At the Finley Center: Making the Most of Summer and Fall

By Allyson Muth, Director, James C. Finley Center for Private Forests at Penn State

Summer and fall prove to be a busy time of year at the Finley Center as we carry our work across the state and beyond. We’re doing research out in the field, hosting workshops and meetings, attending conferences, and supporting partner efforts.

This summer, the Pennsylvania Forest Stewards held two regional meetings for fellow volunteers and their guests. Dale Spitzer hosted us in Tioga County and Tim and Sandi Troup hosted us in Armstrong County. Between the two events, 55 volunteers joined us for continued learning and fellowship. Our thanks to our hosts! At the very end of summer, we hosted the 2023 class of PA Forest Stewards for four days of basic training in Westmoreland County. Twenty-five new volunteers joined the complement with lots of enthusiasm and learning to take home to their own land and share with others. As with all classes, we’re excited to see how they will use and spread what they learned.

We also launched an undergraduate research project at Fuller’s Overlook in northeastern PA during the summer months, thanks to the generosity of Mort and Sue Fuller. With a focus on restoring degraded forest stands, we hired an undergraduate research intern and spent several days in the field collecting baseline data to assess current stand condition. Our plan is to use this site and research as a demonstration or model to highlight small-scale restoration efforts when forest stands are threatened by forest pests.

In June, PhD candidate Sasha Soto and Finley Center director Allyson Muth traveled to the International Association for Society and Natural Resources conference in Portland, ME, where Sasha shared her work as part of a special session on private forests and forest landowners hosted in memory of Jim Finley. Her presentation, and the special session, were both very well received, and Sasha continues her analysis and writing toward the completion of her degree.

In September, we began offering presentations about the results of the data coming out of the 2021 Pennsylvania Forest Landowners Survey. Two presentations, one to the Westmoreland Woodlands Improvement Association and one to the Western PA Consulting and Industrial Foresters Conference, reached 60 attendees, updating our understanding about the forest landowner population in general, how things have changed in the 10 years since the last survey, and how we can make use of what we’re learning about the landowner population. Many more opportunities to share this data are being planned for 2024.

Looking Ahead

The PA Forest Stewards volunteer program, started in 1991, began its “futuring” efforts, making sure that our volunteer program best meets the needs of its 500-plus active volunteers and the needs of the larger forest stewardship community, and that the Finley Center and our partners are best supporting the volunteers and their work. Benchmarking our program against others around the nation, surveys and conversations with our volunteer corps, and mapping how the PA Forest Stewards fit within the larger forest stewardship network are all steps that will lead us to a more resilient program into the future. We expect this project to be completed at the beginning of 2025.

The Finley Center also launched a new research study in partnership with Dr. Margot Kaye within the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. Titled “Social and Ecological Capacity of Small and Medium Forests for Ecosystem Services,” this applied research project will evaluate forest landowners’ desire and capacity to manage for multiple ecosystem services; quantify the capacity of small forests to provide ecosystem services of timber and non-timber forest products, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat; and then combine this research to identify forest management and landowner assistance strategies best suited to encourage management for ecosystem services.

We also continue to work in partnership with numerous other forest stewardship-focused organizations and agencies to pursue grants and programming that will enable us to expand our peer-to-peer learning efforts, strengthen relationships with and cultivate resources for natural resources professionals, and work to create resources that best support our mission and vision.

Annual Giving Opportunities

The Finley Center’s many accomplishments would not be possible without the generous support of our donors. Contributions to the Center endowment enable us to undertake research and scholarship; inspire stewardship values and practices; expand the size of the community dedicated to forest stewardship; and strengthen connections among professionals, policy makers, and landowners interested in caring well for the woods.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Finley Center, visit the Center’s donation website at https://raise.psu.edu/FinleyCenterNews or scan the QR code below.

On November 28, the Finley Center will also be participating in the ninth Penn State Giving Tuesday celebration. This annual day of giving provides alumni, students, families, and friends an opportunity to learn about and support the Center and many other programs across the university. Follow the Center on social media (@finleyprivateforests on Facebook and Instagram) for information on when this initiative will go live and how to access the Giving Tuesday website.

Thank you for your generous support of our work and for being part of the Penn State community.