Webinar Schedule and Participants' Guide
Webinar Dates
Live instruction for 2024 has concluded. You are welcome to complete this course on a self-paced schedule and join our next live session in Fall 2025. All webinars are recorded and posted here in your online classroom to watch anytime. Once enrolled in this course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely and may return to participate in future live offerings of the course as well. Please join us!
To access the webinars during our next live session, you will simply need to click on the webinar join link that is posted in the Weekly Resources section of this course. This link only works on the appointed day and time for the webinar, so while you can try clicking it sooner, it won't open the webinar meeting for you.
You may also join our webinars from a mobile device by installing the official Zoom app from your preferred app store. Then, when it's time for a webinar, simply open your Zoom app and enter the 9-digit meeting ID that will be posted along with the webinar link.
Weekly Topics
Week 1: Overview & Tree Identification
Topics covered: Course overview, expectations, why and how to identify trees, best recognizable features of 10 common northeastern trees, and resources on how to learn more trees.
In week 1, student can access the Zoom webinar space 10 minutes prior to each class to test their audio. Students can pre-test their computer audio in their control panel to determine if their microphone and speakers are active. The instructor is unable to give much assistance with your computer hardware.
Week 2: Forest Ecology
Topics covered: How soils, land history, and other factors influence what types of trees grow in what locations; how to select trees for a point sample
Week 3: Thinning your woodlot
Topics covered: Defining good versus bad trees, how many trees should you have in the woods, estimating the volume and value of a tree, exploitive cutting, different strategies to select trees to retain or cut, chainsaw safety
Week 4: Maple Production & Mushroom Production
Topics covered: Different strategies to obtain sap, the basics of how sap is made into syrup, what equipment and resources are necessary for syrup production. Also, the opportunities and options for production and sale of gourmet mushrooms.
Week 5: Silvopasture and Firewood
Topics covered: Defining what is involved in silvopasture (woodland grazing) and the types of farms that should consider silvopature. Firewood production may be a retail opportunity, or a way to offset on-farm costs for energy.
Week 6: Ownership Objectives and People Who Can Help
Topics include: Identifying how your woods can help your financial interests, people who can help and what they can do, resources to help you plan for the future.