Previous Webinars

Timber Tax Update for 2011 Tax Filing Season [View Archived Webinar]

Feb 1, 2012 12:00 pm
The tax rules for timber differ significantly from the general tax rules for other activities. Learn the federal income tax laws on timber transactions that affect your 2011 tax return filing. We will explain the tax laws on timber income and deductions, provide practical tips, and answer your questions.

Wildlife for Lunch: Conservation & Income through Nature Tourism, ie Guest Operations [View Archived Webinar]

Dec 15, 2011 1:00 pm
This Presentation provides an overview of the opportunities and economics of nature tourism in Texas. Terms, Concepts and Resources for development of nature tourism operations will be addressed along with operation examples. There will also be opportunity for live questions and answers.

Introduction to the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System - IFTDSS [View Archived Webinar]

Dec 14, 2011 12:00 pm
What you will learn: The web-based Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS) was designed to provide fire and fuels managers with a single software solution to manage the many data types, software applications, and tools available for fuels treatment planning.

What do you do when people start throwing food at the table? A conflict management perspective [View Archived Webinar]

Nov 18, 2011 12:00 pm
The 2011 Changing Roles webinar series has a theme: Considering Natural Resources in Land-Use Decision Making Processes. Natural resource professionals often refer to "being at the table" in reference to their participation in multi-stakeholder processes such as land-use planning and therefore, this same language is used in the session titles of this series. Each session will address the theme from a different perspective. This is the final webinar in the four-session series. This session will address common challenges faced in multi-stakeholder group processes and is aimed at resource professionals who are already "at the table" and engaged in land-use planning processes. This webinar will present strategies for working through conflict to create solutions to complex and contentious land-use issues.

Wildlife for Lunch:Factors Influencing Efficiency of Intensive Deer Management [View Archived Webinar]

Nov 17, 2011 1:00 pm
Deer managers in Texas have a bewildering array of management tools available, ranging from supplemental feed to selective harvest and introduction of deer, and attempts to alter genetic characteristics of wild deer. New management approaches constantly surface, some of which are not biologically sound or feasible. This webinar will provide biological background and information on intensive management of wild deer, including common intensive management tools and relatively new approaches.

Prescribed Fire and the Public: Myths and Realities [View Archived Webinar]

Nov 16, 2011 12:00 pm
November 16th, 2011 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Eastern) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (Central) 10:00 am - 11:00 am (Mountain) 9:00 am - 10:00 am (Pacific)

What happens when we are at the table together? A case study from Sumner County, Tennessee [View Archived Webinar]

Nov 10, 2011 12:00 pm
The 2011 Changing Roles webinar series has a theme: Considering Natural Resources in Land-Use Decision Making Processes. Natural resource professionals often refer to "being at the table" in reference to their participation in multi-stakeholder processes such as land-use planning and therefore, this same language is used in the session titles of this series. Each session will address the theme from a different perspective. This is the third of four sessions and this session provides a case study to illustrate concepts presented in the first and second webinar sessions. The presenter, Michael Briggs, will use the case study to provide contextual information about Sumner County and then explain the purpose of comprehensive plans. Dwight Barnett, the second presenter, will discuss how he became involved in the planning process and the expertise he contributed. They will both identify lessons learned and tips for resource professionals.

Large Flower Partridge Pea in Longleaf Pine Plantings: The Plant, Issues and Answers [View Archived Webinar]

Nov 8, 2011 12:00 pm
What you will learn: Large flower partridge pea - Chamaecrista fasciculata aka Cassia fasciculata, is a native, annual legume occurring across the native range of longleaf pine. It has been utilized widely in food plots for quail, and cultivars have been included in many native herbaceous seed mixes that have been broadcast or drilled into young longleaf pine plantations across the southeast. Because partridge pea is highly competitive in these young stands, many longleaf pine plantings have failed. In this webinar, we will examine how partridge pea grows, reproduces, and spreads. We will also examine potential means of controlling partridge pea with both mechanical and herbicide treatments. We will look into how: partridge pea kills young longleaf seedlings, which cultivars are most risky to utilize, and we will present several alternative species that should be considered as logical and desirable native legumes that could be substituted in native seed mixes to replace large flower partridge pea.

Wildlife for Lunch -Aging White-tailed Deer on the Hoof [View Archived Webinar]

Oct 20, 2011 1:00 pm
This presentation will show participants some of the characteristics to look for in white-tailed deer to better age deer live on the hoof. Which in turn can help your overall management goals for your whitetail herd.

