Final report for ENE21-168
Project Information
The Northeast SARE Professional Development project “Reading the Woods” has created an economic, environmental, and regulatory toolkit and method also titled “Reading the Woods,” and trained private and public Technical Service Providers (TSPs) in their use. This has broadened their offerings to landowners and those who manage woodlands, expanding to include non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In this project, the terms “Agricultural Service Provider (ASP)” and “Technical Service Provider (TSP)” are used interchangeably. The project toolkit was based on the SARE “Reading the Farm” tool.
Background and context
The extraction, use and sale of NTFPs have been a huge part of the Appalachian region’s culture and informal economy. But landowners lack overall knowledge of diversification options, particularly on well forested farms where timber is a primary strategy, and the TSPs they ask for help were also often unprepared for NTPFs. We have learned that these stakeholders needed decision-making tools and help with the decision-making process. A framework was needed that explained why diversification is important, and to introduce to TSPs how to assess forest lands for opportunities. We have confirmed that for the most part private foresters don’t have knowledge about the potential for NTFPs, so we have invited consulting foresters to use these tools. Like most TSPs, they go through an educational process where technical skills in timber management were considered as the highest need, and “looking up” (at the timber) is sufficient. Looking down, and noting what is growing in the understory, is also important to Appalachian forest landowners, and increasing this awareness is a key part of our goal in this project. In addition,TSPs of all sorts are unfamiliar with the decision-making processes used by those small Appalachian landowners who are interested in or engaging in NTFPs.
Educational Approaches
With interviews, contacts made within our network, and through our work with TSPs we sought and built resources and knowledge to support enhanced agricultural and forest-based revenue opportunities throughout West Virginia. This project has resulted in digital resources that include economic cost calculators and decision-making tools that will be available to TSPs to help farmers and landowners diversify their income by bolstering the returns of existing NTFP agribusinesses. Reading the Woods helps TSPs determine NTFP opportunities, conduct resource assessments, determine resource management plans, discover production and harvesting techniques/technologies, assess market opportunities, and develop plans for conservation and sustainable production. The tool is increasing awareness of the economic capacity of West Virginia forests and is applicable throughout the Central Appalachian region.
The creation of the method and toolkit began with input from our Advisory Committee, and was refined with feedback from TSPs. We made the toolkit available to several TSPs for private usage, but the bulk of TSPs encountered Reading the Woods through a series of online or in-person trainings we hosted. We used a variety of mediums for these training sessions, including webinars, brief introductory presentations at in-person workshops on NTFP production, interdisciplinary collaborative site assessments, and one-on-one conversations. But by far, the most robust training sessions were two day-long in-person training programs for TSPs, one in-person session at the meeting of the Society of American Foresters, and two online presentations.
The Reading the Woods project team has presented the objectives, method, and the key components of Reading the Woods toolbox to 94 technical service providers who service woodland stewards in West Virginia. Of these, 48 have used some of the tools, and the method, to serve woodland stewards in preparing for nature-based enterprises. 134 woodland stewards (landowners, lease holders, or those with informal land tenure agreements who have access to and decision- making powers over an existing forest) have begun the Reading the Woods process with technical service providers, including Future Generations University staff.
In addition, the networks and partnerships made through this project have been invaluable, and will allow Future Generations University to scale up the Reading the Woods program to the entire central Appalachian region. This larger, programmatic, approach to nature-based enterprises has already reached over 503 farmers in the region.
By the end of this project, over 700 landowners and TSPs had a “first touch” on the Reading the Woods program. As is discussed in further detail in our assessment of project approach, our project period is far too short to enable the full mentorship of the TSP-landowner relationship.
“Reading the Woods” will adapt the current SARE-based “Reading the Farm” tool to provide agricultural service providers with a multi-seasonal diversification planning tool for non-timber forest products in West Virginia forests and applicable throughout the Central Appalachian region; the tool will be utilized by at least 25 agricultural and forest service providers who fully complete the training and impact at least 75 farmers.
The Reading the Woods project has enabled the utilization of West Virginia’s forests to enhance the state’s agricultural economy. It has, and will continue, to support small farms through enhancing the capacity of private and public Technical Service Providers (TSPs) serving the landowners and managers in West Virginia. This project has created an economic, environmental, and regulatory planning tool and method titled “Reading the Woods.” The team developed and refined resource materials. Technical Service Providers (i.e., those who work with NGOs, government and universities) have been given exposure to the project tools. This has broadened their offerings to landowners and those who manage woodlands. The concept of forest farming—the process of cultivating high-value crops within a managed woodlot - has been expanded to include non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Training to utilize the Reading the Woods guide and resource tools has been conducted. In this project, the terms “Agricultural Service Provider (ASP)” and “Technical Service Provider (TSP)” are used interchangeably. Both serve landowners in managing land for forestry or agriculture applications.
Background and context
A framework was needed that described the process by which users will know why diversification is important, and how to assess forest lands for opportunities. Such a tool will be helpful to service providers who lack the knowledge - especially of NTFPs-to effectively serve landowners. The extraction, use and sale of NTFPs have been a huge part of the region’s culture and informal economy. But landowners overall lack knowledge of diversification options particularly on well forested farms where timber is a primary strategy. The team learned that these stakeholders needed an understanding of decision-making tools and that too often service providers give the landowners what they have, landowners need help with the decision-making process. The team learned what incentives are important to TSPs and now incorporating NTFPs in their advice and help to landowners may be possible. The team is also aware that TSPs go through an educational process, and express examples they learn during the hiring process. In short, technical skills were considered, by educational and professional trainers, as the highest need, and “looking up” (at the timber) is a big part of their practice. Looking down, for example, and noting what is growing in the understory, is also important, and increasing this awareness is a key part of our goal in this project. Lastly, the team learned that this expanded service (i.e., to include NTFPs in forest management) should be part of customer service. If this is not the case, then landowners are dependent to learn on their own about the possibilities of incorporating NTFPs in the management of their lands.
