Tanglewood Conference to Focus on Forestry for Women
Contact: Vivianne Holmes, 207-353-5557
ORONO, Maine — Most women probably didn’t grow up thinking they were going to manage a forest, says Vivianne Holmes, University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator in Lisbon Falls. However, women who have purchased land with a woodlot or inherited a wooded parcel now find themselves having to think about growing trees, talking to foresters and working in the woods themselves.
“Women must educate themselves and once again find ways to enter into a male dominated industry that has not always treated women as equal partners in the stewardship of this natural resource,” says Holmes.
To provide knowledge and training, Holmes facilitates the Women and the Woods Program. Participants become part of a network of women woodland owners “so they will not feel so isolated and alone in this new venture of woodland stewardship,” says Holmes.
A series of small group meetings has been held around with women the state. These activities will culminate May 2 to 5 with a four-day conference at the 4-H Camp and Learning Center in Lincolnville. The focus will be on the business aspects of owning a woodlot including land stewardship, communicating with resource professionals, timber harvesting, estate planning, forest-related tax laws and much more.
There will be opportunities for women woodland owners to discuss management issues, to network, and to participate in outdoor, hands-on activities, says Holmes.
The program is a partnership between the Women’s Agriculture Network (WAgN) of UMaine Cooperative Extension, the Maine Forest Service and Extension’s Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center. Financial support is from the USDA Forest Service.
Advanced registration required by April 25, and the fee is $250. Financial assistance is available. More information is available from Laura Sebastianelli, 789-5808.