Forestry workshop to focus on forest management’s effects on water quality
Fast Facts:
- April 16 Forestry workshop to focus on water quality
- Registration deadline is April 10
- Includes tour of area surrounding Southwest Research and Extension Center
- For info/registration: Jon Barry at 870-777-9702, ext. 112, jbarry@uada.edu
(355 words)
LITTLE ROCK — Forest land owners will have the opportunity to learn how forest management practices can affect water quality in their area at the 2015 Forestry Workshop and Field Day.
The daylong event, hosted April 16 by the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope, opens at 8:30 a.m. and runs through 3 p.m. The cost is $10, which includes lunch and program handouts, for participants who register by April 10. After the deadline, the cost is $15 at the door, and does not include lunch. Attendance is capped at 50.
Assistant Professor of Forestry Jon Barry, an extension forester with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture in Hope, said each year’s forestry workshop focuses on a different aspect of forest management. Past workshops have focused on forest diseases in both wildland and urban forests, and how to both thin and regenerate pine stands.
Barry said this year’s theme — forest management practices and their effects on water quality — is crucially important for residents throughout the state.
“We all use water around here,” Barry said. “A lot of people get their water from wells, but plenty of folks depend on reservoirs, and a lot of folks like to fish. How folks approach the management of forests on their land can affect all of these things.”
He said that one aspect he planned to focus on was the appropriate approach to streamside management zones, which are zones of forest around lakes or other bodies of water.
“Some people think of them as ‘exclusion zones,’ that you’re not allowed to touch them,” Barry said. “But you still need to manage those areas — not always the way the rest of the forest is managed, but still managed.”
The morning portion of the workshop will feature presentations from several experts representing the Cooperative Extension Service, the Arkansas Forestry Commission and the Arkansas Forest Resources Center. After a field tour and lunch, attendees will hear from Barry and George Rheinhardt, the Natural Resources Conservation Service State Forester for Arkansas.
Those interested in attending should contact Barry at 870-777-9702, ext. 112, or at jbarry@uada.edu for further information or to register.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate or need materials in another format, please contact your County Extension office (or other appropriate office) as soon as possible. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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By Ryan McGeeney
The Cooperative Extension Service
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Dir. of Communication Services
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
mhightower@uada.edu
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