Forest Service-funded Connecticut landowner training project earns national recognition
CONNECTICUT—Two national organizations recently recognized an innovative Forest Service-funded woodland owner training program in Connecticut.
The National Woodland Owners Association and the National Association of University Forest Resources Programs presented the Family Forests Education Award to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and partner organizations for their Master Woodland Manager Program.
The association and partners received the award for their outstanding efforts in developing an individual educational program to improve management of family-owned forests.
The training program was developed to improve communications and connections with woodland owners and land managers, to increase their knowledge about forest management and, ultimately, to improve woodland conditions in the state.
Connecticut Forest and Park Association launched its highly successful Master Woodland Manager training program providing continuous learning opportunities for landowners using a $216,025 USDA Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration grant running from 2019 to 2022.
That funding helped the association establish a plan, create a website and other marketing materials, develop a course curriculum, and conduct training for program participants in Connecticut.
Beth Bernard, CFPA’s education director, expressed her excitement in receiving the national award. “CFPA is grateful to our program partners and the Forest Service for helping to make this program a reality. Our program participants are engaged and motivated to care for Connecticut’s forests, for now and the future. We’re looking forward to continuing this program for many years to come.”
The Master Woodland Manager training program course topics include forest ecology, wildlife ecology, forests and climate change, forest management practice, Connecticut’s forests, resources for woodland managers, and forest health.
Course organizers and partners used web-based and email marketing strategies along with social media and local news outlets to get the word out to woodland owners and land managers in Connecticut.
“It’s gratifying to learn of this national recognition from the National Woodland Owners Association. There are now 70 well-trained forest landowners in Connecticut who will manage their woodlot more sustainably and share their knowledge with neighbors,” said Karl Honkonen, the Forest Service Eastern Region grant monitor for the project.
The program, now in its third year, has 51 people enrolled. Connecticut Forest and Park Association received a second Landscape Scale Restoration grant from the Forest Service for $245,464 for this project for the years 2023 through 2026.
Other partners in the project include University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Audubon Connecticut, Yale University and the Connecticut Land Conservation Council.
The award was presented in October 2023 to Beth Bernard and program partner Thomas Worthley, Assistant Extension Professor of Forestry at the University of Connecticut Extension.