Forest Land Stewardship Plan coached writing classes

Small forest landowners in the Northwest are holding off on their timber harvests for a while as they wait for the timber market to improve. Some foresters say to be prepared to wait as long as 10 years.

It's a good time to focus more on planning future management activities. We have a Forest Land Stewardship Plan that outlines our goals for this property, and our plans for managing our forest in a safe, healthy, sustainable way. It takes time to write, and lots of research.

Last year I took an 8-week class offered by WSU Extension and WA DNR. The class is called "Coached Planning" because each week it focuses on a different chapter of the Forest Management Plan. Owner/participants wrote a chapter a week and presented plans at the end. The instructors are available to help with individual plans, and they sign off on the plans when they're done.

The class was a terrific education -- in forest health, fire, harvesting and sale, even cultural considerations -- for me as a small forest landowner. Getting so much help in one place, and a plan written in 2 months, is a great opportunity. If something like it is offered in your region, I strongly urge you to sign up.

Having a Plan has helped us to qualify for government cost-sharing programs that have been worth thousands of dollars to us, so far. The Plan helped us get the land into a much lower property tax class. It also helped our property qualify for American Tree Farm System (our local FSC equivalent) status as a sustainably managed forest.

WA Class Info:

Washington DNR and Washington State University Extension are offering Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Courses around the state in fall and winter 2008-09. These coached planning events are hands-on, practical classes that help landowners to prepare their own forest stewardship plan with guidance from natural resource professionals. Regardless of your ownership size, large or small, this 6 to 9 week course will equip you with tools to feel confident in managing your forestland. The plan you create may help you to qualify for cost-share programs and reduce your property tax rates. Below is a list of scheduled courses, and this list is certain to grow before the fall arrives. Please visit http://ext.nrs.wsu.edu/newsevents/forststewardship.htm for further information and to learn about other courses as they are scheduled.

September 9 – October 23, 2008, Colville, WA, contact Janean Creighton, e-mail jcreighton (a) spokanecounty * org

September 17 – November 5, 2008, Mercer Island, WA, contact Amy Grotta, amy.grotta ( a) kingcounty *gov

February 24 – April 21, 2009, Everett, WA, contact Kevin Zobrist, kzobrist (a ) wsu* edu