SOT Tree Identification Woodswalk
2025-09-20 09:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) | Jerry Michael, 3192 State Route 206, Whitney Point, NY, 13862, United States
The woods walk will be held at Jerry Michael’s tree farm, 3192 State Route 206 in Whitney Point, NY. The property is one mile east of the village of Whitney Point and parking will be along the wide eastbound shoulder of the road. The walk will be approximately one mile in length on mostly level ground. There are 15 different hardwood and 8 conifer tree species on the property. Some of the less-common trees are Swamp White Oak, Sycamore, Tulip Poplar, American Chestnut and Cedar of Lebanon.
If you have a tree identification app, bring your phone and test your app against the real thing. Wi Fi is available from most points on the property, but not all. Bring your kids and grandkids and introduce them to a basic skill for woodlot management and enjoyment. Please call Jerry at (607) 648-2941 if you are coming so we can plan for parking, and leave a phone number we can call if we have to cancel due to severe weather (we won’t cancel for a drizzle).

Peter Smallidge, NYS Extension Forester, wrote an article in the November 2023 NY Forest Owner with recommendations for plant ID apps.

SAC Annual Picnic
2025-09-20 09:30 - 13:00 | SAC Annual Picnic, 407 South Shore Road, Lake Pleasant, NY, 12108, United States
Hosted by: Diane Corvetti, 407 South Shore Road, Lake Pleasant, NY 12108
Arrive: 9:30 —10:00am (refreshments available)
Woodswalk— 10:00 am
Picnic following woodswalk – Hamburgers, hotdogs and beverages, paper products will be provided.
Please bring: A salad or food item to share and lawn chairs
Please RSVP to Kurt Edwards 518-661-5685 or at edwardsk922@gmail.com by 9/12
After passing the Welcome to Speculator sign on Route 30, you will see a Camp of the Woods sign on the left. Turn off Route 30, go past Camp of the Woods, go up the hill and South Shore Road takes a sharp right curve. Red Pines is 3 miles after you turn off Rt 30. It is the next driveway after Pearson Lane (about another 1/2 mile).
There is a small sign “Red Pines” sign. Go slowly down the driveway which is almost a half mile. It is the only house and on the lake.

Capital District Woodswalk
2025-09-27 09:00 - 13:00 | Tom & Anna Wolfe, 88 Curtis Road, East Berne, NY, 12059, United States
Tom retired from a career in forestry at NYSDEC, and he has practiced his skills on their 180 acre property since the day he and Anna made their first woodland purchase. Join us for a walking tour of a special portion of their woodlands.
There will be an overview of past and ongoing management practices on this land, but the focus will be on an area where a timber harvest was conducted in 2023. Many valuable trees were left standing with crowns released to allow continued growth. We will see how the forest has regenerated in areas of past management, and in the most recent harvest area. Getting desirable vegetation species to return is always a challenge, so there will be examples of mitigation efforts to help create the next woodlot stand, one that is healthy and diverse.
Any disturbance to the woods creates opportunities for wildlife, and we will see examples of how critters are thriving as a result of the disturbance. The great flush of vegetation that comes in, responding to added sunlight, creates rich feeding grounds and physical protection for many wildlife species.
The trail leads through an old agricultural field now grown into a forest. Of interest is seeing which tree species naturally seeded in, and which of those are winning the competition to grow to maturity!
The terrain is nearly level and we will be walking on skid/tractor trails and some grassy fields. Sturdy shoes are recommended, and dress for the weather.
Please RSVP with Carol at happyinthehollow@gmail.com by Thursday September 25.
Sponsored by Capital District Chapter of NY Forest Owners Association, the event is free and open to the public.

Western Finger Lakes Chapter Dinner and Business Meeting
2025-10-08 16:30 - 20:00 | Mendon NY Fire Hall, 101 Mendon Ionia Road, Mendon, NY, 14506, United States
Please come and join us for what is always a great evening of friends, sumptuous food, and a lot of exciting raffles: door prizes, 50/50 raffle, and other surprise items. As you are aware, these raffles
help to keep our chapter’s funds at a healthy level so that we might continue to offer great programming and educational events.
Brad Stevenson, of Laurier Catering, will once again grace us with his superb cuisine. The WFL Chapter will continue to subsidize the cost of the dinner by charging less than the caterer charges.
The cost is $45 per ticket. Your check should be made out to WFL/NYFOA and mailed to Ron Reitz, 6086 Canadice Hill Road, Springwater, NY 14560.
Please consider joining us along with your family members and fellow woodland owners. All are welcome!

Forests Under Pressure: A Hike on Hunting & Conservation
2025-10-12 10:00 - 12:00 | Sisters Hill Woods, 176 Sisters Hill Road, Stanfordville, NY, 12581, United States
Join us for a guided hike at Winnakee’s Sister’s Hill Woods during hunting season to explore how conservation, hunting, and forestry go hand-in-hand. We will observe the forest through the eyes of different environmental experts and seasoned hunters.
We will venture through hemlock stands, wetlands, and mixed hardwood forests, discussing topics such as the effects of overabundant deer populations on our local forests, habitat needs for wildlife and game animals and how to improve the forest to meet different management goals. We will also discuss trail cameras, wildlife viewing, and how & where landowners can use them to learn about the wildlife using their properties.
Participants will come away with a greater understanding of why we manage deer on Winnakee preserves for forest health and to improve habitat for species dependent on young forests, insights into how deer hunting might fit with your property and a connection with other conservation-centric hunters through the Winnakee community.

