Hands-On Forest Health Strategies for Jefferson County Forest Owners

Learn hands-on strategies for managing healthy forests in Jefferson County

Many forest owners across Jefferson County are interested in taking a hands-on approach to improving the health, resilience and productivity of their forests, but lack the information, skills and resources to do so. At this workshop, local and regional experts will introduce forest owners to simple, do-it-yourself strategies for thinning their forests and mitigating slash.

Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the ecological risks facing regional forests due to wildfire, drought, disease, and insect infestation. Participants will learn how to evaluate forest conditions, select trees for thinning, and utilize woody biomass for forest health and biochar production. The workshop will also feature a chainsaw safety and basic tree felling demonstration.

The workshop will be held outside in Valley View Forest, a working forest owned and managed by Jefferson Land Trust. All instruction will be socially-distanced. Participants will be required to follow state masking guidelines.

July 17, 2021

9:30am – 3:30pm

Valley View Forest
1921 Center Rd
Chimacum, WA 98325

Register for the Workshop

Topics

Instruction will be a combination of lecture, demonstration, and hands-on activities, including:

• Stand Assessment 101: How to “read” and understand what is happening in your forest from an ecological perspective. Topics include species competition, tree canopy classes, and timber quality.
• Forest Management Goals & Options: Discuss strategies for reducing fire risk, improving timber growth and quality, and increasing resilience to climate change.
• Tree Selection for Thinning: The rhyme and reason for thinning from below, thinning across diameters, tree spacing, and species selection.
• Tree Marking Exercise: Practice marking trees for thinning.
• Tree Felling 101: Participants observe basic tree felling techniques. Open face & boring cut for larger diameter trees. Felling small diameter trees. Dealing with a “hang-up”. Limbing & bucking.
• Making Biochar: Why biochar can be a valuable soil amendment in your forest.
• Utilizing Cut Material: Strategies include lop & scatter, habitat piles, habitat logs, firewood, chipping, etc.
• Funding Forest Stewardship: How to fund your forest health work through cost-share programs.
• Forestry contractors: Who to work with, and how.

Free Site Visits

Participants can sign up for a limited number of free two-hour site visits with a forester. During the site visit, the forester will help landowners refine plans for managing their forest and answer site specific questions. To register for a free site visit, please email kirk@nnrg.org.

Speakers

Kirk Hanson | Northwest Natural Resource Group
Erik Kingfisher | Jefferson Land Trust
Kai Hoffman Krull | Restore Char

Workshop presented by

Northwest Natural Resource Group, Jefferson Land Trust, and Jefferson Conservation District

This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28587.