2015 Private Forest Landowner Conference

2015 Private Forest Landowner Conference Announced March 20-21, 2015 at Blair County Convention Center Media Contact – Allyson Muth – abm173@psu.edu Altoona, PA: Mark your calendars for the 2nd Private Forest Landowners Conference: The Future of Penn’s Woods, March 20-21, 2015 at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, PA. Hosted by The Center for Private Forests at Penn State and its partners the conference focuses on helping private woodland owners understand how to steward their lands for a mix of values and needs. Pennsylvania has almost 750,000 woodland landowners making decisions on 11.5 million acres of forestland, or 70% of the nearly 17 million acres of forestland in our state. Many of these owners (approx. 500,000) hold 10 acres or less (the average is about 3 acres), but big or small, the decisions all private woodland owners make about their forests affect the well-being of our state’s namesake – Penn’s woods. From suburban backyard habitat to large properties with a focus on hunting or income, woodland owners want to do well by their land. Opportunities to learn more and understanding options and possibilities help ensure that good decisions that demonstrate care for the land are made. Whether your woodlot is one acre or several thousand, we hope you will join us for this day and a half conference where you can learn about your property and how it contributes to habitat, water quality, and woodland diversity. Your land and everyone else’s is part of a larger landscape where we connect with each other and together we care for Penn’s Woods. The conference will include optional field tours, keynote addresses from nationally-renowned speakers, an optional keynote banquet, and myriad opportunities to learn more about the values you hold for your woods and the goals you’ve set for your property. Importantly, you will have opportunities to meet new and old friends who share your passion for woodland values. If you are a woodlot owner in Pennsylvania or beyond and want to learn more about your woods, visit http://ecosystems.psu.edu/private-forest-conference/ or call 1-800-235-9473 (ask for Allyson) to learn more.