Technical Field Tours

CLOSED Urban Forestry Walking Tour (T1)
Wednesday, September 30 – 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Fee: $85 (includes, lunch, snacks, and beverages)
The Walt Disney World technical field workshop will be a one-of-a-kind event. The tour will start off at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Be prepared for a two-hour walking tour of the unique trees and their contribution to this adventure park. Next you will be visiting the Walt Disney World Nursery. See the backstage facility that produces the unique horticulture products guests see in the parks. Also at the Nursery, listen to a presentation on the arboriculture challenges in managing a diverse tree population. Lastly, you will end the day with another walking tour of Epcot Center. We will discover how the trees contribute to the theming around the World Showcase Lagoon and their installation and maintenance stories.

CLOSED Novel Uses and Production of Novel Forest Trees (T2)
Wednesday, September 30 – 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Fee: $85 (includes, lunch, snacks, and beverages)
Forests and forest trees are increasingly being used in novel applications. This tour will visit sites where forests trees are being used for windbreaks to protect high-value agricultural crops, for mulch in landscape operations, to remediate disturbed lands, and to grow biomass for energy purposes. You will learn about tree improvements, through micro-propagation and nursery operations for eucalyptus, which is considered a species of world-wide importance.

Breaking New Ground: Innovative Recreation and Visitor Management Strategies on the Ocala National Forest (T3)
Sunday, October 4 – 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Fee: $85 (includes transportation, lunch, snacks, and beverages)
Sponsored by Recreation Working Group (F2)
The Ocala National Forest is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi; however, managers struggle with a variety of modern social issues that face many forests throughout the United States. You will see the new designated trail system developed to help managers gain control of the rapidly growing off-highway vehicle use of the Ocala. You will also see how managers struggle with intense nonmotorized recreation use which will include the restoration of a riparian area that was closed due to unacceptable impacts and highly used developed and wilderness recreation areas. Finally, you will experience and learn about the unique fire-dependent scrub ecosystem and its associated endangered species.

CLOSED Hydrology Tour: Silviculture Best Management Practices and Wetland Restoration Implementation on Florida’s State Forests (T4)
Sunday, October 4 – 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Fee: $85 (includes transportation, lunch, snacks and beverages)
Tour participants will travel 50 miles west to the Withlacoochee State Forest, where they will see examples of collaborative wetland restoration activities by the Florida Division of Forestry and Florida Department of Environmental Protection and recent applications of Florida’s Silviculture Best Management Practices. Tour discussions will focus on Florida’s wetland mitigation program, Florida’s Silviculture BMP Rule 5I-6, and the regulatory role of the state’s five Water Management Districts regarding silviculture and restoration operations on forestlands. In addition to the variety of native wildlife species such as gopher tortoises, wading birds, and alligators they’re likely to see during the tour, participants will also see plenty of fish while they enjoy lunch at the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s new Bass Conservation Center on the Richloam Tract, one of the oldest publicly-managed forest tracts in the state.

Forest Health Issues in Florida's Public and Urban Interface Forests (T5)
Sunday, October 4 – 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Fee: $85 (includes transportation, lunch, snacks, and beverages)
Traverse Seminole and Lake George State Forests, visit Deleon Springs State Park, and the Ocala National Forest; lunch at Alexander Springs. View and discuss insect (bark and ambrosia beetles), disease (pitch canker, Armillaria, Phytophthora, Inonotus, Raffaelea), and non-native invasive pest plant (Brazilian pepper, air potato, cogongrass) issues affecting Florida’s public and urban interface forests. Interact with local forest health specialists and resource managers. Enjoy Florida forests and scrub jays.

Fire in Central Florida Ecosystems (T6)
Sunday, October 4 – 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Fee: $85 (includes transportation, lunch, snacks and beverages)
Natural ecosystems in central Florida are adapted to short fire return intervals from both lightning and human ignitions, and rapid vegetative regrowth keeps those systems prone to fire. Yet, rapid development and residential expansion have created vast areas of wildland-urban interface (WUI) in which fire and fuels management are both required and compromised. This tour will feature management of forested ecosystems with fire and WUI issues and considerations in this rapidly urbanizing context.