The Alabama Cooperative Extension System continues its award-winning Natural Resources Webinar Series in 2023. A product of the system’s forestry, wildlife, and natural resources management (FWNR) team, this webinar series has significantly expanded reach and impact since its inception in 2020.
A new webinar will be available every other Wednesday throughout 2023. Visit the Natural Resources Webinar Series page for more information about webinar dates and online registration.
What is the Natural Resources Webinar Series?
Alabama Extension’s Natural Resources Webinar Series offers free online presentations and question/answer sessions for anyone interested in natural resources management. The webinar series was created in 2020 by Alabama Extension FWNR agents Bence Carter and Norm Haley to offer a convenient, remote option for natural resources programming.
Haley said natural resources management is a broad topic that appeals to a wide range of audiences.
“We try to incorporate a wide array of topics and speakers to provide updates and how-tos for all types of natural resources management, as well as goals that landowners and managers can apply on their own properties,” Haley said.
What to expect
This series consists of 25 biweekly webinars presented via Zoom. Each webinar is approximately one hour in length—including a 45-minute presentation and 15 minutes of a live question and answer session. Webinars are facilitated by Alabama Extension. Presenters include Extension personnel and experts from other agencies or universities, as well as USDA and state government agencies.
Carter said program participation has increased 41% since its inaugural release two years ago. Some of the most popular natural resources webinars have included topics such as forestry pests, trophy pond management strategies, prescribed fire and ticks as well as quail ecology and management.
“This increase in attendance is a testimony to the value the series provides,” Carter said. “We see a lot of repeat attendance and they are spreading the word with others. It’s been fun to see it grow and know we are helping people.”
Approximately half of the webinar attendees participate in the course’s live broadcast. Each registrant receives a link to the recording. This option is a convenient way to learn on an individual’s preferred timeline.
The impacts
There have been many accomplishments since the Natural Resources Webinar Series began. Carter said one of the standouts is the amount of land in Alabama that attendees report owning or managing.
“The attendees of this series represent approximately 4,039,111 acres. That’s 17.6% of Alabama’s forestland,” Carter said. “Nearly 70% of the attendees report implementing a practice discussed in the series.”
The series also provides foresters and loggers an opportunity to receive free education credits to maintain their certification.
More information
Extension’s Natural Resources Webinar Series was recognized by the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals with the 2022 silver award for televised conference-video conference category. This webinar series is exclusively sponsored by the Alabama TREASURE Forest Association.
Learn more about this program and others by visiting Alabama Extension’s website, www.aces.edu.