Timber Stand Improvement - In-Progress
2025-10-18 09:00 - 12:00 | The Boarding House, 212 Harold Myers Road, Earlton, NY, 12058, United States
Park along Indian Ridge Road at the corner of Harold Myers Rd. coordinates: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Nxuh4A9aVYgzgXWr8
This property has a historic old boarding house. We will visit a locust, mulberry and hybrid chestnut silvopasture project. We will see parts of the property that are under USDA-EQIP contracts for brush management and timber stand improvement.
Goals on the property are to transition from an even age stand to a more climate resilient multiage ecosystem.
Brush management includes controlling undesirable plants: barberry, buckthorn, honeysuckle, multiflora rose, stiltgrass. We have been doing this for one year with 2 more years left on the contract.
Interesting flora include: some very large mid-story and shrub spicebush, winterberry holly, serviceberry, surviving American chestnut, population of flowering dogwood, and a very old stand of declining hemlock.
There is a Catskill Mountain View.
Please wear ankle supporting sturdy shoes since footing can be uneven.
RSVP with Carol at happyinthehollow@gmail.com by October 16 so we know how many to expect.

2025 NYNGA Fall Meeting
2025-10-18 09:00 - 15:00 | Ramble On, 3383 Colegrove Road, Trumansburg, NY, 14886, United States
The New York Nut Growers Association announces that our 2025 Fall Meeting will be held on Oct. 18, 9 am – 3 pm, at Ramble On, 3383 Colegrove Rd, Trumansburg, NY.
Breakfast starts at 9:00 am, and the program begins at 9:30 am. Speakers and discussion topics will include Jeff Zarnowski (Establishing a Commercial Nut Orchard – the First 8 Years); Bryan Caldwell (Growing Chestnuts Organically); Peter Haarmann (Cloning Hazelnut by Stooling); Bradford Smith (My Experiences Growing Chestnut and Other Nut Crops); and Bonny and Rick Monheim (50 Years of Planting and Nurturing Nut Trees: from Almonds to Walnuts).

A light breakfast and lunch are included in the cost of meeting registration, which is $20/member, $25/non-member. Pre-registration is required to facilitate meal planning.

Please feel free to share this announcement with others who may be interested.

For additional information and to register for the meeting, use the link below. Thanks for your ongoing interest in and support of nut growing in New York!

Reserve your ticket

Protecting Wetlands for Wildlife, Water & Resilience - WEBINAR
2025-10-23 13:00 - 14:30 | NY
Join Winnakee for a free educational webinar focused on the vital role of wetlands in supporting biodiversity, clean water, and climate resilience. We will share insights from our joint projects to monitor wildlife and enhance habitat, as well as how landowners can play a key role in protecting and enhancing wetland ecosystems. Learn more about Winnakee’s wetland programs, youth stewardship initiatives, and how local partnerships are making a lasting impact across the Hudson Valley.
Register Here: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E74841&id=136&formid=1362&Preview=true

November Woodswalk
2025-11-08 09:00 - 12:00 | Freeman – Campbell-Nelson, 86 Meadow Lane, Hannacroix, NY, 12087, United States
Owners: Russell and Forrest Freeman and Katie Campbell-Nelson
Presenters: Forester Ron Frisbee and the landowners
84 wooded acres. The property was purchased by Katie and Russell in 2018 and they began living there full time in 2019 when they also began forest management.
To focus their efforts, they secured a forest management plan written by Ron Frisbee, paid for by USDA-EQIP funds. Contracts for conservation practices (brush management and timber stand improvement) will begin when EQIP funds become available again.
From their forest management plan:
“Our vision is to develop a climate resilient forest with improved biodiversity and wildlife habitat that can be a place for education of future generations.
This vision will be achieved through several goals and objectives:
1. Coax a multiage, biodiverse forest out of the trees, including flora that has been present for over 2 centuries.
2. Utilize bi-products of forest stewardship- find multiple purposes for the forestry we conduct.
3. Develop drought resilience with respect to water quantity and quality and support downstream ecosystem health.”
Things to see: a portable sawmill operation. We recover lumber from undesirable trees as part of our timber stand improvement and mill them on-site. Thus, small scale forest openings are created throughout the property while putting low quality timber to use.
More to see… a 4-story barn re-habilitation project utilizing timber from the woods, a several hundred log shiitake mushroom operation, maple sugar-bush conversion, hemlock grove
If conditions permit, we will get a a peek at a blackgum bog.
Please RSVP with Carol at happyinthehollow@gmail.com by November 6th.

Southern Tier Annual Potluck
2026-01-17 13:30 - 16:00 | Broome County Cooperative Extension, 840 Front Street, Binghamton, NY, 13901, United States
The Southern tier Chapter of the New York Forest Owners Association will have Tom Tasber speak on American black bears at our free, open-to-the-public annual Potluck Dinner (late lunch). Doors will open at 1:30 PM with the meal starting at 2 PM. The meeting will be held at the Broome County Cooperative Extension, 840 Front Street, Binghamton, NY. Bring a dish to pass and your table service. We will provide beverages and a sheet pizza to supplement your gourmet offerings. Please call Steve at (607) 902-4090 to let us know that you will attend. This will allow us to plan for seating and beverages.
Thomas Tasber works for Broome County Cooperative Extension as a naturalist and educator. He runs the popular “Lunch with Tom” educational seminars, sponsored by the Broome County Cooperative Extension. Research has shown that residents would like to see a black bear, but not necessarily have them living near their homes. With the black bear population increasing across our area since the 1980s, sightings and encounters are more frequent. Tom will examine the bear’s natural history in addition to discussing ways to coexist with this widespread species.
