About Us

The National Learning Center for Private Forest and Range Landowners is a "virtual natural resource education center" providing interactive online instruction for private forest and range landowners. With the growth of technology and the increasing use of the Internet for educational purposes, this gateway provides a perfect opportunity for natural resource education. The National Learning Center will allow information to be centrally coordinated, facilitated, and managed for consistency of content and design. This consistency will allow landowners in all regions of the United States to get the reliable information from one source. The Center provides a central destination for Internet users interested in forest and rangeland management and related issues. Regionally based information is available for landowners and other interested persons around the nation to access through interactive online tutorials, articles, and references.

The National Learning Center for Private Forest and Range Landowners is also utilizing interactive technology and resources to increase the teaching capacity of educators, such as Extension educators. This portion of the Center includes prepared presentations, continuing education courses, and certificate programs these professionals can use to learn and share information at meetings of landowner groups or other organizations.

The National Center is a project of the United States Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Extension, and Education Service. The University of Tennessee is coordinating the development and implementation of the National Web-Based Learning Center for Private Forest and Range Landowners. The mission of the Center is to educate private forest and range landowners about natural resource management and to provide educational resources to Extension educators by expanding learning opportunities and resources to the World Wide Web.

A National Advisory Board has been assembled to provide oversight to the Center’s plans and activities. This board is responsible for all content and will oversee the grant process. Click here for the membership of the Advisory Board. Future plans for the Center include developing Web-based learning, including both synchronous and asynchronous online instruction for certificate courses, in-service training and other programs.

The Center will certainly be a valuable tool in natural resource management education of both private landowners and Extension educators. Additional content modules and features will be made available as they are developed.

Content has been developed in cooperation with universities and organizations across the nation. Our cooperators include:

Colorado State University

Cornell University

Mississippi State University

Montana State University

North Dakota State University

Oregon State University

Pennsylvania State University

Purdue University

Southern Regional Extension Forestry

Tennessee State University

University of Alaska-Fairbanks

University of Arizona

University of Arkansas

University of Georgia

University of Idaho

University of Kentucky

University of Minnesota

University of New Hampshire

University of Tennessee

University of Wisconsin

Utah State University

USDA Forest Service

Virginia Tech

Washington State University