EXTENSION
FORESTER RECEIVES EXCELLENCE
AWARD
BLACKSBURG,
August 6, 2002 - Dylan
Jenkins, Virginia Tech
Extension Forester and
coordinator for the Virginia
Forest Landowner Education
Program, was awarded an
Excellence Award in the
Computer Software/Website
category for his Virginia
Forest Landowner Update
Website: www.cnr.vt.edu/forestupdate
by the Southern Extension
Forestry Resources Division
of the Cooperative Extension
Service. Jenkins spearheaded
the development of the
nation's first online
course for forest landowners.
Forest landowner education
is alive and growing in
Virginia thanks to the
Virginia Forest Landowner
Education Program (VFLEP)
and cooperating state
and private natural resource
agencies. VFLEP is coordinated
by the Virginia Tech Department
of Forestry. Lead cooperating
agencies include Virginia
Cooperative Extension,
Virginia Department of
Forestry, Virginia Department
of Game and Inland Fisheries,
and Virginia's forest
industry. VFLEP has built
an award-winning landowner
education program consisting
of the Forest Landowner
Short Course Series, the
Virginia Forest Landowner
Update news/information
quarterly and website,
and a statewide Forest
Landowner Education Committee
network.
At the core of the landowner
education program is the
Forest Landowner Short
Course Series. The short
course series is offered
at 12 to 15 locations
each spring and consists
of three core courses:
Woodland Options for Landowners,
Sustainable Timber Marketing
and Harvesting, and Wildlife
Options for Landowners.
All courses emphasize
the importance of planning
and professional management
assistance and introduce
landowners to practical
forestry and wildlife
management principles
and techniques.
Expanding on the core
short course, VFLEP implemented
the nation's first online
course for forest landowners
entitled Web-Based
Woodland Options for Landowners;
65 landowners from Virginia
and surrounding states
enrolled. Results and
observations from the
online course were presented
at the 2002 Association
of Natural Resource Professionals
this summer. Responses
from course participants
indicated that this online
course is a highly effective
way to reach and teach
forest landowners about
their forest resources.
The
online course has two
tracks; a basic track
that is entirely online
and consists of text,
quizzes, and assessments;
and an advanced track
consisting of the basic
track and field exercise
designed to help landowners
self-assess their on-the-ground
forest resources. Many
of the participants took
advantage of the advance
track boundary lines,
spoke with their families
about their vision and
goals for the property,
and assessed their forest
resources using topographic
maps, aerial photographs,
and soil surveys.
The Virginia Forest
Landowner Update Website
has been completely revamped
and is a key source of
management information
for Virginia forest landowners.
The greatly expanded website
contains numerous tools
designed to guide landowners
toward education programs
and sources of professional
assistance in their local
area. New sections are
added frequently, the
most recent being "Ask
The Forester,"
where forest landowners
submit questions and receive
responses online to their
forest management questions.
Other sections include
a drop-down listing of
contact information for
all state and federal
natural resource agencies
for every county in Virginia,
as well as a listing of
Virginia's outstanding
veteran landowners who
have agreed to provide
peer-to-peer advice and
guidance on forest management
to new and inexperienced
landowners in their region.
Southern Regional Extension
Forester William Hubbard
said, "More and more
we see that forestry and
natural resources programming
is critical to the Extension
mission of our land grant
institutions." Regional
extension foresters Dan
Goerlich in Central Virginia,
Adam Downing in Northern
Virginia, and Jim Willis
in Southwest have been
instrumental in expanding
all aspects of the landowner
education program that
seeks to serve the state's
more than 400,000 private
forest landowners.
Jenkins
is currently chair of
the Virginia Society of
American Foresters, and
serves as the education
director for the New River
Land Trust. He is a Virginia
Certified Planning Commissioner
and serves on the Montgomery
County Board of Zoning
Appeals.
