Accelerating Adoption of Sustainable Practices for Small Forest Producers

Accelerating Adoption of Sustainable Practices for Small Forest Producers

Summary

In the second phase of Accelerating Adoption of Sustainable Practices for Small Forest Producers, NNRG focused efforts on connecting forest producers to resources to help with management decision making. NNRG incorporated feedback from producer interviews and impressions of Forest Planner to refine curriculum and trainings. In 2015 and 2016, NNRG hosted two workshops for forest owners reaching 36 producers, and held one training attended by 20 natural resource professionals. NNRG conducted more than 15 one-on-one field visits with producers managing more than 1,075 acres of forestland.

In 2016, NNRG worked directly with four producers to evaluate and help complete thinning projects across 50 acres. These projects generated more than $184,000 for the regional economy and contributed to more than 25 weeks of contractor activity for three operators. NNRG continues to work with two producers from the first phase of this project on options to implement ecological thinning harvests.

NNRG distributed examples of producers’ management experiences and goals through mailings and social media to more than 2,700 people in our network. NNRG continued to work on the case studies and gather feedback from specific producers to prepare the reports for distribution.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The focus in the second phase of this project was to disseminate information to forest producers and natural resource professionals about decision making tools to encourage active forest management through trainings and one-on-one field visits.

NNRG hosted two workshops for forest owners reaching 36 producers, and held one training attended by 20 natural resource professionals; overall, reaching 56 producers and professionals. NNRG conducted more than 15 one-on-one field visits with producers managing more than 1,075 acres.

To date, NNRG has completed 28 of the intended site visits for producers managing more than 3,053 acres of forestland. Four producers working with NNRG conducted ecological thinning projects on more than 50 acres, and two other producers, with more than 50 acres to treat, are in the process of developing operations plans to commercially thin their stands and improve overall forest health.

Accomplishments/Milestones

The goal of the project is to empower forest producers to switch from non-management to active ecological management and remove barriers to forest management by giving producers and professionals better information about expected long-term outcomes. Results from the 2015 interviews with producers, suggest forest owners make decisions to actively manage their forests based primarily on their understanding of their forest’s health and their income needs.

The two workshops for forest producers, entitled Taking Stock of Your Forest, focused on helping landowners understand their forest’s health needs based on their management objectives. The classes were taught in the spring of 2015 and 2016. The curriculum introduced producers to several evaluation methods to apply to their forest and included Forest Planner as a resource. Instructors focused on giving producers’ guidance to assess the attributes and health of their forest and groups practiced the assessment techniques during a field component of the class. Instructors encouraged landowners with questions about active management practices to seek additional consultation from local, state, extension, or professional managers.

NNRG exceeded the goal of training 30 producers, by teaching 36 producers through these two workshops. Interaction with these producers and workshop feedback suggest that the Taking Stock of Your Forest trainings helped producers, particularly new producers, understand circumstances where passive ownership can interfere with their goals and where active management contributes to their objectives. NNRG continued to teach producers about the decision making tools to evaluate their forests, and encourage active management practices specific to producers’ forests during one-on-one site visits and other outreach opportunities.

NNRG hosted a training on ecological forestry options for natural resource professionals in the spring of 2015. NNRG provided professional stewards and resource managers with case study examples of commercial thinning projects that met ecological objectives to increase structural complexity, allow for increased species diversity, as well as yield income for the land managers and operators conducting the thinning. Specific examples of the treatment prescriptions, net income, and before and after images were especially informative for these managers. NNRG doubled our goal of training 10 natural resource professionals, by teaching 20 stewards and resource managers.

In response to requests from workshop participants, social media, and other outreach, NNRG conducted 15 field visits to help producers understand assessment tools and evaluate their forests. Many of these landowners are now developing forest management plans, considering their harvest options, and/or are taking steps to improve forest productivity through such practices as pre-commercial thinning and interplanting poorly stocked stands.

To date, NNRG trainings and promotion of Forest Planner have been the single-largest direct source of referrals for the program. Ecotrust’s workshops and promotion of Forest Planner have contributed to the tool having more than 600 registered users and an average of 100 uses per month.

In 2016, NNRG worked directly with four producers to evaluate and help complete thinning projects across 50 acres. Projects generated more than $184,000 for the regional economy and contributed to more than 25 weeks of employment for approximately three contractors. NNRG continues to work with two producers from the first phase of this project on options to implement ecological thinning harvests. Two other producers involved with the first phase of this project (from the producer interviews) have more than 50 acres to treat, and are in the process of developing operations plans to harvest timber and improve their forests’ overall structure and resiliency.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The next steps for this project include finalizing the case studies and distributing the results to producers directly as well as widely through social media, partner organizations’ networks, and outreach events. In the winter and spring of 2017, NNRG will complete five site visits to producers and continue to help two producers begin to implement ecological thinning projects.

Collaborators: