10/27/2009

Winter Tree ID Workshop is Nov. 13 in NE Ohio

Writer:

Kurt Knebusch
knebusch.1@osu.edu
330-263-3776

Source:

Kathy Smith, Ohio Woodland Stewards Program
smith.81@osu.edu
614-688-3136

COLUMBUS, Ohio — How can you recognize different types of trees when they don’t even have any leaves on them?

Find out in Ohio State University Extension’s public “Winter Tree ID” workshop, Friday, Nov. 13, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., in Chardon Township in northeast Ohio.

OSU Extension forestry specialist Kathy Smith and Erik Draper, an OSU Extension educator, will show you how to tell trees apart based on their bark, twigs, fruit, buds, thorns, pith, form and branching patterns.

“If you work in your woods, most of the time you’ll want to be out cutting trees in the wintertime. You’d better be sure which trees you want to cut, especially if you’re thinking firewood, versus those trees that you want to save for a future harvest,” said Kathy Smith, who leads OSU Extension’s Ohio Wood Stewards Program, the workshop’s sponsor.

“Winter identification uses items that are more constant. The best example is bark. It’s not an easy place to start the identification process, but once you know bark you have a greater chance at correctly identifying trees all year-round,” she said.

Registration, due by Nov. 6, costs $35 and includes lunch and materials.

Meet in the Geauga Park District’s Donald W. Meyer Center in Big Creek Park, 9160 Robinson Rd.

Register and pay online at http://woodlandstewards.osu.edu.

Or register by mail by sending your name, address, telephone number (optional), e-mail address (optional) and payment to Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, Ohio State University, School of Environment and Natural Resources, 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Rd., Columbus, OH 43210. Make checks payable to The Ohio State University.

Call (614) 688-3421 or e-mail ohiowoods@osu.edu for more information.

Find directions to the park and other details at http://www.geaugaparkdistrict.org/parks/bigcreek.shtml.

The schedule:

• 9:30 a.m.: introduction to winter tree identification.

• 11:30 a.m.: the identification process; learning to use a key.

• noon: lunch.

• 1 p.m.: practice in the field, or indoors using samples, depending on the weather.

• 2:30 p.m.: wrap-up and adjourn.

Participants will qualify for four hours of continuing education credit for the Ohio Forest Tax Law program.

OSU Extension sponsors the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program in cooperation with the Ohio Division of Forestry to teach people about trees, forests, and how to know and manage them.

The program’s goals include helping landowners make well-informed forest-management decisions and, in the end, better health for Ohio’s forests.

OSU Extension (http://extension.osu.edu/) is the outreach arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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