Educational Approach
The educational approach taken by this project had three major aspects. First, the project team created a toolbox of informational and decision-making resources to help TSPs support landowner NTFP enterprises. Second, the project team engaged in a series of workshops and trainings for TSPs to explain the different tools within that toolbox and describe best practices for using them. Third, the project team used these tools to support landowners in the development of their NTFP enterprises, usually in consultation with TSPs from outside our organization. The project used an iterative design process, which means that each of these three aspects were developed more-or-less in tandem, not successively. For example, an initial version of the toolbox was created, then it was shared with some TSPs in a workshop, then trialed with landowners. The feedback from these interactions led to an improved version of the toolbox, and this second version of the toolbox was used for a second set of trainings, and other project activities. Additionally, webinars and regional conference presentations helped to inform an even broader audience of landowners and agricultural service providers beyond the primary target audience about the potential of NTFPs, broadening the base of support and potential partners for this project.
Results
This project resulted in the creation of the Reading the Woods toolbox, which contains 22 educational tools—curricula, decision-making tools, economic calculators, etc. The Reading the Woods project team has presented the objectives, method, and the key components of Reading the Woods toolbox to 94 technical service providers who service woodland stewards in West Virginia. Of these, 48 have used some of the tools, and the method, to serve woodland stewards in preparing for nature-based enterprises. 134 woodland stewards (landowners, lease holders, or those with informal land tenure agreements who have access to and decision- making powers over an existing forest) have begun the Reading the Woods process with technical service providers, including Future Generations University staff.
In addition, the networks and partnerships made through this project have been invaluable, and will allow Future Generations University to scale up the Reading the Woods program to the entire central Appalachian region. This larger, programmatic, approach to nature-based enterprises has already reached over 503 farmers in the region.
Educational Approach
The Reading the Woods project has enabled the utilization of West Virginia’s forests to enhance the state’s agricultural economy. It has, and will continue, to support small farms through enhancing the capacity of private and public Technical Service Providers (TSPs) serving the landowners and managers in West Virginia. This project has created an economic, environmental, and regulatory planning tool and method titled “Reading the Woods.” The team developed and refined resource materials. Technical Service Providers (i.e., those who work with NGOs, government and universities) have been given exposure to the project tools. This has broadened their offerings to landowners and those who manage woodlands. The concept of forest farming—the process of cultivating high-value crops within a managed woodlot - has been expanded to include non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Training to utilize the Reading the Woods guide and resource tools has been conducted. A few of the accomplishments for this year are highlighted here. In this project, the terms “Agricultural Service Provider (ASP)” and “Technical Service Provider (TSP)” are used interchangeably. Both serve landowners in managing land for forestry or agriculture applications.
Background and context
A framework was needed that described the process by which users will know why diversification is important, and how to assess forest lands for opportunities. Such a tool will be helpful to service providers who lack the knowledge - especially of NTFPs-to effectively serve landowners. The extraction, use and sale of NTFPs have been a huge part of the region’s culture and informal economy. But landowners overall lack knowledge of diversification options particularly on well forested farms where timber is a primary strategy. The team learned that these stakeholders needed an understanding of decision-making tools and that too often service providers give the landowners what they have, landowners need help with the decision-making process. The team is learning what incentives are important to TSPs and now incorporating NTFPs in their advice and help to landowners may be possible. The team is also aware that TSPs go through an educational process, and express examples they learn during the hiring process. In short, technical skills were considered, by educational and professional trainers, as the highest need, and “looking up” (at the timber) is a big part of their practice. Looking down, for example, and noting what is growing in the understory, is also important, and increasing this awareness is a key part of our goal in this project. Lastly, the team is learning that this expanded service (i.e., to include NTFPs in forest management) should be part of customer service. If this is not the case, then landowners are dependent to learn on their own about the possibilities of incorporating NTFPs in the management of their lands.
Educational Approach
The educational approach taken by this project had three major aspects. First, the project team created a toolbox of informational and decision-making resources to help TSPs support landowner NTFP enterprises. Second, the project team engaged in a series of workshops and trainings for TSPs to explain the different tools within that toolbox and describe best practices for using them. Third, the project team used these tools to support landowners in the development of their NTFP enterprises, usually in consultation with TSPs from outside our organization. The project used an iterative design process, which means that each of these three aspects were developed more-or-less in tandem, not successively. For example, an initial version of the toolbox was created, then it was shared with some TSPs in a workshop, then trialed with landowners. The feedback from these interactions led to an improved version of the toolbox, and this second version of the toolbox was used for a second set of trainings, and other project activities. Additionally, webinars and regional conference presentations helped to inform an even broader audience of landowners and agricultural service providers beyond the primary target audience about the potential of NTFPs, broadening the base of support and potential partners for this project.
Results
This project resulted in the creation of the Reading the Woods toolbox, which contains 22 educational tools—curricula, decision-making tools, economic calculators, etc. The Reading the Woods project team has presented the objectives, method, and the key components of Reading the Woods toolbox to 94 technical service providers who service woodland stewards in West Virginia. Of these, 48 have used some of the tools, and the method, to serve woodland stewards in preparing for nature-based enterprises. 134 woodland stewards (landowners, lease holders, or those with informal land tenure agreements who have access to and decision- making powers over an existing forest) have begun the Reading the Woods process with technical service providers, including Future Generations University staff.
In addition, the networks and partnerships made through this project have been invaluable, and will allow Future Generations University to scale up the Reading the Woods program to the entire central Appalachian region. This larger, programmatic, approach to nature-based enterprises has already reached over 503 farmers in the region.
