Session 1 – March 23, 2026 (In Person)

San Juan Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Course

Agenda

Introduction to Coached Planning

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Kevin Zobrist (WSU Extension)

Break

1:00 – 1:10 p.m.

Native Trees of Western Washington

1:10 – 2:25 p.m.
Kevin Zobrist (WSU Extension)

Wrap-Up

2:25 – 2:30 p.m.

Speaker Contact Info:

Kevin Zobrist – WSU Extension: 425-231-4524, kevin.zobrist@wsu.edu

Learn More and Work on Your Plan

Recommended Activities

  1. Review the Welcome Letter
  2. Make sure you are able to completely fill out the Intro to Coached Planning Worksheet.
  3. Read through some of the sample plans on the course resources website to familiarize yourself with what a stewardship plan looks like. Are there any samples that seem to fit your style/objectives/property that you would like to use as a template for your own plan?
  4. Following the Forest Stewardship Plan Guidelines, prepare the Cover Page of your plan. You can use the Forest Stewardship Plan Template (Word Doc) to get started if you wish.
  5. Scope out your landowner objectives. What are your hopes, intentions, and/or expectations for your property? How do you want your forest to look and function in 5, 10, 20 years and beyond? If you are managing your property jointly with someone else (e.g., family member, neighbor), discuss your management objectives together.
  6. Complete the Landowner Objectives section of your plan using the Objectives Section Examples as a guide. Differentiate between underlying objectives and the action items to achieve those objectives (which will come later in the plan). If it starts with a verb, it is probably an action item and not the ultimate objective.
  7. Using the General Property Description Examples as a guide, draft as much of the General Property Description section of your plan as you can. Identify any facts or information that you need to gather to complete this. You do not need to identify and describe stands yet – we will talk about this next week.
  8. Take a walk in your woods and practice identifying trees. How many different species do you have on your property? Take photos or samples and share them with an instructor if there are any you cannot identify.

Recommended publications for further learning

  1. Forestry Education and Assistance for Washington Forest and Woodland Property Owners (there is also a hard copy with your materials)
  2. Native Trees of Western Washington (book)

Connect Online

Check out these additional resources that are available to you online:

  1. Browse the WSU Extension Forestry website and start familiarizing yourself with the resources there. You will be utilizing this website throughout the class. Look especially at the
    WSU Extension Forestry Resources page to get an idea of the resources available to you as a forest owner.