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Coeur d'Alene, ID - The Women in the Woods classes are back! These events give women landowners the opportunity to interact with a lineup of all-women forestry experts, creating an atmosphere where forest management training is tailored to female land managers.
Women landowners have an increasing role in forest management decisions and it’s important they have confidence and skill in managing their family forests.
There will be two classes offered by the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) and the University of Idaho Extension. The first class, the Women in the Woods Workshop, is a classroom day that focuses on supportive resources and funding opportunities for forest landowners.
“We have a new workshop feature this year,” said Erika Eidson, IDL Forest Health Specialist and workshop co-host. “Participants will have the opportunity to bring in photos of their forest, and industry experts will help them assess the condition and set goals.”
The Women in the Woods Workshop will be held Friday, April 5 at the IDL office in Coeur d’Alene from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. While it is geared toward women, anyone is welcome to attend. There are no prerequisites, and no level of baseline knowledge is required.
The second class, the Women in the Woods Field Day, puts participants out in the woods, rotating through different exercises covering forest assessment, ecology, and forest management. The Field Day will be held on May 10 at Pine Street Woods in Sandpoint from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participation in the classroom session is not a prerequisite requirement for signing up.
Working in small groups, participants will rotate through stations learning how to find bark beetles, how to mark trees for removal for different management goals, how to prune trees to protect them from white pine blister rust, and more.
Here is a comment we received from one participant last year:
"The decisions that go into the planting, tending and taking of trees are decisions based on information gathered using the simplest of tools (a hairbrush to reveal a canker!) or the highly sophisticated laser hypsometer. … If yesterday’s event was itself a ‘forest’ it would get high marks in its planting for a strong and diverse stand of women and their contributions to Idaho’s trees!”
What: Women in the Woods Workshop
When: April 5, 2024
Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. PT
Where: Idaho Department of Lands Office Sundance Room
3284 W. Industrial Loop,
Coeur d’Alene Idaho 83815
Cost: $10 adult
Lunch, snacks, and T-shirts will be provided. Registration deadline is March 29.
What: Women in the Woods Field Day
When: May 10, 2024
Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. PT
Where: Pine Street Woods
11915 W Pine St.
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Cost: $10 adult
Lunch and T-shirts will be provided. Registration deadline is May 3.
To register online go to: BIT.LY/clearwater_events
 
Sandy Schlepp provides a chain saw demonstration at the Women's Forestry Workshop in March 2023.
Using hatchets to learn about forest health and bark beetle. Hatchets were donated by Idaho Forest Group.
Discussion about forest management goals and objectives on their land.
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