Using Smoke Prediction Models for Prescribed Burning Planning [View Archived Webinar]

Oct 19, 2011 12:00 pm
October 19th, 2011 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Eastern) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (Central) 10:00 am - 11:00 am (Mountain) 9:00 am - 10:00 am (Pacific) What You Will Learn: A variety of smoke management models are available for predicting emission production and smoke movement. These can be especially valuable for planning and conducting prescribed burns, yet few people are familiar with what different models can do and how or when to use them. This webinar will introduce the major characteristics of emission and smoke models such as the Fire Emission Production Simulator (FEPS), HYSPLIT, BlueSky, and VSmoke and will describe the uses and limitations of each. Data and computer requirements will be briefly mentioned, but the major focus will be on using the models for a series of case studies and applications. The webinar will be presented by U.S. Forest Service air resource specialists and will be an introduction to subsequent webinars or presentations by the Southern Fire Exchange that will focus on use of individual models. The primary objective is to increase the application of smoke science and prediction to prescribed burn planning across the South. This was identified as one of the highest priority needs in a survey of nearly 1000 southern fire managers and practitioners in 2009.

Changing Roles: Why we need you at the table? and How do you get to the table? Land-use planners' perspectives [View Archived Webinar]

Oct 17, 2011 12:00 pm
This session's speakers will highlight the growing need for natural resource professionals to become active participants in local planning processes. The presentation will provide an overview of the key elements of local planning, explain how and when resource professionals can become engaged in the process, and discuss what is expected of participants. Craig and Jim will provide examples of successes and failures and different scales.

Longleaf Container Grown Seedlings: What's Good? What's Bad? What to Look for in Your Seedling Shipment. [View Archived Webinar]

Oct 14, 2011 12:00 pm
What you will learn: During the 2011-2012 planting season somewhere between 80 and 100-million longleaf pine seedlings will be planted across the Southeastern, US. Approximately 90% of these seedlings will be grown in containers and shipped as plug or containerized. Most of these shipped seedlings will be acceptable or 'target' grade seedlings. However, grades or categories of longleaf that one may find at varying percentages in a shipment include: weeds in plug, hybrids, floppies, doubles, dry plugs, previously frozen plugs, unacceptable root orientation, diseased plugs, dead seedlings, alternate pine species, and other grades or categories of container-grown longleaf. This webinar will help the participant (forest landowners, tree planters, foresters, consultants, and other interested parties) to identify the various categories or grades of longleaf seedlings and to recognize the costs or benefits associated with their planting. The instructor and participants will also examine data from survival and growth studies that have been installed across the Southeast, with the express purpose of demonstrating how various categories or grades of seedlings perform in survival and growth when compared to target grade seedlings.

Changing Roles: Why should we be at the table? Natural resource managers' perspectives [View Archived Webinar]

Oct 12, 2011 12:00 pm
This session will begin with an interactive exercise in which participants will explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with considering natural resources in land-use planning. Next, Susan Stein will discuss findings from the Forest on the Edge project including the impacts of increased development surrounding both private and public forestlands.

Using the Southern Fire Exchange Resource Center [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 28, 2011 12:00 pm
September 28, 2011 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Eastern) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (Central) 10:00 am - 11:00 am (Mountain) 9:00 am - 10:00 am (Pacific) What you will learn: This webinar is an introduction to the Southern Fire Exchange (SFE) Resource Center. The SFE is a regional fire science delivery program, for the southeastern United States and is a member of the national network of knowledge exchange consortia, funded by the Joint Fire Science Program. The Resource Center organizes southern fire information and enhances two way communications of fire science between scientists, managers and people on the ground. The Resource Center includes an online discussion forum, “ask the expert” services, calendars of workshops and events, and fact sheets and research syntheses reflecting the requests of fire users across the South. The web-based hub also provides links to existing fire science databases to provide you with complete access to the information you need. This webinar will teach you how to use the SFE Resource Center for you fire information needs.

Wildlife For Lunch - Using technology to age and score white-tailed deer in photographs [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 22, 2011 1:00 pm
Knowledge of a buck's age and quality is critical for successful white-tailed deer management programs. In the past, deer enthusiasts have subjectively aged and scored deer "on the hoof" or have collected age and antler data from harvested animals. Although aging and scoring live deer is a skill that most hunters can develop with practice, many people don't have the experience or confidence to make these decisions. Researchers from Deer Ecology & Management Lab at Mississippi State University have developed a software program that can be used to age and score bucks from trail camera photographs. Using this technology will enable hunters and managers to have an objective measure of a buck's age and score to make informed harvest decisions that coincide with their management program.