Milestones
Project Advisory Committee: monthly meetings during the first 6 months of the project and then quarterly thereafter to build consensus on content areas and integration of existing resource materials. The Advisory Committee will guide the creation of the initial version of Reading the Woods. They will conduct regular reviews of subsequent drafts as well as a final review of Reading the Woods product at the end of the performance period. They will assist in providing a final assessment of Reading the Woods in the Project Report.
3
4
7
October 01, 2021
Completed
October 01, 2021
Project Advisory Committee: We held monthly meetings during the first 6 months of the project and then quarterly through the end of the second year to build consensus on content areas and integration of existing resource materials, and were instrumental to forming an initial list of technical service providers and resource persons. The Advisory Committee guided the creation of the initial version of the Reading the Woods toolbox and method. They conducted reviews of subsequent drafts and attended in-person or online Reading the Woods training activities. They will assist in sustaining the Reading the Woods program beyond the end of this NE SARE grant.
The Reading the Woods project team formed an Advisory Committee made up of seven members who represent diverse technical service providers who service the agroforestry sector in West Virginia and Central Appalachia. Members of the Advisory Committee contribute valuable insight to the project serving as consulting foresters, university extension agents, forest farmers, and representatives of sustainable forestry and rural development organizations and state agencies.
The Reading the Woods (RTW) Advisory Committee met three times during the first six months. During these meetings, the Reading the Woods project team asked the Advisory Committee to provide feedback on the project work plan, the “Reading the Woods” tool prototype, training needs, and outreach materials.
The project team conducted one-on-one interviews with members of the Advisory Committee to inform the design and development of the “Reading the Woods” tool, and to identify or refer the project team to technical service providers and demonstration sites for the project.
In addition, the Advisory Committee members reviewed additional resources developed by the project team. For example, members completed the Technical Service Provider Self-Assessment and provided thoughtful feedback. The self-assessment is to be administered to technical service providers as a prerequisite to participating in the professional development training for Reading the Woods.
Reading the Woods Version 1 will be an initial prototype, developed 6-months into the project start date, that builds upon existing resource materials and adapts/develops suitable instrumentation to be tested during the remaining project period. Version 1 will cover basic woodlot plotting, natural resource distribution and identification, and environmental assessment tools for existing NTFP products in the region. Version 1 will emphasize commonly marketable NTFPs in the region as they intersect with environmental conditions.
6
12
8
7
October 01, 2021
Completed
October 01, 2021
To inform the design and development of the Reading the Woods tool prototype, the project team conducted a literature review, interviews, and a focus group.
Literature Review
The project team reviewed over 100 publications and instruments in total. The publications and the instruments address a wide range of topics including, sustainable forest management, cultivation methods, enterprise planning, budgets, domestic and international markets, and regulations. A predominant number of publications and instruments are specific to the Central Appalachian region. Examples from the United States, Europe, United Kingdom, Southern Asia, and South America supplement the limited number of publications and instruments specific to the Central Appalachian region.
Interviews
The project team conducted semi-structured and unstructured interviews with thirteen key informants and the seven members of the Advisory Committee. The project team selected technical service providers and researchers who serve woodland stewards in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New York. The project team asked the following interview questions to inform the design and development of the tool’s prototype.
- How much of your job involves working directly with landowners or land seekers?
- What sort of services are you offering them?
- What is the current reality of Agroforestry, Forest Farming, and NTFPs in West Virginia?
- Does it come up in conversation with landowners or land seekers? If so, how?
- As a technical service provider, what resources do you think need to be included in the tool? Please include resources that would be helpful for you and the woodland steward. (Papers, tools, organizations working with NTFPs)?
- What should it look like? An online application; a downloadable, printable binder; USB drive that holds the worksheets, resources, etc.?
- Can you suggest technical service providers that should be participants in our program?
- Lastly, can you suggest sites we can partner with to demonstrate successful examples of NTFPS?
The interview questions are evolving as the tool develops and the research reaches data saturation. Interviews with key informants is ongoing to identify and develop additional resources for the tool.
Focus Group
The project team convened a focus group style meeting with the Advisory Committee to report on the interview data, identify potential gaps in the research, and assess the training needs of technical service providers.
The ongoing research continues to highlight key opportunities, challenges, and needs of the agroforestry sector in West Virginia.
As a result of the preliminary research, Reading the Woods will present technical service providers with an online and offline, open-source tool to guide woodland stewards on sustainable forest management. Reading the Woods follows a holistic approach that assesses the environmental, economic, and social characteristics of a forest to determine nature-based enterprise opportunities for woodland stewards.
The first edition of the tool features resources for the technical service providers to conduct a Whole Woods Assessment and complete a Whole Woods Stewardship Analysis for Sustainable, Nature-based Enterprises with woodland stewards. The tool includes the following:
- A infographic map to guide technical service providers on the steps for “how to read the woods” with a woodland steward.
- A Woodland Steward Self-Assessment and a series of worksheets to assist the technical service provider and the woodland steward through the decision-making process of developing a Whole Woods Enterprise Plan.
- A library and an archive for technical service providers to make available quality materials which fulfill educational, informational, and cultural needs of technical service providers and Appalachia’s agroforestry community. The materials and resources provided by the library and archive may include, training programs, books, journal articles, technical articles, handbooks, photographs, recorded podcasts or radio broadcasts, and field notes.
- A rolodex of local specialists for the technical service provider to contact for additional information.
- A Whole Woods Enterprise Matrix for production planning and layering nature-based enterprises in a forest.
- Four fact sheets to showcase elderberry, stinging nettle, birding, and carbon credit enterprises that each represent at least one category of a sustainable, nature-based enterprise: timber products, ecosystem services and agritourism, forest edibles/culinary foods, medicinal, and floral and decorative products.
