These services include:
planting trees
converting lawn to edge habitat
converting lawn to woodland
controlling invasive insect and plant species
improving aesthetics
improving natural area recreational opportunities
To view the providers listed in the Natural Area Management Services Providers Directory, please click on the "View Directory" button below. Providers are listed by service and alphabetically.
If you would like your listing to be included in our Natural Area Management Services Providers Directory, or need to update it, please click on the "Submission Form" button below. All submissions will be reviewed before being added to the Directory.
Please note that the mention of, the visual representation, or the referred reference to a service or organization in this directory does not imply endorsement by the author or any of the partners. The exclusion does not imply a negative evaluation. Descriptions are provided by the supplier, and not verified or monitored by the University of Maryland Extension.
Green industry businesses include landscape contractors, landscape architect companies, arborists, foresters, and other related businesses. Land care practices considered as natural area management services include invasive plant control, tree planting, forest health improvement, wildlife habitat, trail constructions, as well portable sawmill services and firewood.
Natural area management services, or NAMS, provide an opportunity to expand services to existing small acreage clients and to develop new clients. Many of the practices can be done in the off-season and provide income streams not previously available. This is a new area and the actual demand for these services is still unknown. The directory will be provided to thousands of small acreage owners who have participated in the University of Maryland Extension's "The Woods In Your Backyard" educational programs. The directory will contain a variety of NAMS categories, so if your business offers more than one service, it can be found in more than one place in the directory.
NAMS, or "natural area management services," include invasive plant control, tree planting, forest health improvement, wildlife habitat, trail constructions, as well portable sawmill services and firewood.
The original The Woods In Your Backyard guide was published in 2006 and helps landowners learn how to develop sustainable outcomes for their properties. However, many of the land care practices suggested are difficult for landowners to implement, which encouraged the need for training service providers. The Woods In Your Backyard Partnership developed a training program targeted to interested green industry professionals on NAMS in 2020. It included the Woodland Health Practices Handbook, that provides detailed instruction on clientele and land care practices and the Woodland Health Assessment Checklist that providers can use with clientele to help identify areas of concern regarding forest health and appropriate management actions.
The NAMS training program included two webinars series targeted to green industry professionals: one in fall, 2020 and another in spring, 2021. All of the webinars are available free of charge for viewing at: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/natural-area-management-services-webinar-series.
The directory is completely online and available through our website. Select the "View Directory" button near the top of this page, or go here:
