The 11th annual Northwest PA Forest Landowners Conference is being held on February 10 at Allegheny College. The conference will run from 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

The goal of the conference is to help private forest landowners explore and understand some of the management options that are available to you and to provide an opportunity to network and meet other forest landowners.

Private forest landowners own over 12.5 million acres or 75 percent of the Commonwealth's forestland. The reasons for owning are as variable as the landowners themselves. Recent studies indicate that many landowners own forestland for multiple benefits including: wildlife, recreation, timber, water quality and aesthetic beauty.

The demands on our forests are ever increasing; subsequently the knowledge a forest landowner should have to properly manage their forests is also increasing. Future forest conditions directly depend on the decisions being made today.

Did you know this about forests—

· For every ton of wood a forest grows, it removes 1.47 tons of carbon dioxide and replaces it with 1.07 tons of oxygen;

· Pennsylvania is the nation’s largest producer of hardwood lumber, producing over 1 billion board feet per year. Annual economic contribution of forest products exceeds $5 billion dollars;

· 63 Mammals, 373 birds, 36 amphibians and 37 reptiles native to Pennsylvania use trees for part or all of their habitat requirements;

· Well placed deciduous trees shading a home can reduce air conditioning needs up to 30 percent using evergreens as windbreaks can save from 10 to 50% in energy used for heating; and

· One healthy, mature tree stores about 13 pounds of carbon annually — or 2.6 tons per year.

To pre-register for the conference call the Crawford County Conservation District at 814-763-5269. The cost for the program is $15.00 per person. (Courtesy Brian Pilarcik, Crawford County Conservation District, brian@crawfordconservation.com )

1/19/2007