3-16-10 update

1. Our first course--A Local Natural History and Basic Forest Ecology--will be offered on Wednesday, March 31st from 6:30pm until 8:30pm at the Matthews State Forest Office in Galax, VA. My apologies to those of you who had difficulty returning to the site after I revised the dates offered in the poll--in the future, I will start from scratch if other dates need to be added / removed. Doug Ogle will be joining us as a guest lecturer for this program. Doug is a retired biology professor from the Virginia Community College System, an avid naturalist, and a great teller of stories--some of them are even true!

On the evening of March 31st, a light home-made meal of soup and sandwiches will be served-(the DOF project leaders double as cooks). Small donations to help cover the costs of the ingredients will not be refused.

2. This Saturday, March 20th, the 3rd annual "Go Green" Day will be held at the Matthews State Forest in Galax, VA. A flier is attached that describes some of this Saturday's events. Tree seedlings will be given to landowners in small quantities on a "first come, first served" basis.

3. The Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program is offering an online woodland options course. If you're interested in learning more about managing your forest--this is a convenient and low-cost (only $25) option for learning at your own pace. A brochure is attached that describes this online opportunity.

4. For those who have already completed their forest stewardship plans, be thinking of the 3 specific projects you would like to accomplish in the next 3 years...and be ready to talk about these projects at our next "full" meeting in late June.

Thanks, and I look forward to the next time I see all of you--hopefully I will see many of you on Wednesday, March 31st.

3-4-10 update

1. A DOF Project leader has been assigned to each participant. An attached list shows which DOF forester will be working with you as your primary point of contact during the extreme forest makeover program. For those who are working with private consulting foresters, your assigned DOF forester will serve as a backup resource, or if you have questions about this forest makeover program. Please know that these "assignments" have been made to help us serve you better, and that you will have plenty of opportunities to interact with all of the DOF Project leaders throughout this program.

Between now and the end of March, the DOF foresters will be in contact with those forest makeover participants who need to develop and/or revise their forest stewardship plans.

2. The first course--A Local Natural History and Basic Forest Ecology--will be offered in late March (not mid-March as advertised previously). MORE DATES HAVE BEEN ADDED! Please visit the doodle website to revise your vote or vote for the first time: https://mail.virginia.gov/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.doodle.com/det7s6zpdugfrfid

Doug Ogle will be joining us as a guest lecturer for this program. For those of you who have heard Doug speak before, you'll know that this is a rare treat. For those of you who have not, please take my word for it...you'll be glad you came. (Will someone please remind me to tell the story about the first time I heard Doug speak?)

3. For those who have already completed their forest stewardship plans, be thinking of the 3 specific projects you would like to accomplish in the next 3 years.

Thanks, and I look forward to the next time I see all of you!