The North Carolina Tree Farm Program first workshop of 2007 will be a tough act to follow. Over 125 people traveled to Winston-Salem and Meadowbrook Farm, the home and Tree Farm of Jean and Bob Cooper, to learn more about growing trees.

“We were delighted with the turnout,” stated NC Tree Farm Chair Dwight Batts. “We would like to thank all those involved in planning what may have been our best workshop ever. It was great to see so many new faces. Events such as this will help us grow our program.”

The program started at the Forsyth County Agriculture Building where landowners learned more about topics such as logging practices, hardwood management, state and federal government updates and an update from the American Tree Farm System.

The morning discussion, particularly the section on logging led by Louisiana-Pacific’s Mike Adams, gave landowners some solid background information on the environmental and economic realities that they should consider when managing their forests.

After an excellent lunch at the agricultural building, the program moved across town to Meadowbrook Farm.

To start the afternoon portion, North Carolina Division of Forest Resources Forest Stewardship Director, Les Hunter, presented Bob Cooper with his Forest Stewardship sign and paperwork.

For Cooper and others involved in the North Carolina Tree Farm program, this was a significant step for both programs.

“For several years now,” explained Cooper, “We have considered the Forest Stewardship Program and our Tree Farm Program as nearly identical programs. We may have different specific qualifications and requirements, but our goal – healthy, diverse, productive family forests – is the same. We hope today is a way of showing that these programs can mutually recognize each other as we move forward and somehow we can combine our efforts to benefit all of the forest landowners in North Carolina.”

Meadowbrook Farm provided the ideal background for this ceremony and workshop since it has excellent examples of the topics discussed including, logging practices, hardwood management, managing a Tree Farm and wildlife practices.

Already forest activists who have led numerous school and community groups on tours of their property, the Coopers have taken the time over the years to put up signs on their farm to describe the tree or vegetation planted in a particular area and what year it was planted. Looking at a pine stand that is clearly marked on what year it was planted provides a better perspective on the growth rate of those trees and makes for an interesting comparison when the visitors reached the back half of the property that had planted green ash.

In addition, the Coopers are a perfect case-study on the value of getting excellent assistance from their local foresters. The property includes planted pine and hardwoods on select sites throughout the farm.

Maybe the best segment of the afternoon rotating segments was the live logging demonstration on the corner of Meadowbrook Farms.

Steve Cox, a forester with Weyerhaeuser and a member of the workshop planning committee, explained the ongoing logging operation on a section of timber that he had purchased from the Coopers.

The North Carolina Tree Farm program currently has over 800 certified Tree Farms in the program. A landowner must have 10 or more acres and a management plan to participate in this free program.

The program hopes to surpass the 1,000 member mark by the end of 2007.

The next scheduled workshop will take place in the eastern part of the state in conjunction with the North Carolina Tree Farm Annual Meeting, which will be held on October 9-10, 2007 in New Bern.

“We had a great workshop,” explained Batts. “We now need to figure out how we can improve how we communicate with the new friends we have made and keep them up-to-date on the important issues facing forest landowners and what we are doing in our program. This is the only way we will truly grow the program.”

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