Reading the Woods invites technical service providers from all professional backgrounds and skill levels who serve woodland stewards in West Virginia. Woodland stewards are individuals or families in West Virginia who have access to and decision-making powers over an existing forest. They include landowners, leaseholders, or those with informal land tenure agreements.
NTFP Demonstration Farms will be identified within the first year of the project’s performance period. The iterative design process of this project will both test the Reading the Woods instrumentation, and also identify demonstration training sites among existing forest farming locations. 12 Ag Service Providers will participate in the initial trainings. Six farmers will agree to serve as demonstration sites for on-site Reading the Woods training. A minimum of nine NTFPs will be showcased across these six demonstration farms.
6
12
7
18
December 01, 2021
Completed
November 16, 2023
NTFP Demonstration Farms were identified within the first year of the project’s performance period. The iterative design process of this project both tested the Reading the Woods instrumentation, and also identified demonstration training sites among existing forest farming locations. 12 Ag Service Providers participated in the initial training programs. Nine farmers agreed to serve as demonstration sites either for on-site Reading the Woods trainings or best practices of Reading the Woods. Over 23 NTFPs and/or services were showcased across these nine demonstration farms.
The Reading the Woods project team developed a set of criteria (listed below) for identifying appropriate demonstration sites. Nineteen potential demonstration sites that meet these selection criteria were identified.
- The demonstration site is in West Virginia.
- The demonstration site is accessible.
- The demonstration site represents at least three nature-based enterprises from at least two of the five categories.
- The demonstration site is an example of sustainable forest management for the benefit of two or more nature-based enterprises.
- The demonstration site is an economically viable enterprise.
The project team is developing partnerships with demonstration sites through existing relationships between technical service providers and woodland stewards. For example, the Appalachia Program at Future Generations University is partnering with three demonstration sites to measure increased maple sap production in 2022. The demonstration sites present the opportunity for the Appalachia Program’s field team of technical service providers to test Reading the Woods.
Demonstration farms were finalized by November 16th, 2022 and are: Laurel Fork Sapsuckers, Yew Mountain Center, Whitegrass, Still Hollow, and Lost Creek Farms.
12 Ag Service Providers and 6 Farmers, along with the Advisory Committee and Project Team will provide feedback on Version 1 of the "Reading the Woods." Reading the Woods Version 2 will incorporate additional NTFPs identified by Ag Service Providers through year one of the project. Version 2 will incorporate value-chain criteria such as storage, processing, packaging, as well as marketing and distribution planning instrumentation to align with landowner priorities and needs. Online price calculation tools will begin to be developed and tested.
6
12
10
23
April 01, 2022
Completed
August 31, 2023
23 Ag Service Providers and 6 Farmers, including some of the Advisory Committee and Project Team, provided feedback on Version 1 of the "Reading the Woods." Reading the Woods Version 2 incorporated additional NTFPs identified by Ag Service Providers through year one of the project. Version 2 incorporated some value- chain criteria such as storage, processing, packaging, as well as marketing and distribution planning instrumentation to align with landowner priorities and needs. In addition, three-part decision-making methods and tools were added to Version 2. Online price calculation tools were developed and tested.
The seven members of the Advisory Committee provided feedback on the first edition of the Reading the Woods prototype in a focus group style meeting.
The Reading the Woods project team developed an infographic and concept page to succinctly present the project and its goals to stakeholders. These two pieces were reviewed by the Advisory Committee and selected stakeholders, revised, combined into a 2-page (front and back) flier, and then distributed. The primary purpose of this publication is to help engage technical service providers and encourage them to participate in the training.
The Reading the Woods project team has assembled fact sheets and primers to exhibit for technical service providers and woodland stewards an example of cultivation, production, and nature-based enterprise scenarios specific to Central Appalachia. The initial set of fact sheets focuses on a representative group of products and services: elderberry, stinging nettle, a general fact sheet on understory crops, a marketing fact sheet on festivals, a general factsheet on tree syrups, and more specific tree syrup fact sheets – black walnut for syrup and nutmeat, and sycamore syrup.
Through personalized outreach which accompanied site visits and site assessments, RTW Version 1 got into the hands of several new service providers and farmers. They provided very specific feedback, and in turn, Future Generations created RTW Version 2, which was tested and evaluated by service providers at online and in-person workshops. Version 3, which will be included in the final report, has a small number of improvements over Version 2.
150 Ag Service Providers will be recruited to participate in NTFP Outreach Training seminars. 20 additional farmers will be recruited to serve as on-farm training sites.
26
150
134
94
August 31, 2022
Completed
November 15, 2023
While conducting preliminary research, the Reading the Woods project team recognized that the Reading the Woods professional development tool will benefit more than agricultural service providers. The team recruited technical service providers (TSPs) from diverse professional backgrounds to test the Reading the Woods tool. The entire cohort of technical service providers represent agricultural and forestry technical service providers (consulting foresters, National Resources Conservation Service, West Virginia Division Of Forestry, West Virginia University Extension), state agencies (West Virginia Department of Agriculture, West Virginia Conservation Agency), rural development Non-Governmental Organizations (Value Chain Cluster Initiative, Natural Capital Investment Fund, AmeriCorps VISTAs, West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition Foodshed Coordinators), and nonprofits with a focus on sustainable forestry (Future Generations University field team, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Yew Mountain Center, Rural Action). The training was designed to meet the following teaching objectives:
- Become proficient in the concepts of agroforestry, forest farming, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) or nature-based enterprises, and their potential in West Virginia and the region.
- Conduct foundational assessments of the social, biophysical, and economic characteristics of a forest.
- Develop a familiarity with the Reading the Woods tool and its uses to benefit the education programs and services offered to woodland stewards.
- Identify and apply the building blocks to forming a successful partnership between technical service providers and woodland stewards.
