July 2024

• July 28-30: Midwest Walnut Council Meeting in Springfield, OH

• August 6: Western Regional KWOA Meeting* - See the flyer here & below

• August 15: Kentucky State University’s Forestry Third Thursday Thing focus on Agroforestry

• September 20-22: Practical Farm Woodland Management and see the full fall schedule at The Berry Center Farm & Forest Institute

• September 22: Foraging Kentucky Tree Crops - with George Barnett^* in Louisville

*George was a scheduled speaker at the annual meeting canceled in 2020 due to COVID. His book, Foraging Kentucky: An Introduction of the Edible Plants, Fungi, and Tree Crops of the Southeast came out this year.

- Ongoing -

• "From the Woods Today": Every Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. See below* or at www.fromthewoodstoday.com

• KFB offers Kentucky Farm Life podcasts; subscribe for free here.

*The 2024 Western Regional KWOA Meeting will be an in-person meeting on August 6. KWOA Western Region Action Team, led by Director Mike Smith is hosting the event in coordination with our partners from UK Cooperative Extension Service, KDF, & NRCS. All members and all woodland owners are invited to attend. Please take a look at the flyer here and sign up to attend by calling Phone: 270-298-7441 or Email: ohio.ext@uky.edu.

KWOA Updates

• KWOA joins the Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative (KFTI). Many members are concerned about preserving forests for our future and have expressed concerns about preventing the transition of our lands to non-agricultural/woodland purposes. Part of this issue relates to personal estate planning tools. Another aspect is having incentives in place to encourage future owners to continue the productivity and conservation of the land. Learn more about KFTI here and visit the Kentucky Farm Bureau display at the Kentucky State Fair.

• KWOA congratulates our member, Randy & John Seymour, who were named finalists for Kentucy Leopold Conservation Award. See a short video and learn more here.

• KWOA is building a new website to provide a more user friendly site and improve paymment processing. Our address will be the same www.kwoa.net ; however, we may not keep the site as up-to-date as usual during the transition. We hope to have the new site up in August. If you have questions contact us at info@kwoa.net.

• 2022-23 Kentucky Forest Sector Economic Contribution Report is now available. Some notable findings here or go directly to the full report here.

• Your Local USDA Service Center FSA office is accepting applications for the Continuous CRP signup and for owners already in the CRP there is the Forest Management Incentive(FMI), which can help participants with forest management practices, such as brush management and prescribed burning. 

• Update on Jefferson County Budget Cuts Impact on Extension & Conservation Services

• KNLT Conservation Manager Position Opening

Need Help in the Woods?

• Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) Vendors List: HERE and https://eec.ky.gov/Natural-Resources/Forestry/Documents/Statewide%20Vendor%20List%202-8-17.pdf
• Kentucky Association of Consulting Foresters lists at https://kacf.org/find-a-forester/
• Check out the ​Quick Reference Links on our KWOA home page at kwoa.net 
• Ask at your local NRCS & FSA offices.

Planning a Harvest?

A Kentucky Master Logger must be on-site and in charge of every commercial logging operation (excluding horse loggers). Kentucky's best management practices must be used in every commercial logging operation (including horse loggers). Best to Check Out These Resources:

• Kentucky Master Logger Program: masterlogger.ca.uky.edu
• Kentucky Division of Forestry: forestry.ky.gov
• Bad Actor Information & List: masterlogger.ca.uky.edu/bad-actor-information
• Kentucky Association of Consulting Foresters: kacf.org/find-a-forester/

Just so you know... 

• If you haven't already joined the KWOA network, click here to join.
• KWOA members receive a 10% discount at Forestry Suppliers. Get the code when you join!
• You can share our news! See the links at the bottom of this message.
• You can always contact us; send a message to info@kwoa.net with questions, suggestions, news, or to volunteer.

Growing Forests for Our Future! KWOA volunteers work year-round providing opportunities that benefit Kentucky's woodland owners and contribute to sustainable forestry.