Join us in Pittsburgh for the National Tree Farmer Convention!

Get a first-hand look at innovative methods for controlling invasive pests. Learn how to build your own bluebird box. Find out how to conduct a small-scale harvest. Discover how to identify wildflowers, carve wood and maintain a bat habitat on your Tree Farm. Reconnect with long-time Tree Farmer friends, and make new ones.

These are just a small sample of the exciting opportunities at the 2014 National Tree Farmer Convention, which will be held in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 17 to 19.

The convention, hosted by the Pennsylvania Tree Farm Committee, will feature an information-packed agenda, plus plenty of time to socialize and have fun with fellow Tree Farmers. Home base will be the Westin Convention Center, conveniently located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s lively cultural district.

Come early and experience some unique Pittsburgh sights and traditions through optional preconference tours. The convention officially kicks off on July 17 and, for the first time, we’re condensing all of the hotel-based sessions into the two opening days. A full program of conference tracks will focus on forest health, wildlife and recreation, and planning for the future. By popular demand, we will again offer a track geared to the concerns of women Tree Farmers.

The two days of hotel-based activities will culminate with the National Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year awards banquet on Friday night. The host committee will also sponsor the ever-popular silent auction, with a chance to win beautiful and unique items donated by members of the Pennsylvania Tree Farm community and our partners throughout the country.

The final day of the convention will be a fun-filled Field Day hosted by John and Maureen Burnham— Pennsylvania’s 2010 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year—at their Burnham Woodlot near Pittsburgh. With the assistance of the host committee, the Burnhams are planning more than 30 activities, offering something to appeal to the interests of almost every convention-goer. Planned activities include:

• Four different programs focusing on how Tree Farmers can inspire young people to learn about and appreciate woodlands. “We want to encourage adults to reach out to kids so they can carry on as the next generation of Tree Farmers,” says John Burnham.

• An opportunity to tour the Pennsylvania WoodMobile, a mobile exhibit on Pennsylvania’s forests.

• A chance to learn about smallscale timber harvests. “Every Tree Farmer I know has a log he’d like to cut up and make something out of, so we have a lot of activities relating to small-scale harvest, like using chainsaws, operating a small sawmill and drying wood,” says Burnham.

• A look at what the Burnhams are doing to control their “wide portfolio of invasives,” including an innovative technique to control the highly invasive ailanthus (Tree of Heaven) by inoculating trees with a killing fungus.

• Sessions on wildlife, including the boxes the Burnhams use to attract insect-eating bats to their Tree Farm, and the bluebird boxes they have erected to protect the eastern bluebird. “Everyone who comes will have an opportunity to build their own bluebird house,” says Maureen Burnham.

• A demonstration on setting up field cameras for those interested in the wildlife that visits their woodlands.

• An “Art in the Woods” watercolor demonstration.

• Sessions on wildflower identification, bee-keeping and wood carving.

• A delicious catered lunch with live music by the popular local bluegrass band, the Stillhouse Pickers.

You and your family won’t want to miss this informative and entertaining event—so visit www.treefarmsystem.org/tree-farmer-convention and register today!