Master Tree Farmer I

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Credits and Introduction

Part 1. Forestry Terms and Concepts 

Tree properties, tree parts, tree growth, forest properties, forest layers, foresters, measurement:

Log rules, pricing, board cuts, volume, weight, site index:

Basal area, base age:

Basal area, site index, wood products, merchantability, tree sizes:

Tree growth patterns, biological potential, stages of stand development:

Crown classes, crown/stem ratio, ecological terms, prescribed burning, management plans:

Harvesting and regeneration systems, single tree selection, group selection, patchcut, shelterwood, seed tree, clearcutting:

Thinning:

Low thinning, selection thinning, crown thinning, mechanical thinning:

Management scenarios:

Part 2. Forestry as an Investment, Timber Taxation, and Estate Planning

Forestry as an investment: values, public and private goods, investment analysis, time value of money and compounding review, profitability, net present value, equivalent annual income, benefit/cost ratio, rate of return, tools, risk, sensitivity analysis, other investments:

Timber taxation: new tax bill, categories of ownership, record keeping, timber sales income, reforestation:

Estate planning: wills, insurance, trusts, estate taxes:

Part 3. Pine Management

Pine management overview: major southern pines, species selection, regeneration methods, thinning:

Uneven aged management, natural regeneration, commercial thinnings, prescribed burning, pest and disease management, overall management:

Intensive pine management: growth and yield, productivity potential, modification of site resources, genetic improvement:

Intensive pine management: early rotation, mid-rotation, herbicides, fertilization:

Part 4. Hardwood Management

Forest uses, forest structure, complexities, stand quality, high-grading, growth rates:

Hardwood timber products, grades, veneer, high-value tree production, straightness, bark pattern clarity, solidness, size, species, density, shade tolerance:

Stand evaluation, intermediate operations, thinning:

Natural regeneration of hardwood forests, expected post harvest production, regeneration potential, site preparation, herbicide application methods, commercial clearcuts, oak midstory removal treatment, group selection, shelterwood cuts:

Artificial regeneration/planting: spacing, site preparation, reasons, guidelines, reccomendations, species mixing; bottomland hardwoods: flooding, site-species relationships, fronts, flats, ridges:

Part 5. Harvesting and Marketing

Timber harvesting: sale participants, factors that affect logging, logging phases, feller bunchers, skidders, loaders, transportation, thinning pine, whole tree chippers, general logging constraints, sorting by products, cut-to-length systems, logging hardwoods, water quality:

Marketing: timberland revenues, management planning, market and product options, prices and trends, product price comparison, timber market description, stumpage prices:

Timber sale methods: sealed bid sales, negotiated sales, lump sum payments, pay-as-cut payments, single advance payments; contracts; marketing guidelines; leases; other forest products; pine straw management:

Timber security: tresspassing, timber theft, timber sale security, wildfire, controlled substances, environmental and ecological vandalism/terrorism, dumping:

Part 6. Wildlife Management

Approaches to wildlife management, what forests provide for wildlife, arrangement of habitat components, forest landscape fragmentation, habitat features, forest harvest and regeneration, site preparation with regard to wildlife, intermediate stand practices, improvements for wildlife:

Providing for wildlife on ag lands: hedgerows, field border strips, tillage practices, herbicides, marginal crop land, crop rotation and field management; wildlife considerations: white-tail deer, wild turkey, bob-white quail, squirrel, mourning dove, waterfowl; endangered species; wetland conservation; beaver ponds:

Recreational access and liability, landowner assistance programs for wildlife management, agencies that offer wildlife management assistance, cost-sharing and other assistance programs, Sustainable Forestry Initiative:

Part 7. Forestry Services

Consulting foresters: services, cost, selection; Association of Consulting Foresters:

Forest industry landowner assistance programs: background and history, components, benefits, services; forest management plan components:

Associations: local landowner associations, state forestry associations, Tree Farm System, Forest Landowners Association:

Tree Farm System:

State forestry agencies programs and services: forest management, water quality protection, resource information, missions, facts, focus:

Wildlife agencies: contacting, services, landowner responsibility; divisions: game management, fisheries management, nongame management:

Federal agencies: USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, USDA Forest Service, USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service; federal programs:

Federal and state forestry extension programs: history, mission, objectives, entities, web sites, research and demonstration, adult education, youth education: