Over eighty-five percent of Connecticut’s forest belongs not to the state or federal governments, but to tens of thousands of other owners: individuals, families, land trusts, municipalities, and industries. The Connecticut Division of Forestry is available to provide professional and technical assistance to these owners.

The Division’s Service Foresters are experienced, knowledgeable professionals who can visit your forest, gather information and start you on the path to a rewarding long term forest stewardship program. Service Foresters can spend up to one full day per calendar year with a given landowner for no charge. At least a couple hours of that time should be spent with you, learning where the property boundaries are and discussing your goals, interests and concerns. The Service Forester can provide you with:

A FOREST COVER MAP: A map delineating the different types of tree and shrub communities that exist in your forest.

STEWARDSHIP OPTIONS: A brief but invaluable listing of possible activities you could undertake that would help you reach your goals and enjoy your forest more. Some of these options will be specific to particular forest cover types, and others may involve your entire forest.

RECOMMENDED ACTION STEPS: This “where to go from here” information will include concrete steps you can take to follow up on any or all of your stewardship options. It may include sources of additional information on specific topics, or other resource professionals who can help.

Taking advantage of the Division of Forestry’s Cooperative Forest Management Program requires that you invest about a half-day in your forest. But as you can see, there is probably no better investment a forest owner could make.

MAKING AN APPOINTMENT

To make an appointment for land within the Heritage Corridor, contact:

Sherwood R. Raymond
Goodwin State Forest
23 Potter Road
Hampton, CT 06247
Phone: 860-455-0699
Fax: 860-455-0699
email: sherwood.raymond@po.state.ct.us