Eastern Shore residents have an opportunity to learn entry-level, marketable skills that could lead to employment in forestry and related fields, thanks to a free class from two regional non-profit organizations.
Nonprofits Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP Inc.) and Chesapeake Bay Trust are teaming up to offer the Community Forest Skills Program, which will run Sept. 23-Oct. 28.
Joshua Byrd, a Virginia Beach-based employee with SERCAP, will teach the class for Accomack and Northampton County residents.
The Chesapeake Bay Trust has provided funding support for the class.
Want to go?
The Community Forest Skills Program will be offered Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. from Sept. 23-Oct. 28. Sessions will be at the Eastville Volunteer Fire Company in Northampton County on Courthouse Avenue.
For more information, contact Joshua Byrd at 540-7590-6567 or send an email to jbyrd@sercap.org.
SERCAP is a nonprofit serving the southeastern United States dedicated to improving living conditions for lower-income people in rural communities.
Any Shore resident can register for the class, but preference will be given to people between 18 and 25 years old.
Those with low- to moderate-income levels, or who are currently unemployed, are also encouraged to consider this opportunity.
Byrd is passionate about his belief that the social side to planting trees is equally important as the physical act itself. It will be an important part of his class, he said.
“Tree plantings can be great tools for bringing together communities and prompting other projects,” he said.
“It’s a lot easier to get people interested in a wastewater treatment facility if you do a community tree planting event on site.”
Sherry Dudas, a regional planner with the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, is working with Byrd to bring this class to the Shore.
“Students will acquire necessary skills to identify trees and other plants,” Dudas said. “They will also learn to prune and maintain plants, to treat common diseases, and to remove invasive plants, replacing them with natives.”
She is no stranger to the tree and plant industry – Dudas and her husband own an orchard and nursery in Northampton – and said people who finish the class could find employment in areas such as tree fruit and nursery production, landscaping and forestry health.
As land needs on the Shore evolve, private landowners with large tracts of forested land might also hire individuals to maintain their property, Dudas said.
Byrd and Dudas each said opportunities also exist with local municipalities and state entities, too. Plus, they both said, graduates of the forestry class might be inspired to explore related college-level coursework.