- Acquire the confidence to use the tool to guide a woodland steward on developing a custom Whole Woods Enterprise Plan based on the social, biophysical, and economic assessments of their forest.
Technical service providers were contacted and recruited through various events: an in-person event at one of our demonstration sites (11 TSPs at first, 1 at second, 4 at third; 2 landowners at first, 6 at second, 2 at third), on-farm site assessments using RTW tools (7 TSPs, 8 landowners), a presentation for foresters at the annual meeting of the Society of American Foresters (19 TSPs), the annual meeting of the NRCS staff in WV (25 TSPs), a meeting of the State Foresters in Morgantown (20 TSPs), the NRCS Biology and Forestry Core Team Monthly Meeting (6 TSPs), a presentation at the WV Small Farms Conference (4 TSPs and 7 landowners) and an online meeting of the West Virginia Woodland Stewards group (3 TSPs and 119 landowners). As can be seen, the RTW Project team was able to reach far greater numbers, both of TSPs and of landowners, by taking our message to the forums of other organizations. The smaller numbers of landowners and TSPs reached through in-house forums – workshops at demonstration sites and site visits – did, however, prove to be much more engaging and resulted in more durable institutional relationships. **NB – Due to a clerical error, landowning participants at the WV Woodland Stewards Seminar were not required to identify as TSPs. Personal recollection and follow-up engagement allowed us to confirm that 3 new attendees were TSPs, but the number may have been much higher.**
75 Ag Service Providers will participate in one of eight NTFP Outreach Training Seminars. These trainings will focus on raising awareness about the importance of NTFPs to supporting West Virginia’s small farms through the provision of supplemental income opportunities. Moreover, these seminars will identify ASPs interested in participating in ongoing training opportunities on the Reading the Woods guide. The seminars will be held between months 6--18 of the project. An additional 6 farmers will agree to serve as demonstration sites for on-site Reading the Woods training.
12
75
503
94
October 01, 2022
Completed
October 17, 2023
The RTW project team also conducted more general training focused on raising awareness about the importance of NTFPs to supporting West Virginia’s small farms through the provision of supplemental income opportunities. Some of these seminars helped identify TSPs interested in participating in ongoing training opportunities on the Reading the Woods guide. Seven of these were part of our ongoing “Out of the Woods” webinar series. All were conducted online.
Webinar attendance at the following webinars:
- Forest Botanicals In & Out of Your Sugar Bush- 31 in person, 82 later views
- The Top Ten Plants of Forest Botanicals- 40 in person, 79 later views
- Out of the Woods: 'Beyond Maple: Incorporating NTFPs into Your Sugar Bush- 35 in person, 61 later views
- United Plant Savers- Forest Grown Certified Program- 12 in person, 41 later views
- Appalachian Sustainable Development and USDA National Agroforestry Center Forest Farming Calculator - 57 total views
- Silvopasture: Successfully Combining Trees with Livestock - 27 total views
- "Thars gold in them thar hulls!”: Integrating black walnuts into the diversified farm system - 27 in person, 156 views later
In addition,
Elderberry Cultivation and Harvest (1,900 views)
Processing Black Walnuts (475,000 views)
Harvesting and transplanting nettle (1000 views)
How to Make Black Walnut Syrup (11,000 views)
How to Make Sycamore Syrup (1300 views)
Reading the Woods Version 3 will be created 18 months into the project period. This version of the resource guide will have very similar content to Version 2 with several key improvements. First, it will have further tested and refined the economic and environmental planning instrumentation in the form of online price calculators. These price calculators will have updated instructions based on ASP user feedback. Final graphic formatting and downloadable offline versions will be made available.
12
75
129
15
October 01, 2022
Completed
June 15, 2023
Reading the Woods Version 3 was created 26 months into the project period. It has very similar content to Version 2 with several key improvements. First, it has further tested and refined the economic and environmental planning instrumentation in the form of online price calculators and, especially, producer decision making. These price calculators have updated instructions based on TSP user feedback.
Version 3 is complete in content. There are a few graphics changes which have been incorporated, and all are attached to the final report as “information products.”
Reading the Woods ASP Workshops will begin 18 months after the project start date and run every 2 months during the final quarter of project year 2. Workshops will initially target at least 50 ASPs on the Reading the Woods framework.
12
50
17
48
October 01, 2022
Completed
November 15, 2023
Future Generations University has hosted five of these in-depth workshops: April and September 2022, June, September, and November of 2023. In addition, we introduced an innovation – outreach training site assessments. With these assessments, we raised awareness about the importance of NTFPs among TSPs by inviting TSPs of differing types and levels of expertise to collaboratively evaluate existing forest farm demonstration sites and potential forest farm locations. For example, at one site assessment, we had an expert in maple syrup, an expert in permaculture, and an expert in understory botanicals assess the same site and learn from each other, from the farmer, and from the FGU staff member. Through these visits, an additional 7 TSPs and an additional 8 landowners have been trained so far. **Note: these numbers are a subset of Milestone 5. These TSPs received more in-depth trainings.**
A slide presentation of photographs documenting project process and progress at Laurel Fork Sap Suckers agroforestry site: Reading the Woods photos
25 ASPs are expected to complete the entire training and mentorship program.
12
25
12
24
March 31, 2023
Completed
November 16, 2023
These TSPs either visited one of our best practice sites for an in-person Reading the Woods workshop, or were part of the innovative multi-disciplinary site visits. This allowed for a more extended working relationship with the elements of the Reading the Woods method and toolkit, and allowed for what are (at time of grant close-out) ongoing, working, relationships with Future Generations Staff and/or other experts in NTFPs. **NB: this metric is a subset of milestone #8The training and mentorship program was a more intensive & extended involvement with the Reading the Woods process and toolkit.**
Project staff will mentor 25 ASPs to work with approximately three farmers each (75 total) to apply the complete Reading the Woods framework over the course of 8 months (March to November).