Holistic Dollar-Valuation of Urban Forest Functions to Support Resource Conservation and Management [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 21, 2011 12:00 pm
September 21, 2011 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Eastern) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (Central) 10:00 am - 11:00 am (Mountain) 9:00 am - 10:00 am (Pacific) What you will learn: In an arena of ever-shrinking government budgets that must make decisions on what programs to fund or cut based on competitive comparisons, obtaining funding and public support for managing urban forests can be at a disadvantage because the direct benefits of urban forest resources are often difficult to quantify. Use of a variety of computer-based forest functional analysis programs, combined with traditional tree appraisal techniques, can help a jurisdiction to determine the real-dollar values of functions provided by their urban forest. Readily available dollar-valuation strategies exist for functions that include increased property values, increased local commerce, carbon sequestration, air pollution abatement, stormwater management, temperature moderation and traffic calming. For many of these benefits, use of trees is often as or more cost effective than traditional engineering options. Implementing a holistic system for valuing the urban forest in a given jurisdiction as its "green infrastructure" will assist public decision makers with identifying appropriate funding to maintain the urban forest canopy, as well as identifying opportunities to use tree plantings as an alternative to other construction, management or planning efforts. Examples will be presented that range in size from an entire county (primary evaluation using CityGreen), a small municipality (primary evaluation using iTree), to individual park properties (mixed evaluation methods). Methodologies will be presented along with findings and lessons learned.

A Management Guide for Invasive Plants in Southern Forests [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 20, 2011 12:00 pm
Nonnative plants continue to invade and spread through forests in the South. These infestations increasingly erode forest productivity, hinder forest use and management activities, and degrade diversity, habitat, and our recreational experiences. Managers, landowners, and homeowners need to have the latest information on how to prevent entry to their lands, build strategies with neighbors, implement integrated procedures for control, and proceed toward site rehabilitation. We will introduce you to a new book that we co-authored, which is available free from the Southern Research Station, entitled “A Management Guide for Invasive Plants in Southern Forests” (General Technical Report SRS-131). We will provide an overview of how these actions fit together and the latest control methods. The guide provides detailed control prescriptions for 56 prevalent invasive plants and groups for your reference. Free copies of "A Management Guide for Invasive Plants in Southern Forests" (General Technical Report SRS-131) can be requested at pubrequest@fs.fed.us or by calling 828-257-4830.

Range Webinar: Do-It-Yourself Brush Control Equipment [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 8, 2011 1:00 pm
!!!!Mandatory Pre-Registration for this webinar!!!! Use the Link below... There are numerous equipment options for brush management. This presentation will feature equipment options that are efficient, labor-saving, and can save money. These are equipment options that are well-suited to the Brush Busters and Weed Buster approaches to brush and weed management.

Large Flower Partridge Pea in Longleaf Pine Plantings: The Plant, Issues and Answers [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 6, 2011 12:00 pm
What you will learn: Large flower partridge pea - Chamaecrista fasciculata aka Cassia fasciculata, is a native, annual legume occurring across the native range of longleaf pine. It has been utilized widely in food plots for quail, and cultivars have been included in many native herbaceous seed mixes that have been broadcast or drilled into young longleaf pine plantations across the Southeast. Because partridge pea is highly competitive in these young stands, many longleaf pine plantings have failed. In this webinar, we will examine how partridge pea grows, reproduces, and spreads. We will also examine potential means of controlling partridge pea with both mechanical and herbicide treatments. We will look into how: partridge pea kills young longleaf seedlings, which cultivars are most risky to utilize, and we will present several alternative species that should be considered as logical and desirable native legumes that could be substituted in native seed mixes to replace large flower partridge pea.

The Most Prevalent Invasive Plants in Southern Forests: Part 2 – Non-Woody Plants [View Archived Webinar]

Sep 1, 2011 12:00 pm
Nonnative plants continue to invade and spread through forests in the South. These infestations increasingly erode forest productivity, hinder forest use and management activities, and degrade diversity, habitat, and our recreational experiences. Managers and landowners need to recognize and be able to identify these threats. In the second of two webinars, we will introduce you to a new book that we co-authored, which is available free from the Southern Research Station, entitled “A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests” (General Technical Report SRS-119). Part 1 will focus on the most prevalent invasive trees and shrubs that plague southern forests and where they occur. Part 2 will cover the prevalent invasive vines, grasses and canes, ferns, and forbs. The latest SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis maps will show their zones of occupation to alert you to those occurring around you and those spreading toward you. A webinar in September will present control and management approaches.