NTRES 6250 - Forest Management and Maple Syrup Production

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Priority given to: graduate students. Only offered Spring of every other year. Co-meets with NTRES 3250.

P. Smallidge.

This course is designed to give students a practical and experiential exposure to private lands forest management and maple syrup production in New York and the Northeast. As a result of the class, students should be able to articulate the attributes of sustainable forest management practices on private woodlots. Student learning will emphasize field-based concepts and applications rather than theories and policy. All weekly labs are outdoors, and students will need appropriate winter clothing and potentially snowshoes. By the second lab, students need to provide a basic hardhat (construction type) and magnetic field compass with a rotating dial. The Thursday lab prior to spring break is mandatory.

Outcome 1: Be able to describe the inter-relationship of the various tools and concepts necessary to sustainably manage a private forest.

Outcome 2: Be able to discuss forest management with others who do, and do not, have a background in forest management.

Outcome 3: Anticipate how forest management interacts with the management of other natural resources.

Outcome 4: Be able to articulate the utility (and limitations) of using forest management as a tool to achieve specific landowner objectives.

Outcome 5: Be able to demonstrate skill with: orienteering, tree identification, silvics, woodlot inventory, and maple sap collection and processing.