Summer 1999 Volume 8, Number 3
inwoodlands.org
by Stewart Turner, Webmaster
The internet has made great inroads into our society. Information of the world is at our finger tips. Information as varied as complex chemical formulas to the most recent gossip about the royal family. The internet has changed the way we do business, we can now shop from the privacy of our home, we can chat with distant relatives at no cost, or find information on most all topics.
Forest management information is available along with thousands of other topics related to the management of your forestland. Here in Indiana several people and organizations saw the need to provide information on the management of Indiana's fine hardwood forests. There are several sites that might provide bits and pieces of information but not the whole picture.
With this in mind the Indiana Woodland Steward Institute applied for a grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry to create a web page to meet the needs of the woodland owners in Indiana. With input and funding from several forestry organizations, IDNR Forestry, Purdue University, Indiana Forest and Woodland Owners Association, Indiana Society of American Foresters, U.S. Forest Service, Indiana Tree Farm Committee, Indiana Association of Consulting Foresters, Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association, Indiana Forest Industry Council, and Indiana League of Resource Conservation & Development, the basic idea and name for the web site was developed.
Over thirty years ago the internet was started as a military research project. The intent of the project was to provide a way to communicate after a nuclear war. It was decided that any efficient network would be vulnerable to direct attack and destruction thus disabling the communication link. A solution was proposed not to have a central location for this network but to have several hubs that all function alike, passing information from hub to hub. If a hub was destroyed the other hubs would pick up it's work. The entire system was not dependent on any one hub. This system was not very efficient but very safe from failing.
These links provided a network of the world's most powerful computers of the 1970's. This link was mostly to military researchers and universities. Quickly it become evident that sharing computer time was not the most valuable use of the net but sending messages and ideas was more important. The net evolved rather quickly out of the military only use into the university and private sectors.
Now the internet is an entity of it's own. There is no governing board, or person in charge. It grows at it's own pace and direction.
Today 70-128 million Americans access the internet. Sixty eight percent of the users are over the age of 30, nineteen percent are over the age of 50. Forty two percent make over $50,000 pery ear. Presently 1/4 of the household in the United States are online and the figure is expected to climb to 67% by the end of 2003. Forty six percent of the home computers are primarily used for internet access. More and more people get their information from the internet.
The Indiana Woodland Steward Institute was facing a problem, it had more names on it's mailing list than it had money to purchase postage. Some of this burden was relieved by contributions from individuals that are currently receiving the newsletter free of charge. Another idea to ease the burden on postage was to provide the newsletter over the internet.
November of 1998 equipment was purchased and the process was started. A name was selected and a direction was determined for the page, inwoodlands.org was selected because it would be easy to remember. It was determined that a domain was needed to secure this name. A rough outline and the 'look' of the web site was worked out.
The goal for the site is to provide information to the woodland owner to help them manage their forest land. The site had to be easy to use and quick to load. Content was deemed more important than a flashy fancy site.
The site is divided into several major sections. The current WOODLAND STEWARD newsletter articles are on the homepage. Post articles are archived, articles prior to the start of the website are being added as completed. Next the site is divided into 8 areas of concern to woodland owners. The sites are woodland management, forestry organizations, forest industry, technical assistance, forest education, insect and diseases, links, and calendar of events.
Woodland management covers tree planting, timber stand improvement, timber sales, timber and property taxes, and management plans. These topics explore the cost of projects, cost-share, who can help, contracts, price reports, programs and recommendations. This area is mostly completed and on the web.
Forestry organizations are links to the various organizations that support the WOODLAND STEWARD INSTITUTE. Links are provided to their homepages.
Technical assistance provides information on the people that can assist woodland owners in managing their forest land. This includes links and info on district foresters, extension foresters, NRCS, FSA, wildlife biologist, and consultant foresters. This area explains the difference between the various agencies and people.
Forest industry tries to explain the area of the industry that a landowner may be exposed to when managing their forest. Timber buyers, loggers, sawmills, veneer mills, and the secondary industry are defined.
Information for teachers or parents wishing to teach kids about the forest is covered in the forest education section. This area is called Teachers on the website. This area will contain suggestions for projects and lesson plans for teachers.
Insects and diseases will highlight the insects and diseases that a woodland owner might encounter in their forest or plantation. This area will be divided into three sections, spring, summer and fall problems.
Like any website some favorite links will be provided. These will be links to forestry related websites that might be useful to the forest landowner.
A calendar of events is included to provide information on forestry meetings and programs around Indiana. These might include field days, workshops, woodland tours, classes or SWCD meetings. This is an interactive site where programs can be added, so get your event on the web.
March of 1999 the site was completed enough to start adding it to the most common search engines. Yahoo, Lycos, Altavista, and Hotbot were some of the search engines that were targeted. Since then the site has been picked up by several other search engines. The site is linked by two other sites at this time, Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources homepage and the IDNR forestry homepage.
With this limited exposure the site has had about 1500 hits since December 1998. During July of 1999 the site received 625 hits. The website committee is now starting to advertise the site so an increase is expected as more people learn about the site. Currently the site receives about 20 hits a day. These hits come from bookmarks, search engines and linked sites. People find the site with search engines searching on various subjects. Most visitors are looking for information on tree planting, hardwood trees, or selling timber. Users of Windows Internet Explorer visit the site more than, visitors using Netscape. Also Windows users visit more than Apple users.
During July the site received its first award. Recognition from Studyweb as one of the best educational resources on the web. Studyweb is a research site for educators and students.
In the future the site will evolve into a useful tool for the forestland owner and for the organizations that are helping landowners manage their property. Pages will be added as needed, others will be modified to increase use. User feedback and use will guide the committee in future development of the site. There is an E-Mail link on the homepage to communicate with the webmaster. Use this link to express your thoughts, likes or dislikes.
As the information super highway expands, information will be available to more and more people. Computers will be in more households and used by more forest landowners. With continued support the Indiana Woodland Institute can provide this information on the web.