Oklahoma Master Woodland Owner Program

View the project final report

• 2001 annual report

Commodities

• Additional Plants: trees, ornamentals
• Animals: fish

Practices

• Crop Production: agroforestry, forestry, nutrient cycling
• Production Systems: holistic management

Oklahoma’s Master Woodland Owner program is a “train-the-trainers” program designed to address NIPF issues by producing knowledgeable forest landowner volunteers to help deliver programs promoting sustainable forest management. Initial training began in April 1999, and was completed in June 2000. Training sessions included basic forest ecology, forest health, best management practices, pine and hardwood management, taxation and estate planning. Graduates report over 1000 volunteer hours since graduation, with practices adopted on an estimated 2900 acres. Plans for the future include developing demonstration areas featuring different aspects of good forest management, including low-input uneven age management and best management practices.

Program objectives were, first, to identify, through a nomination and screening process a cadre of opinion leading non-industrial private forestland (NIPF) owners who were willing to attend 10 educational sessions on advanced forest management at no cost, in exchange for agreeing to spend an equivalent amount of time (about 100 hours) in forestry and wildlife management diffusion activities in their communities. Also, county extension educators with an interest in forestry and/or wildlife management were invited to enroll.
Creation of an array of scientifically based forest management demonstration sites on NIPF lands throughout eastern Oklahoma by participating NIPF owners is also an objective. Such sites can then be used by professional foresters, extension educators and opinion-leading landowners as outdoor instructional sites for other NIPF owners, youth, and the general public. We expect that each individual will, at a minimum, perform in-kind outreach activities (tv/radio appearances, article writing, assuming community leadership positions on local boards, creating demonstration sites and holding demonstration field days) equivalent to the number of hours (100) that person spent in the Master Woodland Owner (MWO) training program. Monitoring of forest management practices adopted, diffusion activities and time spent in such activities, number of people impacted, and acres impacted will be continued beyond the completion of SARE funding.