When you think of Indiana agriculture, crops and livestock may come to mind. But Indiana’s forests and woodlands are also important to the state’s ag industry. That’s why the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners Association (IFWOA) is dedicated to conservation and sustainable management of woodlands in Indiana.
“We’re advocating for good stewardship of our forest lands. We want to make sure that they’re taken well care of and that woodland owners have the tools they need to be successful,” says Liz Jackson, Executive Director of the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners Association.
She says of the five million acres of forests across Indiana, four million acres are privately owned by fellow Hoosiers.
“Woodlands are owned primarily for recreation, for the legacy of sharing with their family and passing on to their family, for wildlife habitat, and just enjoying nature. We want to help them be successful at that,” says Jackson.
She says the IFWOA provides several resources for the owners of Indiana’s forests.
“We give them an opportunity to share ideas with like-minded woodland owners,” says Jackson. “We also talk a lot about how they can cover their annual expenses. When you own a woodland property, you have annual expenses such as property taxes and maintenance fees. If you’re going to reap any income off of it—those trees are only harvested every 20 to 60 years—every landowner has to find a way to cover those expenses on an annual basis. We want to make sure that they’re able to keep that property and not have to sell it due to not being able to cover those expenses.”
Jackson adds that the organization also connects forest owners across Indiana with one another.
“We have statewide district foresters that work for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. That is free assistance that’s available to everyone,” says Jackson. “We also maintain a professional foresters directory and it’s a compendium of all the professional foresters in the state that can provide advice for a fee. We like to direct people to that technical advice that can help them get off on the right foot and really get started.”
Learn more about the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners Association at IFWOA.org.
Click HERE for the Directory of Professional Foresters, provided by the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners Association.
Click below to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.
