Ohio Ag News Headlines Train for Woodland Jobs: Sign Up by March 15 Ohio Ag Connection - 03/11/2010 There's work available in the woods, and an upcoming workshop can help you train for it. Sponsored by Ohio State University Extension, "Woodland Improvement Vendor Training" takes place from March 22-24 in the Gwynne Conservation Area at the university's Molly Caren Agricultural Center, 640 Arbuckle Rd. W., near London. Managing invasive species -- tree-of-heaven, multiflora rose, bush honeysuckle and others -- is the focus. "There are currently cost-share monies available to woodland owners to work on eradicating their invasive species," said Kathy Smith, coordinator of OSU Extension's Ohio Woodland Stewards Program and one of the workshop's instructors. "But there seems to be a lack of vendors available for those landowners who want to work on their invasives but need to hire someone to do the work either because they don't have time or the skills to do it themselves," she said. The class will train people for that work. And it will help existing landscape businesses expand to offer the service. Common timber improvement practices will be covered, and part of the course will focus on preparing for the Core and General Forest Pest Control tests of the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) Commercial Applicator license program. Participants who pass the ODA tests will be eligible to receive their Ohio Pesticide License (Commercial Applicator). Registration costs $75 per person and is due by Monday, March 15. Included in the cost are course materials, continental breakfast and lunch all three days, double-occupancy lodging at the Holiday Inn Express near London (State Route 42 and Interstate 70), and ODA Commercial Applicator license fees. Register and pay online at http://woodlandstewards.osu.edu. Call 614-688-3421 or e-mail ohiowoods@osu.edu for more information. The workshop is supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The schedule: - Day 1: Overview of the problem; sources of assistance and cost-sharing; introduction to common invasives. - Day 2: Control methods; herbicide types; equipment demonstrations; techniques and hands-on practice. - Day 3: Business basics; matching tools and techniques to common Ohio invasives; a visit to infested sites to develop strategies for managing invasives and for timber stand improvement. OSU Extension sponsors the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program in cooperation with ODNR's Division of Forestry to teach people about trees, forests, and how to know and manage them. Goals include helping landowners make well-informed forest-management decisions and ultimately even healthier forests. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Copyright © 2010 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.