Green Horizons

When professional logger, Kenny Brown, talks…people listen! Here Kenny was describing the importance of creating the proper hinge cut to drop a tree where you want it to go.

NRCS Forester, Joe Alley, points out the features of a properly installed water diversion structure, aka a ‘water bar’.

Over 100 landowners from Pike and Ralls Counties in Northeast Missouri attended a woodland management workshop, March 16th. The event was jointly sponsored by the Missouri Tree Farm Committee, the Soil & Water Conservation Districts of Pike and Ralls Counties, the USDA NRCS, and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Indoor morning sessions were held at the Bowling Green High School (Go Bobcats!) and covered such topics as invasive species, basic tree establishment, tree diseases, things to know before selling timber, woods and taxes, and chainsaw maintenance.

After a hearty lunch, workshop participants headed out to the Malinmor Hunt Club to see firsthand the results of 27 years of active forest management that has been overseen by the hunt club's manager, Rick Merritt. A roaring fire kept participants warm as they rotated through various stations on basic tree identification, trail maintenance, tree pruning, timber stand improvement, timber tree value, and proper tree felling.

Throughout the day, I overheard nothing but praise for the workshop and the opportunity for landowners to gain knowledge and learn new skills they will be able to immediately use in better managing their woodlands.