Improving Forest Health

Join the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Women and Their Woods graduates and guests, and Northern Tier Hardwoods Association in Lake Ariel, PA as we learn Chainsaw Safety with a Game of Logging instructor and invasive species management techniques with a landowner. Bring a camp/folding chair, a lunch, dress for the weather, and bring a gas-powered chainsaw if you have one.

Spend a weekend connecting with other women landowners, learning woods skills taught by women for women, and enjoying leisure activities in Western Montana’s historic Nine Mile Valley!

APRIL 26-28, 2019
Begins at 5:30pm on Friday the 26th and concludes at 3pm on Sunday the 28th

Learn how to:

Join us for an action-packed day at Pine Tree Camp in Rome, Maine for a full program of engaging, hands-on classes for women woodland owners and outdoor enthusiasts!

Life + LAND is a blog all about helping ladies get a hand on their land. It features articles, landowner tid-bits, women spotlights, and other resources. This blog was created by forester Danielle Atkins, co-founder of the Georgia Forestry Commission's Ladies for their Land program.

Are you interested in learning about Forestry Projects, Management Plans, and Legacy Planning?

An unwelcome present arrived under some Oregonian Christmas trees.

The Oregon Department of Forestry discovered that Christmas trees shipped to big box stores such as Walmart were infected by the elongate hemlock scale. This pest feeds on the underside of needles and leaves behind a waxy residue that diminishes the tree's health. If the scale spreads into the natural forest, it could have a devastating impact on fir, spruce, and iconic Douglas fir trees. 

This past September marked the 5th Women and Their Woods Educational Retreat hosted by the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. The event this year was held at the Highlights Family Foundation's Workshop Facility in scenic Wayne County, PA.

brought to you by the Virginia Forestry Association!

One of the first retreats was attended by a woman named Norma Dale Smith. Norma had had close ties to family land since she was a little girl, and now her grandchildren were getting involved. Inspired from the retreat, Norma gathered all her stories from the land, put them into book form, and published the book to give to her children and grandchildren. Even while she was learning more about managing the land, Norma was also continuing to forge a connection to the land for herself and her family. Norma’s books have been printed and shared with participants at the WOW workshops.

Ponderosa pine forests of the Southwest are home to the native bark beetle. However, human influence, denser forests, and increased temperatures and drought events have led to recent bark beetle outbreaks that threaten the health of ponderosa stands. Where dead trees stand, fire can move as much as three times more rapidly, creating dangerous conditions for firefighters and residents. Restoration treatments can be used to help restore the balance needed in ponderosa pine ecosystems.

What do all these insects have in common? They were all brought to North America from Asia or Europe. These exotic insects have caused havoc in our forests because the trees they attack have developed little resistance to them. Our forests are filled with native insects that attack and sometimes kill trees, but because these insects evolved along with their hosts, they don’t cause complete mortality that non-native species can.

Do you or your family own a woodland? Are you curious about what birds are singing in your woods or how to enhance habitat for these fine feathered friends? Join fellow women woodland owners, Vermont Land Trust (VLT) forester Caitlin Cusack, Lisa Sausville with VT Coverts and Barry King, teacher and naturalist, for a bird walk at the VLT-owned Hill-Robert property in Starksboro.