FAWN Programs Held at Houston Recreation Area

The 2011 FAWN Programs were held at the Houston Recreation Area on October 20-21.  Here's a few facts about this year's FAWN Programs for Winston County's sixth graders:

• Total number of students attending FAWN---376
• Number of teachers---17
• Number of volunteers---30
• Number of buses and drivers---8
• Cost of Bus Transportation---$1,052.88

The schools in attendance were Addison Elementary School, Double Springs Middle School, Haleyville Middle School, Lynn Elementary School, and Meek Elementary School.  Each class attended eight learning stations on GPS, Forest Management, Water Quality, Boating Safety, Wildlife Management or Hunter Safety, Forest Fire Safety, Forest Soils, and Beekeeping.

The bus transportation cost was covered by a grant from the Winston County Commission.

Thanks to all the students, teachers, school administrators, WCNRC members, volunteers, and presenters for teaming up to hold two successful FAWN programs.

Additional photos of the Addison, Meek, and Double Springs Schools are at this link.

Professional Logging Manager Initial Training to be held in Haleyville

A Professional Logging Manager Program Initial Training will be held in Haleyville at the Alabama Center for Advanced Woodworking Technology on November 3 and 17, 2011.  This class will not qualify for PLM Continuing Education points;  it is for the initial training only.  A registration form is available at this link.

2011 North Region Forestry Field Day

The 2011 North Region Forestry Field Day was held at Bill and Jeanie Snoddy's Loblolly Farm near Double Springs on October 7th.  There were over 100 people in attendance.  The field day featured commercial and educational exhibits, four learning stations, an awards program, and door prizes.  Lunch was provided by the Alabama Natural Resources Council and the Alabama State Tree Farm Committee.  Most of the local arrangements were completed by members of the Winston County Natural Resources Council.  Photos of the event are available at this link.  

According to our evaluation of the learning stations, participants reported an average 56% increase in knowledge about key concepts taught at the stations.  When questioned about how likely they were to implement practices demonstrated at the learning stations, 66% reported they would put the information to work.  While this is the first time that we've evaluated the learning stations in this way, the results are encouraging, and seem to indicate that some landowners will change the way they manage their forestland.