Sep 22, 2023 2 min read

Mark Mamros, of McMurray, was one of twenty-five volunteers who completed the Pennsylvania Forest Stewards Volunteer Program’s training in early September after participating in a four-day workshop on forest stewardship at Ligonier Camp in Westmoreland County.

Mark participated in this innovative program in which trained volunteers promote forest stewardship in their communities by relaying what they’ve learned to their friends, neighbors and community groups. Volunteers help spread the word about good forest stewardship, wisely caring for and judiciously using the forest resources today without compromising its ability to provide in the future. Pennsylvania Forest Stewards encourage landowners to base their land stewardship activities on their own values and objectives, such as reforestation, wildlife habitat, aesthetic values, water resources protection and improvement, timber and recreation, as well as to make well-informed decisions in caring for the land.

To become a volunteer, Mark completed more than twenty-four hours of classroom and field training in forest and wildlife management, ecology, biodiversity, silviculture, forest invasives, communication and other stewardship-related subjects. In exchange for the training, volunteers agree to invest a like amount of time relaying what they have learned to others in their community.

Volunteers work closely with other volunteers, woodland owner associations, DCNR Bureau of Forestry Service Foresters, Penn State Extension Foresters and other stakeholders. Volunteers promote forest stewardship through outreach opportunities that mesh their interests and expertise with a perceived need in the community. PA Forest Stewards volunteers are essential in spreading a stewardship ethic across the state.

Pennsylvania’s program is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and is administered through the James C. Finley Center for Private Forests at Penn State in cooperation with other government and private resource agencies, including Penn State’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and Penn State’s Forestry and Wildlife Extension Team.

To date, 823 volunteers throughout Pennsylvania have successfully completed the PA Forest Stewards training. To learn more about the PA Forest Stewards volunteer program, contact the Center for Private Forests at Penn State toll-free at 1-800-235-9473 or visit the website at ecosystems.psu.edu/research/centers/private-forests/outreach/pennsylvania-forest-stewards.