This conference was offered in October, 2000 with about 100 woodland owners in attendance. The focus was opportunities to produce income in addition to timber -- enterprises such as shiitake mushrooms, medicinal herbs, maple syrup, wood for crafts products, etc. Breakout sessions also include financial and estate planning for woodland owners; recreational and sport uses of woods, etc. Partners included Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service and School of Forestry and Natural Resources; Ohio State University Cooperative Extension Service and School of Natural Resources; University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and Department of Forestry; the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry; and Historic Hoosier Hills.

This study will provide long-term management information and income/expense records for several managed private woodlands in southeastern Indiana, and will demonstrate with figures that long-term hardwood management on suitable soil pays economically. While our state and private foresters know this from years of experience, Indiana has never done this kind of long-term study to provide hard data to back up the experience. The Purdue Extension Forester for southeastern Indiana has identified numerous woodland tracts that have management and financial records going back several decades. The Woodland Committee will help secure funding to pay for the study and for publication of the results.

The Jefferson Proving Ground is a 55,000 U.S. Army munitions testing facility in southeastern Indiana which closed in 1995 after a 55-year history (see Jefferson Proving Ground Heritage Partnership). The north 50,000 acres is too heavily contaminated with unexploded ordnance to clean up and reuse. It was converted to the "Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge" with limited public access under the direction of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The south 5,000 acres has been sold under contract to a local businessman with the exception of a few small tracts which were offered to local units of government for public uses (parks). One tract is a 323-acre wetland woods on the far west side of the south end, which is predominantly Pin oak and has been untouched for over 50 years. The Board of Commissioners of Jefferson County is negotiating with the Department of Defense to secure that 323-acre woods. They plan to contract with Historic Hoosier Hills to manage it as a woodland demonstration site (through our Woodland Committee) and an outdoor classroom (through our Conversation Education Committee).

Verastau was the home of U.S. Senator William Holman in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Verastau is located on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River and the City of Aurora, and includes over 150 acres from the original farm of over 400 acres. Senator Holman was the author of the enabling legislation that created the U.S. Forest System. Verastau has had over 100,000 trees planted on it, mostly in the 1930's. The property is currently owned by the Cornelius O'Brien Foundation and is managed by Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.

Historic Landmarks, Historic Hoosier Hills, and our Woodland Committee partnered to plan and offer a forestry field day in May of 2000. This partnership married the historic preservation and urban forestry aspects of Verastau with the forest management aspects. They plan to hold another field day in May of 2001 and will dedicate a plaque honoring Senator Holman at that field day.