Newsroom

New "Forest Steward" Is Ready to Help Local Landowners Care for Their Woodlands

Megan D'Arcy, one of Heritage Conservancy's Conservation Biologists, recently completed the Pennsylvania Forest Stewards Volunteer Program training along with 35 other volunteers. Megan is the fourth Heritage Conservancy staff member to become a "Pennsylvania Forest Steward," including her fellow Conservation Biologist Lisa Nowicki and Director of Stewardship Carl Martin.

As part of the program, Megan completed over 40 hours of classroom and field training in forest and wildlife management, ecology, biodiversity, silviculture, erosion control, communication, and other subjects related to land stewardship. In return, Megan will invest an equal amount of time—over 40 hours—relaying what she has learned to others in the community.

"Seventeen million acres of Pennsylvania forestland is privately owned by over half a million landowners," says Megan. That's why it is so important to reach out to these landowners to teach them the best management practices that will work for them and their families and that will also sustain our forests for the future."

Megan is now seeking out private landowners who already own woodlands or who are interested in restoring part of their land to woodland or forested habitat. Some of the educational and planning services Megan can provide to these landowners–for free– are:

• Tree identification
• Understanding forest ecology
• Management of forested areas for wildlife health and control
• Planning a forest's future
• Understanding and conserving the biological wealth of their forests
• Forest measurement
• Understanding and controlling white-tail deer populations
• Silviculture: developing sustainable commercial applications from forest products

Pennsylvania Forest Stewards encourage landowners to base their management activities on their own objectives, which may include timber improvement, reforestation, wildlife habitat, aesthetic values, water resource protection and improvement, and/or recreation. Landowners interested in working with Megan should contact her at Heritage Conservancy: 215-345-7020 x 121 or mdarcy@heritageconservancy.org.

The Pennsylvania Forest Stewards Volunteer program is an innovative program in which trained volunteers promote forest stewardship in their communities by relaying what they've learned to their friends, neighbors, and community groups. Pennsylvania's program is administered through the USDA Forest Service and is directed by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, in cooperation with other government and private agencies.

Landowners interested in developing a Forest Stewardship Plan for their land are eligible to receive Forest Stewardship Program cost-share funds for developing the plan and other related activities if they own between 5 and 1,000 acres. Funding is available for practices ranging from wildlife habitat enhancement to reforestation, in addition to traditional timber management planning. To learn more about the program, call 1-800-235-9473 or visit http://paforeststewards.cas.psu.edu.