The Cherokee Scout Reservation in Caswell County will host the N.C. Tree Farm Program’s 2022 Annual Meeting on May 14. Join us for either a morning or afternoon tour of the Scout Reservation, which was named 2019 N.C. Tree Farmer of the Year, to learn how to restore and maintain oak forests. During lunch we’ll recognize Tree Farm anniversaries and present Inspector of the Year and Tree Farmer of the Year awards.
The forestry tour will focus on how the Cherokee Scout Reservation’s 15 years of active management has restored high-graded forests and promoted oak restoration on more than 400 acres. Their management has been so successful that Audubon North Carolina has recognized the Scout Reservation for creating and enhancing songbird habitat, and the Forest Stewards Guild has designated it as a model forest. Today, the property is a teaching site for forestry students, scouts and other groups.
Pick one.
- Morning Tour: Check-in opens at 8:00 a.m. Program begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 1:15 p.m.
- Afternoon Tour: Check-in opens at 11:15 a.m. Program begins at 12:15 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.
This year’s Annual Meeting will offer two identical forestry tours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both tour groups will be together for lunch and awards presentations. Select the tour time that is most convenient for you. Capacity is limited, so register early.
Forestry Tour
Stop 1: Is Oak Restoration Possible on Your Property? Learn about the prerequisites for applying a modified oak shelterwood system on your property and the limitations and obstacles you may face with natural oak regeneration and management. Learn how to evaluate an existing hardwood stand to see if oak management is possible.
Stop 2: Where do you begin? How can you stack the deck to favor oak regeneration? See how a preparatory cut in a hardwood forest can help start oak regeneration and learn about the benefits of a growing season burn to enhance oak regeneration.
Stop 3: What Are the Next Steps? Once oak regeneration is established in the understory, what are your next steps? Visit a hardwood forest that has received an initial preparatory cut, a growing season burn and a true oak shelterwood harvest. We’ll also discuss the importance of oak restoration and the financial impact of the recommended management practices.
SAF CFE credits pending.
