Forest Stewardship Programs and Services
We offer a variety of programs and services throughout the year for both youth and adults, including shortcourses, individual workshops, field days, and site visits.
Forest Stewardship Coached Planning
 Participants meet for 9 weeks with other landowners and natural resource professionals to learn about a variety of stewardship topics. |
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| The Coached Planning shortcourse, offered in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources, is the "flagship" of the forest stewardship program.This popular, practical, hands-on shortcourse program began in southwest Washington in 1992. Since then, thousands of forest landowners across the state have learned about being stewards of their forestland and have prepared their own personalized forest stewardship plan with guidance and "coaching" from natural resource professionals. The Coached Planning program is designed to help forest landowners develop customized management solutions to meet their own unique ownership objectives. Whether you own 5, 50, or 500 acres of forest, if you want to expand your knowledge, tools, and confidence for managing your forestland, this course is for you. |
 Upon successful completion of a forest stewardship plan, participants receive a sign to display their commitment to forest stewardship. In addition to evening class sessions, a Saturday field day allows for hands-on learning of key topics. |
| Coached planning shortcourses are offered at different times of the year at different locations around Snohomish and Skagit County. For information on the next schedule class, please visit our Events Page. The statewide coached planning schedule is also available, as is more information about this program at the state level. Also, in early 2008 there were two great articles about the Coached Planning program in the Everett Herald and the Sedro Woolley Courier Times. | |
Family Forest Field Days
 Forest Owner field days provide an "in the woods" learning experience with a variety of topics. |
Statewide Family Forest Owner Field Days are offered each summer both east and west of the Cascades. These field days offer a hands-on, "in-the-woods" educational experience for the whole family. Topic stations include forest health, thinning, pruning, riparian management, wildlife habitat, and more. Locations vary from year to year, so chances are there will be one near you soon. Check for announcements of scheduled field days on the Events Page. You can also browse scheduled events on our Statewide Forest Stewardship Calendar. |
Site Visits
| If you have forestland in Snohomish or Skagit County, WSU Extension offers free site visits to answer your questions and provide advice. If you are interested in scheduling a site visit or would like more information, please contact me. If your forestland is in another county, you may be able to arrange a site visit through the DNR or your Local WSU Extension Forester. See the Contacts Page for more information. |  WSU and DNR Stewardship Foresters provide forest landowners with free on-site consultations and technical advice. |
Workshops
| Throughout the year we offer workshops on a variety of topics from estate planning to native plant ID. See the Events Page for a list of any currently scheduled workshops. Also consider signing up to receive our Electronic Newsletter to get up-to-date announcements of workshops and other events of interest forest owners in Northwest Washington. |  Classroom workshops are offered on a variety of forestry topics. |
Youth Programs
 There are opportunities for students and other youth to learn about forest stewardship. |
In addition to our adult education offerings, the Forest Stewardship Program also works in partnership with the Snohomish County 4-H Natural Resources Program to provide youth education opportunities, including in-school programs, after school programs, field days, and more. Fore more information visit 4-H Natural Resources. |
Announcements
8/19/2008 – The fall advanced coached planning class is full. The waiting list for the overflow spring class is now also full. We WILL continue to offer this class annually, though! To get the first announcements of these class offerings, make sure you are subscribed to our e-newsletter.
8/4/2008 – Registration is open for the 2008 Fall Education Series. Details and Registration Information.
7/17/2008 – Registration is open for the winter 2009 coached planning class. Details and Registration Information.
5/30/2008 – The Forest Stewardship web page has a new look! Some of the pages are still under construction but we are adding content regularly. We hope you enjoy the new look.
5/26/2008 – The results of the Forest Landowner Survey have been presented. See the Streaming Video of this presentation from March 31, 2008.
3/25/2008 – The Forest Stewardship Class has been featured in the local news. Our thanks to the Everett Herald and the Sedro Woolley Courier Times (with a reprint in the Argus as well) for their excellent coverage of the Silvana and Sedro Woolley classes, respectively.