75
25
17
48
November 30, 2023
Completed
November 30, 2023
During the program period, we learned that different service providers encounter landowners interested in NTFPs with wild irregularity. Some of the TSPs we’ve worked with will go multiple years without encountering such a landowner, while others might encounter 3 or 4 in a month. Given this irregularity, an eight-month period is far too short to enable the full mentorship of the TSP-landowner relationship, especially since this process ought to include a check-in one year post evaluation. (This realization was part of our more aggressive landowner-outreach strategy, as described in milestones 5-7, to increase demand among landowners for the types of skills Reading the Woods can teach to TSPs.) Accordingly, although we were able to begin this process with 48 TSPs, we only completed the process with 17 landowners. We are continuing to work with these service providers throughout the entire process.
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities and events conducted by the project team:
Participants in the project’s educational activities:
Learning Outcomes
The Reading the Woods project team has presented the objectives, method, and the key components of Reading the Woods to 94 technical service providers who service woodland stewards in West Virginia. These presentations are an opportunity to educate technical service providers on the Reading the Woods approach to sustainable forest management and encourage a “shift in gaze” when assessing a forest. The project team has focused on the following key areas:
1. Sustainable forest management- a holistic approach that assesses the social, environmental, and economic characteristics of a forest
2. The history of agroforestry and the land management practice today
3. Forest farming methods
4. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and ecosystem services
5. Nature-based enterprises and the opportunity to diversify incomes for West Virginia’s woodland stewards
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
25
Service providers will fully complete the training on the "Reading the Woods" assessment and decision- making tool, and will use these tools and methods to assist woodland stewards
75
Farmers/land owners will increase their incomes and farm output through sustainable cultivation methods within existing woodlots after developing management plans with ASPs who complete site assessments and follow the decision-making system of the "Reading the Woods" tool.
48
134
in excess of 645 acres
- 22 Curricula, factsheets and other educational tools
- 1 Study circles/focus groups
The Reading the Woods project team has presented the objectives, method, and the key components of Reading the Woods toolbox to 94 technical service providers who service woodland stewards in West Virginia. Of these, 48 have used some of the tool, and the method, to serve woodland stewards in preparing for nature-based enterprises.
Performance Target Outcomes - Farmers
134 woodland stewards (landowners, lease holders, or those with informal land tenure agreements who have access to and decision- making powers over an existing forest) have begun the Reading the Woods process with technical service providers, including Future Generations University staff. These landowners have at least benefited from the use of the initial decision-making tools by TSPs, and some landowners have planted new understory botanicals, initiated new forest management plans, and begun new nature-based enterprises.
Additional Project Outcomes
ACER 2021 has developed and provided enterprise establishment modules (i.e., registration, marketing, and SWOT analysis). Our future projects (some funded by USDA and through other agencies) will include mentoring/coaching for establishing or growing NTFP based enterprises. The USDA-NAC Riparian Grant, Appalachian Regional Commission Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) planning grant, two Benedum Foundation grants–these are representative of grants pursued to build on this project.
Growing the Reading the Woods Network
Once we began this Reading the Woods project, our initial project effort was to assemble an Advisory Committee and charge it to help establish the foundation for the project. The group was selected from a group of specialists who had worked with Tom Hammett, the PI, to initiate redevelopment of non-timber forest resources and products in West Virginia and the region. The Advisory Committee was our starting point for building a base of technical service providers and resource persons, as well as a core group of landowner cooperators.
Assembling our project Advisory Committee has helped us confirm the needs for Reading the Woods. Earlier in the project we met several times with the Advisory Committee to discuss the needs for a toolbox and to identify TSPs who could use the tools to benefit landowners. The Committee has also helped us identify other specialists related to NTFPs who can assist TSPs in their work with landowners.
Although their assistance was most vital at the beginning of the project, all of the members of the Committee offered helpful feedback throughout the course of the project. Sometimes this took the form of attending workshops, online or in-person, or other Reading the Woods events and serving as a resource person for the attendees. Both during these real-time events, and in asynchronous or one-on-one conversations, many of the Committee members advised us on edits to the structure of the toolbox itself, or the details and elements of many particular tools. Finding this excellent group of experts to shephard our team, toolbox, and method through this entire grant period was a great success.
Interdisciplinary Site Assessment
At our first in-person technical service provider (TSP) training in April of 2022, we received questions from attendees about our suggested process for deploying the toolbox—whether a woodland steward self-assessment could be finalized before the technical service provider self-assessment, for example. So we decided to invite some TSPs to join us in a site visit to evaluate a woodland steward’s property and provide feedback on the toolbox. This visit turned out to be significantly productive in furthering the method through which we trained TSPs—so much so that we made it a recurring option for our training sessions.
This first visit was to a woodland steward in North Central West Virginia in June of 2022. The TSPs included a pair of foresters from Pennsylvania, an NRCS biologist from Northcentral West Virginia, an expert on understory botanical herbs from Southern West Virginia, and two members of the Reading the Woods team. The woodland steward, his questions, and his goals for the property were our guide and orientation for the assessment. Accordingly, at different times in the assessment, different answers from different TSPs would “shift the gaze” of the entire party.
This often led to robust discussions of how to integrate different non-timber forest products (and services—birdwatching and mountain biking trails were among the nature-based enterprises discussed) into the same landscape. TSPs discussed the difficulties and opportunities of this integrative approach, the strengths and weakness of individual enterprises, and came to a richer understanding of the possibilities for the nature-based enterprise opportunities of this landscape. One of the foresters joked “you guys are giving me bad habits—making me look at the understory!” Foresters often have a reputation for craning their necks upward to look at the forest canopy, while forest farmers look to the herbs underfoot. This collaborative approach to site assessment allowed each TSP to round out their expertise.
