MyWoodlot Website Offers Practical Activities to Boost Landowners’ Enjoyment of their Woods

by Joshua VanBrakle
Most New York farms have at least some wooded acreage. Often those woods “came with the land” when the farmer bought, rented, or inherited the property. But those woods can also be a source of fun, beauty, nature, and income if well-tended, and a new website by the Catskills-based nonprofit Watershed Agricultural Council aims to help farmers and other landowners do just that.
“MyWoodlot is all about helping landowners find woods-related projects they can do either on their own or with the help of a professional,” says Tom Pavlesich, the Council’s Forestry Program Manager.
MyWoodlot starts with broad interests like Nature, Recreation, and Timber Production. Each interest is divided into goals landowners can work toward, with each goal made up of several specific, on-the-ground activities.
“We didn’t want to be just another information source,” explains Pavlesich. “We wanted everything to be actionable.”
Every activity includes links to how-to information to help landowners complete it. That information can take a variety of forms from traditional factsheets to videos, field demonstrations, and even smartphone apps.
Once landowners find activities they want to do, they can save them to a free profile for easy access and to track their progress. They can also ask and answer each other questions through the site’s forum.
To get started exploring MyWoodlot, visit www.mywoodlot.com.