Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio woodland owners have the opportunity to tap into the expertise of three major land-grant universities during the Ohio River Valley Woodlands and Wildlife Workshop.

The annual event is March 15, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Campbell County Cooperative Extension office in Highland Heights, Ky. It is open to all woodland owners who own land or live in the participating states.

Workshop sessions will be led by professionals from the University of Kentucky and Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service Departments of Forestry and The Ohio State University Extension School of Environment and Natural Resources.

“The idea is to consolidate our resources. We wanted to find the best people that we could to provide information to woodland owners from three different states,” said Doug McLaren, UK forestry extension specialist. “We hope participants will gain information out of this about how to better manage their timber property now, so they can get it to grow bigger and better – quality and quantity -- for the future.”

Concurrent workshop sessions will cover such topics as selling timber, a woodland management introduction, crop tree release, starting a new forest and evaluating woodlands to acquire useful management information.

McLaren said there also would be sessions focusing on other forest products, as well as wildlife management. Topics include how to manage forest wildlife, identification and prevention of wildlife damage, identification and habitats of birds, managing white-tailed deer, transforming the “biological desert” into a wildlife oasis, sustainability certification and carbon markets, estate planning, forest health, native plants and the threat to woodlands by non-native invasive plants.

“This is going to be a place where woodland owners can find a resource person to help them with their concerns,” McLaren said. “It may be that we don’t address their questions in one of the sessions, but participants will have the opportunity to speak with professionals who can

either give them immediate answers or point them in the direction where they can find answers to their concerns.”

Through March 1, the registration cost for the workshop is $20, which includes lunch. After that date, registration is $25. Additional workshop information, including a registration form, can be found by clicking on the New Information icon at http://www.ukforestry.org

or by calling 859-257-7597.