New landowner curriculum is ready

Richard Harris, Extension Forestor

For more than a year we here at Extension Forestry have been developing a comprehensive curriculum on forest ecology and management. The target user for this curriculum is the non-industrial forest landowner-people who own parcels of forest land but who are not in the commerical timber production business for a livelihood.

The topics covered in the curriculum are organized around the themes of "who, where, what, when, how, why, and how much" and cover virtually all aspects of land ownership and management ranging from mapping through taxation and investment analysis. We have used both existing sources and prepared totally new documentation to round out the information base.

Last summer we used some of the materials at a three-day workshop for landowners held in Redding. The exposure was very valuable and taught us some lessons on how to make the presentation better. Research sponsored by the Forest Stewardship Program on landowner learning has also been useful. We are now on the brink of completing the project. I want to tell you a little about how it works and let you know how you can get involved.

There are literally hundreds of publications, videotapes, slide tapes, and web sites that deal with topics of interest to the forest landowner. Some of these get used extensively and some are either little used or relatively inaccessible. Our intent was to develop an accessible information base that would be used. Therefore, we decided to tie the information together with a framework that helps a landowner prepare a forest stewardship plan. Forest stewardship plans are extremely useful for documentation and as a tool for preparing cost-share assistance grant requests and timber harvesting plans.

It works in the following way. A landowner accesses the system through a personal computer. Upon entering the system, the landowner is faced with questions regarding the property. For example, who owns it? in what manner is the ownership held? where is the property located? what natural resources are found on the property? Questions range from very simple and readily answered to relatively complex requiring research or data collection on the part of the landowner.

Each group of questions is linked to a glossary that defines terms and to text that describes how to obtain the information necessary to answer the question. Over a period of time-which will vary with the landowner, level of expertise, and the property in question-the user will gradually accumulate all of the information needed for a forest stewardship plan. The plan will describe resources, landowner goals and objectives and predicted outcomes from management activities. This can then be used to schedule activities on the ground, seek cost-sharing assistance from government agencies and as a baseline for monitoring.

The entire system will be available on one CD ROM disk. In order to use the system most efficiently, it is necessary to have access to a Macintosh or a PC with Windows 95 and ClarisWorks 5.0. A limited demonstration version of ClarisWorks is provided on the CD but, if you want all its features, you will need to buy the program. It is possible to use the system manually however, with hard copies of the plan template, glossary, and content. We will be providing 500 copies of the CD ROM to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in March for distribution.

We will be using the system as a basis for landowner forest stewardship workshops next summer and in coming years. Upcoming workshops will be held late summer in Plumas/Sierra and Humboldt Counties. These workshops will use the computer model to prepare a plan and will include classroom and field instruction over a period of three weekends. For Plumas/Sierra County resident landowners the contact person is Mike De Lasaux at (530) 283-6125. Humboldt County landowners should call (707) 445-7351. We will let you know about future workshops in other places.

Call the Stewardship Helpline, 1-800-738-TREE, to get a free copy of the Landowner Curriculum CD-ROM or find it on the internet at http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/departments/espm/extension/ABOUT.HTM.