Managing your woods will help restore its vitality and enhance its ability to provide its benefits. Your land is your legacy; you are its care taker. What do hope to get from it? Do you want to attract certain wildlife or increase its aesthetics? Are you going to harvest some trees for firewood or supplemental income? Are you trying to receive tax incentives or improve the quality of your stream? You can accomplish many things on your land and a management plan will help.

Any of the planning tools below will help you realize your goals and identify the means to achieve them. Once completed, you will be able to print your plan for your reference or to share with a natural resource professional.

• The Woodland Objectives Plan   This plan is less comprehensive than the Woodland Conservation Plan. It is designed for members who are just getting started with woodland management and takes about an hour to complete.
• The Woodland Conservation Plan   This peer reviewed plan is divided into six sections, and it allows you to thoroughly evaluate your woodland. It takes a few hours to complete in its entirety but can be completed over a period of time.

Also available:

The Woods in Your Backyard manual was created by forestry experts and extension educators as a resource for owners of 1-10 acres of land. The 138-page publication provides a step-by-step process that includes detailing objectives, drawing a map, inventory and planning activities, and includes a focus on converting lawns to forest. Case studies and a workbook help landowners through the steps. To learn more or to order the publication visit: http://www.naturalresources.umd.edu/EducationalWBY.html.

* Training courses accompanying the information in the manual are currently being organized. Please contact us or your local Cooperative Extension office for more information or to see if one is being offered in your area.

This region's woodlands have always afforded us a wealth of services from filtering our water and air to providing wildlife habitat to supplying products. For thousands of years they have endured natural disturbances like fires, storms and pests only to remerge with vigor and diversity. However, new human induced disturbances like sprawling development, air pollution, un-sustainable timber harvesting, invasive species and overabundant deer are stressing our remaining woodlands, causing them to become less resilient and less able to provide their invaluable services.