Satisfied Agricultural Educator
Although the Appalachian Program of Future Generations University often engages in specific education on the technical and practical aspects of specific nature-based enterprises, Reading the Woods, of course, is not one of these educational endeavors. Rather, it is a holistic attempt to broaden the horizon of TSPs so that they can know which types of nature-based enterprises they need to study in specific detail, or which are better suited to referrals to other TSPs or organizations. In this regard, an agricultural educator from central West Virginia who attended an in-person Reading the Woods workshop is a particularly good example of success. This educator lives in a heavily-forested county, one which is well-known for celebrating a particular understory edible. Yet he personally had next to no knowledge of non-timber forest products as a set of economic opportunities, in spite of his years of expertise with more traditional types of agriculture.
He came into the workshop hoping to learn the details of a plethora of new technical skills, of the type we teach at other events, and was a little disappointed to learn that these were not on the agenda. However, he left at the end of the day feeling ready to take on the task of integrating nature-based enterprises into his agricultural education work. In part, this was because our careful planning of the event had ensured that several of the other TSPs in the room were people he could benefit greatly from meeting and getting to know. But he also specifically cited the Reading the Woods method—looking at the environmental, economic, and social aspects of the enterprise wholistically, while staying grounded in the producer’s definition of success—as providing a helpful orientation that allowed him to independently research each of the nature-based enterprises he felt would be appropriate for his students.
Tools Created through Collaboration
The attached information products labeled 1A through 2K are the Reading the Woods toolbox items created as part of this project. Beyond the Reading the Woods toolbox, the project has developed several materials that support the increased incorporation of NTFPs in land management. We mention here now a few examples, because they are excellent success stories about collaboration leading to valuable informational materials.
It became clear that we needed an information piece that would inform quickly and succinctly the project goals and steps in the toolbox. Building and testing an infographic has shown to be a very useful handout. For instance, with it we can easily explain the project concept and activities during a short visit with a TSP or landowner. Two such infographics can be seen in the attached information product “Reading the Woods Orientation Guide,” the first on the cover, and the second as the “Flowchart” on page 4. The orientation guide will eventually be housed on our website, https://www.future.org/appalachian/program/, and can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X2B-ogu19Ek9IMDKfisLULied1cRj5kY/view?usp=share_link.
Secondly, during the project period, we have developed several case studies and videos that will contribute to the knowledge base. Four developed with other funding are linked here. In short, TSPs and landowners needed simple documentation of examples. We collaborated with the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN) on a series of case studies and scenarios written by the project director that will assist landowners and TSPs. Developing materials that describe all of the possible NTFPs is beyond the scope of this project. So, with LiKEN’s help, examples of NTFPs were selected as models for decision making and examples that a TSP would show a landowner. While some of the examples are based in Virginia, they focus on a product or opportunity that is applicable to West Virginia landowners.
Several examples of our collaboration included organizations such as Rural Action based in Eastern Ohio with TSPs working with NTFPs in western West Virginia. Working in South West West Virginia is Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD). ASD and Rural Action will, along with other partners, include the Reading The Woods toolbox in their ongoing work in the region. The project has been aiding staff at the US Forest Service, National Agroforestry Center (NAC) to develop digital tools to include in a toolbox of environmental planning and economic calculators to support comprehensive NTFP woodlot assessment and land-use planning. These spreadsheet calculators are accessible online. Some of those tools are available here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/resources/tools/index.shtml. The usefulness of these calculators inspired us to create a similar cost calculator for tubing systems in tree syrup operations: https://xylem.vercel.app/calc/tubing. TSPs we’ve worked with have found this tool useful for their work with potential syrup producers.
At the same time, Future Generations University was working with the NAC to develop a series of written primers and instructional videos on crops which can be grown in the riparian buffer zone. These tools have also been helpful for TSPs and the producers they assist. A description of the project is here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/about/projects.php#fvar. And the videos created from this collaboration can be found here: Finding Value in Appalachia's Riparian Buffers.
To sum up, any success Future Generations University has had with this Reading the Woods project, the overall method, or the toolbox in particular, has stemmed from lively, constructive conversations, partnerships, and collaboration with other organizations who do similar work reaching out to TSPs to support agroforestry in the region.
Attribution for additional project related outputs:
Several activities and information products were developed during the project period that complement meeting the project goals. The development of these outputs were not supported by SARE resources. They include fact sheets and videos developed with support from the USDA National Agroforestry Center. Some examples are provided here.
Finding Additional Farm Value: Elderberry in Appalachia
Adding Farm Value to Appalachia’s Riparian Buffers with Stinging Nettle
Adding Farm Value to Appalachia’s Riparian Buffers: Preserving Existing Sycamore Trees
Finding Additional Value in the Black Walnut Trees of Appalachia
Forging new and expanded collaborations
It may not be surprising that the project has forged new collaborations, not envisioned when the proposal was written. During the second year, we learned of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and of their service mission. We have engaged a staff member during our workshop in April 2022. This has led to NRCS personnel joining us during subsequent workshops and activities. In 2023 we conducted a workshop solely for NRCS personnel and service providers, and several more attended additional workshops. Based on the level of interest shown, we feel that the agency will continue to show interest and apply Reading the Woods tools in its programs. This seems to show a strength of our partnership-based approach to this project.
Application of methods and tools within the region
Realizing that Reading the Woods was designed to focus on West Virginia and its technical service providers, the project was often thought of as a pilot project that would lead to similar efforts in neighboring states in the region. The land and its resources, the array of non-timber forest products and the need to provide more rural-based economic development are all common throughout the region. For instance the SARE jurisdiction dividing line is along the Virginia/West Virginia border. The tools developed under this project are applicable in Virginia and other states in the region (i.e., in the Southern SARE region). This expansion seems to be a vital area of further study, both because the Appalachian region crosses into several SARE regions, and because non-Appalachian parts of the country have unique opportunities and obstacles which have yet to be considered.
