I'm meeting with a forester, what should I expect?

A forester can work with you identify activities you can do to maintain the health of your land and achieve the goals you have for your land.  Forester, like tax accountants, doctors and other professionals you work with, will charge a fee for their services.  Your foresters will want to talk about your goals, what you want to do with your land and then walk your land with you.  Therefore it pays for you to prepare for this discussion before your meeting, so you can get the most from your first meeting.

Before Your Meeting

1. Think about and record your goals for your land

What do you want your land to look like in 10-20 years?  What do you like to do on your land?  Would you like to receive an income from your land?  These questions can help you think about your goals for your land.  And you might have multiple goals that could include:

• Activities you enjoy doing on your land, like hiking, wildlife watching, hunting, fishing, spending time with your family
• Potecting your land from trespassers or natural disasters
• Maintaining the health of your land including the water and wildlife on your land
• Profiting from your land through timber harvesting or hunting leases
• Protecting the legacy of your land and passing it on to the next generation

Need some help with setting your goals?  Use the MyLandPlan.org goals tool.  

2.  Think about activities you’d like to do related to your goals

If you have a goal around wildlife on your land, there might be some activities you would be interested in doing.  Perhaps you like bird watching, but want to create different places to see birds, like a meadow, or a water sources.  Or maybe you’d like to create some more trails through your land.  Record these activities and plan to share them during your forester meeting.

Need some ideas about activities you can do related to your goals?  The MyLandPlan.org goals tool can help. 

3.  Map your land

Your forester will want to walk your land with you but having a good map to share, can help the forester identify places to go and help with the discussion around appropriate activities for your goals and your land.  On your map, identify areas where you:

• Enjoy/would like to maintain.  Whether these are special site for your family or places where you go to see animals or enjoy the solitude. 
• Might have concerns about.  Do you have an access point that you notice trespassers?  Or perhaps you have a concern about illegal dumping?  Or maybe you’ve notices some weeds taking over or trees dying back.  Identify these locations on your map as well. 
• Already done some activities.  Have you cut down trees for firewood?  Or perhaps removed some trees that were to close together?  Or maybe you’ve left some dead trees for wildlife?  Share some of the work you have already done with your forester. 
• Where is the water on your land?  Identify the streams, creeks, rivers, ponds or areas that have water during only parts of the year on your map.  Your forester might make special considerations for activities near these water bodies. 

The MyLandPlan.org mapping tool is an easy-to-use way to get detailed maps of your property.  You can map your boundaries and the different features on your land. 

During The Meeting

1. Share the goals, activities and maps that you have developed.  If you haven’t recorded your goals, activities and map, then your forester will spend some time talking with you to understand your long-term goals for your land.  Once your forester has a good idea of what you’d like, he or she can start to recommend activities you might want to consider. 

You might also discuss developing a management plan for your property.  This plan would include the goals you have established and what you need to do for the upcoming years to meet those goals.

2. At some point you will probably have a chance to walk your land with your forester.  During this walk, you can:

• Show the places you highlighted on your map. 
• Ask questions that you might have about specific issue on your land.
• Learn more about activities you can do to help maintain your woods and where you could do them. 

3. Discuss future steps.  You can talk to your forester about when to work with them in the future and what assistance you would like with your woods.  Your forester can also recommend programs for your land that you might be interested as well as other opportunities that are available to woodland owners in your state.