages and levels of education have attended. Women as well as men have found the information useful. The "typical" landowner owns approximately 180 acres, of which 100 acres is in forest cover. About 40% have owned their land for less than 10 years while another 40% have owned their acreage for more than 20 years.

On a scale of 1 (none) to 5 (extensive), the average self-perceived level of knowledge significantly rose from "2" before the short course to more than "4" afterwards. Participants gave all indoor sessions, the field trip, instructors and manual high marks. More importantly, attendees indicated that they would be very likely to carry out land improvement practices such as vine removal, timber stand improvement, edge feathering and covey headquarters on their own without incentive payments. All participants will receive follow-up surveys six-months after completing Woodland Steward in order to track impacts on the landscape.

Short courses are continually being offered around the state. Upcoming courses will be offered in Springfield beginning August 7 (contact Gaylord Moore, 417-862-9284, mooreg@missouri.edu); KC Metro area (Blue Springs) beginning August 10 (contact Julie Abendroth, 816-776-6961, abendrothj@missouri.edu); Columbia beginning September 11 (contact Hank Stelzer, 573-882-4444, stelzerh@missouri.edu); Salem beginning September 12 (contact Ted Cunningham, 573- 729-3196, cunninghamt@missouri.edu); and Sullivan beginning September 12 (contact Matt Herring, 636-583-5141, herringm@missouri.edu). A new Forestry Extension web site is in the works and will soon list all upcoming short courses. In the meantime, feel free to contact Hank Stelzer at 573-882-4444, stelzerh@missouri.edu.