Helping Landowners Become Better Forest Stewards

“In Montana, private and community forest landowners are responsible for nearly 25% of Montana's forested areas, covering 4.6 million acres of the Treasure State.” (Montana DNRC)

While owning some of Montana’s beautiful forest lands is a privilege, it also comes with a lot of responsibility. Forests require management to keep them healthy and reduce wildfire risks for neighboring communities. For the health and safety of all Montanans, forest landowners must learn how to be a steward of their forests.

Luckily, in Montana, forest landowners have some amazing resources that can assist them in learning more about managing their forests.

A great way to learn about forest management and the resources available is to attend the upcoming 13th Annual Forest Landowners Conference on Friday, May 5, in Helena. The conference is hosted every year by the Montana Forest Stewardship Foundation. The Montana Logging Association is a proud sponsor of this conference that brings loggers, contractors, professional foresters, and others together to engage and educate Montana’s forest landowners. This year’s conference theme is “Becoming a Better Forest Steward.”

Other resources available to Montana’s forest landowners include the Montana Department of Natural Resources (DNRC) Forest Stewardship Program, which offers educational resources and programs, grant funding, financial assistance, and partnership programs.

Also, Montana State University offers an MSU Extension Forestry program. The program's mission is “to provide education and outreach to private family forest landowners, more than 50,000 family forest owners who own 4 million acres of forestland” in Montana. (MSU Extension Forestry)

The Montana Logging Association is also a great resource, representing over 500 professional timber harvesters who are dedicated stewards of our forests, committed to caring for and protecting Montana’s forests through responsible management. If you are a Montana forest landowner, do not hesitate to reach out. We are here to help! Contact us by emailing mla@logging.org.