Becoming a Steward of the Land UME Forestry Program Offers Certification Course

QUEENSTOWN – Learn to be a steward of the land this fall with the University of Maryland Extension General Forestry Course. Both paper and online versions of the course will be offered, beginning September 1 through December 15, 2019. Registration opens June 1, and interested participants can register online at extension.umd.edu/forestry-course.

This is a non-credit course with no formal classes ‒ work from the comfort of your home using your own woodlot, a friend’s or a public forest. The course covers how to protect your trees from insects, diseases, and fire; step-by-step procedures walk you through a forest inventory and stand analysis; and the details of the forestry business are presented, including tax nuances and the sale and harvest of forest products. Ultimately, the course exercises help you develop the framework for a stewardship plan for your forest.

The cost for this forestry course is $150. Included in the cost are copies of the supplemental readings (“A Sand County Almanac, The Woodland Steward, American Forests: A History of Resiliency and Recovery,” a small pamphlet entitled “What Tree Is That?” and “Common Native Trees of Virginia Tree Identification Guide”). The paper version text and appendices for the course are in binder form. Online users receive a flash drive of the paper version of the text and appendices. A certificate of completion is awarded when all assignments are completed.

To learn more about the course and what it entails, go to extension.umd.edu/forestry-course. There you can read a lesson from the text, view an interactive exercise, read through detailed course information and FAQs.

For more information, contact Nancy Stewart at the University of Maryland Extension, Wye Research and Education Center, P.O. Box 169, Queenstown, Md., 21658, 410-827-8056, ext. 107, or nstewar1@umd.edu. Check for details on our website and mark June 1 for open enrollment on your calendar!