Woodland Management

Woodlands face many threats, such as exotic invasive plants, both native and exotic insects and diseases, fragmentation, and poor harvesting practices. Virginia Cooperative Extension offers classes, field tours, seminars, publications, websites and other sources of information to the commonwealth’s private landowners to help them keep their woodlands healthy and productive.

Virginia has 15.9 million acres of woodlands – that’s 63 percent of the total land area. These woodlands provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to Virginians every day. Environmental benefits include clean air and water, soil protection, wildlife habitat, and carbon storage. Economic benefits include more than 103,000 jobs, $17 billion in total industry output, and $8.8 billion in value-added products. The majority of these woodlands (10.1 million acres) are owned by private families.

These woodlands face many threats, such as exotic invasive plants, both native and exotic insects and diseases, fragmentation, and poor harvesting practices. Virginia Cooperative Extension offers classes, field tours, seminars, publications, websites and other sources of information to the commonwealth’s private landowners to help them keep their woodlands healthy and productive.