UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A special educational event for the owners of woodlots large and small will be offered by Penn State Extension on Friday and Saturday, March 20-21.
Sponsored by Penn State's Center for Private Forests and its partners, the Private Forest Landowners Conference will be held in the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona. Bringing together landowners from across Pennsylvania and neighboring states, participants will learn about how to enjoy and care for forests and the creatures and plants that inhabit them.
Anyone who enjoys wandering in the woods will find something of interest in the many field tours, workshops and keynote speeches offered at the conference, according to the director of the Center for Private Forests, James Finley, Joseph E. Ibberson Chair in Forest Resources Management in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
"If you'd like to learn how to tend and enjoy your 5-acre woodlot or 200-acre forestland or simply would like to walk the trails of our many state forests with a more observant eye, consider signing up for this informative conference," Finley said.
Friday morning field sessions will include guided tours of urban and rural forests and hunting-club properties. Participants also can visit a local paper mill, a wind-energy farm or a sawmill. Another field tour will offer guidance on enhancing bird and bat habitat.
Friday afternoon and Saturday classroom sessions will cover a range of topics that will be informative for anyone who owns or enjoys the woods. The sessions will provide advice on caring for your forest, creating backyard habitat, managing trout streams, and native and invasive plants, among other topics.
The full workshop schedule is available at the conference website.
Luncheon and dinner sessions will provide an opportunity to hear from acclaimed speakers, including Finley; Chuck Fergus, a prolific author of both fiction and nonfiction who is representing the Wildlife Management Institute; and Richard Alley, the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences and an associate of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, who is a nationally recognized author, scientist and speaker on the topic of earth sciences.
Register for the conference online or by calling toll-free 877-778-2937 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). The online registration option closes March 12. Both one-day ($50-$75) and two-day ($100) registrations are available. Friday morning field tours are available for a $35 fee on a first-come, first-served basis.
Preregistration is required for all conference activities. Hotel information is available at the conference website. Exhibit and sponsorship opportunities are still available.