Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program

09/09/2026

Fall in Virginia is spectacular! Spend a fall day in the woods with Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Forestry and partners to find out how we work with family woodland owners to keep their woods thriving.

Reserve your spot today! https://forestupdate.frec.vt.edu/landownerprograms/field-tours.html

09/09/2026

Our fall short-extravaganza continues this Friday at 12:15 with Grade this Log! Join Virginia Cooperative Extension's Adam Downing at a sawmill as he learns how to determine the quality of logs delivered to the mill.

And what does log quality even mean?

Video will run on this page live at 12:15 9/11.

09/08/2026

Since the post about killing tree of heaven in Blacksburg generated so many questions, here's a link to a 15-minute video on killing tree of heaven:

Town of Blacksburg Government

Controlling (killing) this non-native invasive tree is good for the...

09/04/2026

Great workday in Blacksburg removing/killing tree of heaven in Toms Creek Park with the newly formed Southwest Virginia PRISM. If you are interested in learning more, join their newsletter list:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/y5yKjA0p06
Virginia Department of Forestry Town of Blacksburg Government

09/04/2026

It's Forest Friday! I'm happy to share the first in our 6-part series of shorts for this fall: Clues to Land Use History.

Join us at 12:15 each Friday in September and early October for a new Five Minutes in the Forest video.

09/04/2026

Want to learn more about measuring the trees in your yard and in your woods? Check out our Timber Cruising for Woodland Owners class on September 25th at the Mathews State Forest in Galax.

Registration includes lunch, your very own Biltmore stick and angle gauge.

https://forestupdate.frec.vt.edu/landownerprograms/timber-cruise-workshops.html

Carroll County Times

09/03/2026

Educational videos on all aspects of woodland management, the benefits of woodland management, and other nature-related topics.

09/03/2026

It's National Beard Day! To celebrate, let's learn about one of Virginia's lovely wildflowers that's blooming right now: yellow crownbeard or stickweed (Verbesina occidentalis). This plant tends to be weedy and reduces plant diversity in some areas. However, it is a native plant and a late season bloomer.

You can distinguish it from wingstem, a look-alike, by the leaf arrangement. Crownbeard has oppositely arranged leaves and wingstem has alternately arranged leaves.

Verbesina occidentalis This native perennial of moist and sunny places begins blooming in late summer and has a confusing look-alike called wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia, which blooms at about t…