About

Forester in wetland measures tupelo tree girth

The Extension Forestry program, housed in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, provides forestry and natural resources education, technical assistance, programming, and awareness to a diverse audience including an estimated 132,000 private forest landowners who own 3.7 million acres or 82-percent of all forest land in Illinois.

The Extension Forestry program works statewide in Illinois. Offices are on campus and at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center. In addition to traditional Extension and outreach, the Extension Forestry program also teaches undergraduate courses in dendrology and chainsaw safety, conducts applied natural resource research, and maintains multiple demonstration sites and projects.

Extension Forestry also administers the Illinois Big Tree Program and the recently developed Citizen Big Tree Inspector initiative.

Forestry Programs and Training

Chainsaw safety and directional felling
Invasive species identification and management
Forest management and restoration
Timber harvesting and timber tax
Maple syrup collection and processing
Plant / tree identification
Forest health and mitigation
Agroforestry

Ongoing Programs

Tri-State Forest Stewardship Conference
Southern Illinois Conservation Workshop 2020 workshop presentations
Illinois Invasive Species Symposium 2020 presentations, 2019 presentations
Backyard Maple Syrup Workshop
Spring Webinar Series webinar recordings
Southern Illinois Beginning Forest Landowner Program

Annual Reports

The Illinois Extension Forestry Program is supported, in part, through the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA). Each year, Illinois Extension Forestry produces a summary that highlights some of the programs and activities supported through the RREA program.