The Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have finished a series of workshops across Pennsylvania and Ohio for land owners detailing practices that can improve forest habitats for birds and other wildlife. Along with describing how different forest management techniques can result in healthy, diverse habitat, the workshops introduced landowners to various resources such as cost-share programs and private lands foresters available to facilitate this type of management.

In Pennsylvania, AMJV staff and partners working with Allegheny National Forest staff held a workshop in Bradford on June 9-10 that was attended by 41 landowners. The first day included a series of presentations about Pennsylvania forest history and the need for forest management, the importance of long-term planning, prescribed fire, and strategies for different forest types. The second day started with a bird-banding demonstration followed by a series of site visits that illustrated a variety of forest management techniques in both oak-hickory and northern hardwoods forest types. Staff from the Allegheny National Forest, PA Game Commission, PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry, Ruffed Grouse Society, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Audubon PA, and Natural Resources Conservation Service assisted with the event.

In Ohio, AMJV staff worked with the Wayne National Forest and other partners to host an evening workshop on April 26th and a follow-up woodland owner field day on June 24th. Both events took place in Athens and were attended by over 20 landowners. The evening workshop served as an introduction on forest management for birds, with presentations detailing the history of Ohio forests and the extensive accomplishments in Ohio as it related to forest management and birds. During the field day, participants visited sites at Wayne National Forest as well as a private forest landowner to see and discuss examples of forest management and resources available to landowners for accomplishing this management. Staff from the Wayne National Forest, OH DNR Divisions of Wildlife and Forestry, Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative, Ohio State University, National Wild Turkey Federation, and Natural Resources Conservation Service assisted with the event.

Funding for all these workshops was provided by the U.S. Forest Service.