Beautiful Gardens - Outreach & International Affairs - Virginia Tech

Eastern ForestsForest Landowner Education ProgramYields Better Care for Important NaturalResources BY L Y N N D A V ISAccording 0 The Wilderness Society. 60 percentofAmericanslive wilhtn a day's drive of Eastern forests. Eas ern fOI esls arelargely unpro ected and !lave little designated wilderness,increasing the importance of tralnrng forest landowners toimprove, protect, and manage their land.Virginia forests cover nearly two-thirds of the state, an extraordinaryfigure considering the overwhelming population growth insome areas.The mission of the Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program(VFLEP), coordinated by Jennifer Gagnon in Virginia Tech 's Collegeof Natural Resources, is to identify, design, and implementeducational opportunities for Virginia's more than 400,000non-industrial, private forest landowners. VFLEP does this inpartnership with the Virginia Department of Forestry, the VirginiaSustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee, theVirginia Forestry Association, the Virginia Department ofGame and Inland Fisheries, and other groups.The flagship component of the program is the Forest LandownerShort Course Series, launched in the tall of 1997. Allcourses in the series emphasize the benefits of professionalassistance, written management planning, water quality andwildlife habitat protection, and adoption of best managementpractices. The series currently consists of five courses:Woodland Options for Landowners, Sustainable TimberHarvesting and Marketing, Financial Options for Landown-OUlreacllNOW 24