Developing strategies to more fully engage TSPs
TSPs go through an educational process, and express examples they learn during the hiring process. In short, technical skills were the highest need, and “looking up” (at the timber) is a big part of their practice. Looking down, for example, and noting what is growing in the understory, is also important, and increasing this awareness is a key part of our goal in this project. Lastly, we are learning that this expanded service (i.e., to include NTFPs in forest management) should be part of customer service. If this is not the case, then landowners are dependent to learn on their own about the possibilities of incorporating NTFPs in the management of their lands. So we have learned that the overall approach we’ve taken by partnering with TSPs has been fruitful and necessary. But we believe that stronger connections with woodland stewards will help create the demand for NTFP expertise from TSPs, and hope to pursue that goal in future projects.
One of the challenges that was faced early on in the project was once we built a list of technical service providers (TSPs) and organized our information pieces, it was difficult to determine the factors that encourage TSPs to participate in such programs. And more importantly what factors would encourage TSPs to encourage landowners to start or expand nature-based enterprises. In the future organizing and hosting a focus group for a cross section of TSPs should help direct us strategies that will both encourage TSPs to become involved and increase the impacts on landowners (improved conservation, increased engagement in forming nature-based enterprises, and more diverse and sustainable land based livelihoods. We realize that strategies to engage TSPs may differ between agencies (i.e., state department of forestry) and non-profit organizations (i.e., NGOs) - those who serve landowners and will incorporate NTFPs to their menu of activities.
Establishing the toolbox and expanding its use
A framework was needed that described the process by which users will know why diversification is important, and how to assess forest lands for opportunities. Such a tool will be helpful to service providers who lack the knowledge - especially of NTFPs-to effectively serve landowners. The extraction, use and sale of NTFPs have been a huge part of the region’s culture and informal economy. But landowners overall lack knowledge of diversification options particularly on well forested farms where timber is a primary strategy. We have learned that these stakeholders needed an understanding of decision-making tools and that too often service providers give the landowners what they have, landowners need help with the decision-making process.
The process used to develop what became known as the toolbox can be applied to devise other projects, and applied as we grow the Reading The Woods effort. The start was to engage the Advisory Committee in late 2020 and early 2021 in a discussion to designate key challenges to technical service providers (previously called agricultural service providers or ASPs) and for landowners when they wished to develop nature-based enterprises. The next step was to develop an outline, and start to develop components for a manual or as it came to be a “toolbox”. An outline including the initial assessment and the broad components (TSP works with landowner to determine and meet needs) were floated for comment and input in late summer 2021. In October 2021, the first edition of the toolbox and concept for review by TSPs was ready to be presented to the Advisory Committee. Plans at that stage included the review and maintaining learning objectives, identifying participants and subject matter facilitators, recruiting landowners who would host activities, interviewing case-study woodlot families and managers, preparing farm profiles and discussion guides, design schedule, format, and facilitation strategies for workshops, and conducting pre-event farm visits. A key need was to summarize on the RTW Infographic (a one page handout) to help raise awareness about the method. With COVID still an issue we delayed till April 2022 our workshop designed to raise awareness and gain feedback on the toolbox. With the input gathered there and during subsequent activities we revised and upgraded the toolbox. The toolbox will eventually be found on our website, https://www.future.org/appalachian/program/, and can currently be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CpGXanpXVZrD3_sha8meupnX3chVUQy2?usp=share_link. In addition, many of the most important elements of the toolbox, including the Reading the Woods Orientation Guide, are attached to this final report as “information products.”
In short, Reading the Woods equipped TSPs with the skills and the knowledge to help farmers and forest landowners access opportunities for forest farming income on their lands. During this process landowners and farmers can use the tool to determine NTFP opportunities, conduct resource assessments, determine resource management plans, discover production and harvesting techniques/technologies, assess market opportunities, and develop plans for conservation and sustainable production. We see the opportunities for applying this process; it is readily adapted by other partners learning through all the resources available. It is important to note that the tool has been developed in cooperation with TSPs and farmers to ensure that it is appropriate. TSPs will gain an economic framework for combining sustainable and responsible woodlot management of tree stands with the cultivation and harvesting of native understory woodland plants known as Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).
Continuing outreach and project activities
We have been seeking ways to continue the project activities and encourage the use of materials developed by the project. The team will continue to place materials developed on their website, and we will provide links to them for the landowners and TSPs that we serve. One excellent example is our collaboration with the National Agroforestry Center (NAC) through the life of this project. We have confirmed recently that NAC will maintain the calculators, and that new information on additional NTFPs and data from other sources will be adapted and incorporated in these calculators. As discussed in our final report on Milestone #10, we learned that different service providers encounter landowners interested in NTFPs with wild irregularity. Some of the TSPs we’ve worked with will go multiple years without encountering such a landowner, while others might encounter 3 or 4 in a month. Given this irregularity, an eight-month period is far too short to enable the full mentorship of the TSP-landowner relationship, especially since this process ought to include a check-in one year post evaluation. Accordingly, although this project was successful at training TSPs, and at beginning their relationship with landowners, these relationships are ongoing and not finalized. Future Generations University is continuing to monitor these relationships, and assist in evaluation, through other finding sources.
Information Products
- How to Read the Woods (Decision-making Tool)
- Reading the Woods Training and Workbook (Workbook/Worksheet)
- Reading the Woods Toolbox (Bulletin, Decision-making Tool, Fact Sheet, Manual/Guide, Workbook/Worksheet)