At the Finley Center: Reflections on the 6th Biennial Forest Landowners Conference

For me, the 6th Biennial Forest Landowners Conference can be summed up by one phrase: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” I was hired as Conference Coordinator in February 2024, not knowing much, if anything, about the team of all-stars I was joining. I was quickly impressed by the professionalism, kindness, and support of the amazing Finley Center staff and the array of forestry professionals and volunteers that I had the privilege of working with to bring the conference to life. One year of planning and hard work later and I am proud to say that the 2025 Forest Landowners Conference was a huge success! If you attended, I hope your experience was as great as mine was. Here are some highlights:

This year, we tried something new and teamed up with Penn State Extension to schedule the conference side-by-side with their Forest Health, Insect, and Disease Briefing. Coordinating these two events in tandem meant that landowners ready to take a deeper dive into forest health topics could come a day early and partake in the Briefing, and those attending the Briefing could extend their stay and join in the Landowners Conference. A win-win for all involved! 

Our team of speakers really brought the heat on Friday with over 60 presentations throughout the day. Lots of folks had a hard time choosing a presentation each session because there were so many good options! A frustrating dilemma indeed, but that just meant we did our planning job well! During the morning and afternoon breaks, it was great to see participants using the time to connect with their peers, ask follow-up questions, and gather information from the organizations and businesses in the exhibit hall. As if that wasn’t enough, the day also included two amazing keynote speakers. A lunchtime address from Vermont forester Ethan Tapper energized us all to connect with our forests and love our land through active management. And then what a joy it was to listen to National Geographic Explorer Nalini Nadkarni at dinner as she spoke with passion and enthusiasm, weaving a beautiful story about the ways people all over the world find connection with trees. The conference wrapped up on Saturday after a busy morning of tours and workshops made possible by another round of presenters and a great team of transportation folks. Both days saw an impressive array of topics, speakers, and learning opportunities. The over 400 attendees left for home energized, full of new knowledge, and with an itch to learn more, do more, and enjoy their woods! 

When it was all said and done, the all-star team turned out to be much larger than I anticipated: 25 planning committee members, 28 sponsors, 35 exhibitors, more than 65 presenters, and a slew of others. Every individual involved contributed to the success of the conference, and to each of them I say, THANK YOU! We really hit it out of the park!

Written by Rachel Yoder, Conference Coordinator, James C. Finley Center for Private Forests at Penn State.