UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Pennsylvania certified foresters looking for ways to earn continuing education credits can take advantage of the wide variety of options provided by Penn State Extension.
To maintain certification from the Society of American Foresters, foresters must complete 60 continuing forestry education credit hours within a three-year period.
With 34 webinars, an online course, and an upcoming workshop series offering opportunities for continuing forestry education credits, Penn State Extension covers a lot of ground in the forestry field, according to extension experts.
Scott Weikert, forest resources extension educator, noted that Extension’s history of offering online continuing forestry education dates back to 2010.
“We were one of the first organizations to offer webinars with credits,” he said. “Not only do we utilize experts at Penn State, but we have contacts with other researchers and agencies, such as the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Forest Service, and host expert presenters on various topics.”
Topics for webinars, workshops and courses are based on a mix of clientele feedback, the current “hot” topics in the field and cutting-edge research from Penn State.
“The monthly webinar series that we’ve been running for 13 years is geared primarily toward private forest landowners, but the topics also are pertinent for professional foresters,” Weikert said.
To shape the content of webinars, organizers listen to feedback from participants about what they want to learn about.
Extension also dives into timely issues and weaves in research from Penn State experts, covering topics such as carbon sequestration and chronic wasting disease in deer.
For example, an upcoming webinar will present research findings on hunters’ perceptions of chronic wasting disease. The session will explore how hunters may alter their behavior because of the disease and hunter preferences regarding sustainable deer management.
In the ecosystem research webinar series, graduate students in Penn State’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management discuss their research and how it can help foresters in their lives and work. Topics range from soil and nutrient management to mapping with drones to bedrock and climate change.
The forest farming webinar series explores the production of nontimber forest products, digging into edible and medicinal crops produced for personal use and income, such as goldenseal, American ginseng and morel mushrooms.
An online course, “Forest Taxation: Forest Finance and Timber Tax Education,” is aimed at helping tax professionals and forest landowners save money on taxes.
Offering multiple modes of education allows participants to choose what works best for them to obtain the credits they need, Weikert pointed out. “The webinars certainly add that layer of convenience. They can watch the webinars from work or in the evenings.”
He added that in-person events lend themselves to hands-on learning and provide networking opportunities. “Hands-on is a very good way to teach when you can and when it’s possible,” Weikert said. “You can see the plants and the landscape and visualize what’s going on in that particular area and what it may look like after the management activities.”
Extension will hold a workshop series in late March and April titled “Exploring and Conserving Bird Habitat.” Participants will take guided hikes with several natural-resource professionals to learn about ecology and biology and to identify several species of important native birds — American woodcock, ruffed grouse and migratory birds.
Attendees also will learn how to create and maintain much-needed habitat for these birds in decline, identify native and invasive plants, and discover how they can help these birds.
Weikert explained that focusing on birds can lead to sustainable forestry practices.
“Controlling invasive plants is critical not only for standard forest management practices but also for these birds, which tend to avoid non-native invasive plants as a food source,” he said. “Over the long term, this could affect the habitat as a whole. Invasive plants could outcompete native plants, take over an area, and completely change the structure and makeup of the forest.”
More information about the various opportunities for earning continuing forestry education credits is available on the Penn State Extension website.