Changes and More Changes

Welcome to a new issue of Branching Out. First, let me thank everyone who took time to participate in our reader and subscriber survey after our Winter 2023 issue. We received more than 150 responses. They included a number of valuable observations and provided feedback to our questions. We’re still in the process of crunching the numbers, but the survey’s results will lead to some changes to the newsletter in the coming issues.

Another change came earlier this year when John Hooven was hired to fill the role of Forest Stewardship Educator and MD-DE Master Logger Program Coordinator. John is duty-stationed at the Wye Research and Education Center, and comes to forestry after more than 20 years in commercial real estate. After taking his core courses part-time at a community college, he enrolled full-time and graduated magna cum laude in 2021, in spite of all of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. His areas of study include forest ecology, silviculture, dendrology, forest pathology, forest entomology, mosses and mycology. John is also an active member of the Society of American Foresters. Read more about him below, and read his first contribution to the newsletter on page 2. You can contact him via email at jhooven@umd.edu or by phone at(443) 446-4257 Ext. 125.

Meet John Hooven

 John Hooven joins Extension from the Maryland DNR Forest Service, where he served as the Somerset County forester. He started as a New Jersey Woodland Steward in 2015, and by 2017 he was not only facilitating the program but had also been elected vice president of the New Jersey Forestry Association. His interest in forest ecology grew out of his time in the woods as a youngster as well as his participation in UME’s “The Woods in Your Backyard” online course in spring 2017. He enrolled as a full-time forestry student at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2019 and following his graduation, worked with the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. John is an avid writer and photographer, and enjoys biking, hiking, outdoor walks and many other forms of outdoor recreation. Welcome aboard!

John will also contribute to our revamped monthly webinar series. The name has been simplified to “Wildlife Wednesdays,” but will continue to include topics of interest to woodland owners, especially those involved in creating habitat for wildlife. We will continue to share the webinars on our website at https://extension.umd.edu/resource/wildlife-wednesdays-webinar-series and on the WSE YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/UMdFSE. Additionally, Wildlife Wednesdays can be found on the new “Maryland Wildlife Management YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@marylandwildlifemanagement2312,  which includes the recordings from 2022’s Delmarva Woodland Stewards training there as well.

So stay tuned to changes to Branching Out and to the Woodland Stewardship Education program. We look forward to continue to serve your needs in 2023 and beyond.