TRR photo by Tom Kane Master forest owner Ken Stewart at his farm in Roscoe. (Click for larger image)

By TOM KANE

ROSCOE - There are master gardeners who educate people about gardens and there are master forest owners who educate people about their woods.

One such master forest owner is Ken Stewart, a former Roscoe dairy farmer.

Just as the master gardeners learn their craft and earn their credentials from a course through Cornell University, master forest owners do the same.

"It's a course that has created stewards for the forests whose job it is to educate people about their trees and shrubs," Stewart said.

Far more than a course has been the source of Stewart's knowledge, however.

"I've been interested in trees and shrubs for the last 60 years," he said.

Stewart's great, great, great grandfather, Jehial Stewart who was a Revolutionary War veteran, moved to Roscoe in 1789 and set up a dairy farm. Stewart had to close down the farm in 1992 when he developed "farmer's lung," a disease caused by breathing in grain dust.

That's when he started concentrating on forests.

Healthy forests have been an asset to Sullivan County for years. Last year, forestry products brought over $5 million into the county's economy.

Giant logging trucks laden down with tree parts are a common sight on county roads. Dotted throughout the county are saw mills that prepare the wood for transport to local and non-local lumber yards.

"It's a healthy part of the agricultural economy," said Joseph Walsh of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The master forest owners program provides private forest owners of New York State with the information and encouragement necessary to manage their forests wisely.

Over 14 million acres of woodland in the state are privately owned by approximately 500,000 non-industrial forest owners.

"The purpose of the stewardship program is to educate these owners so that their forests are healthy for their own enjoyment, and productive if they wish to sell off their lumber," Stewart said.

Stewart teaches forest owners what trees are best for their soil and drainage if they want to increase their woods and what they can do to enhance the trees they've got.

"It's a long-term business that plans 20 and 30 years ahead," he said.

Steward is pessimistic about the problem of deer that are devastating the forests because of their high number.

"The deer are eating the new growth of hardwood maples, oaks and wild black cherry trees so that they can't propagate," he said. "These are the most valuable crop trees we have and they're going to disappear unless we do something about it. So far, nothing has been able to solve the problem."