UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Forest Stewards took a significant step into the realm of international forest sustainability issues recently when they welcomed a delegation of five forestry professionals visiting from Ukraine.

The visit was sponsored by the Woskob International Research in Agriculture Program in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Penn State Cooperative Extension and the School of Forest Resources hosted the delegation as part of a bilateral exchange project to share forestry research and technology with governmental agencies and universities in Ukraine.

Ken Balliet, a forester and business management educator for Penn State Cooperative Extension in Snyder and Northumberland counties, led the delegation on a three-day tour through the central Susquehanna Valley with the goal of showing the group Pennsylvania's rich agricultural and forest heritage, as well as showcasing the Pennsylvania Forest Stewards initiative, a voluntary program that educates private forest landowners about how to improve and maintain the ecological health of their land.

"Ukraine is at a crossroads," says Balliet. "With less than 15 percent of the land forested, the decisions they make regarding the use of their forests will have a dramatic effect on their economy and their environmental heritage. They desperately need the timber resources to help grow their economy, but with so little forest cover, they also need to preserve their forest environment for other benefits such as recreation, bio-reserves, wildlife and greenhouse gas mitigation.

"But the Ukrainian government -- which currently manages nearly all of the nation's forests -- is committed to moving toward privatization of the country's agricultural lands," he says. "Many in Ukraine believe that if forestland is privatized, the current social and economic realities will drive private forest landowners to exploit the forest resources well before maximum value can be achieved."

Balliet believes that Pennsylvania Forest Stewards provide a model that their international counterparts could adopt. "Where else in the world could you find a better example of sustainable forest management and ethics practiced by private landowners?" he asks.

The group spent much of the three days visiting the Bureau of Forestry silvicultural demonstration area near Laurelton and the woodlots of Chandis Klinger of Paxtonville and Jay Livziey of Weikert. During an informal session at the Penn State Cooperative Extension office in Lycoming County, seven forest stewards and the Ukrainian delegation discussed the current state of forests in Ukraine, privatization and the role each member of the delegation plays in the overall management of forests.

"The reality of the situation in Ukraine hit home when one of the delegation said, 'Ukraine has been independent for 15 years, but we all came from a different country called the Soviet Union,'" Balliet recalls. "It's hard for us to understand what this means to those who live there, but this reality is at the heart of understanding issues on national forest policy and privatization."

Future Woskob-supported exchanges between Ukrainian and Pennsylvanian forest professionals are planned. Later this month, Balliet will travel to Ukraine with Yurij Bihun, forest resources consultant and former Pennsylvania Forest Stewards program coordinator, to take part in an international workshop on "Ecological Economics and Sustainable Forest Management." The workshop will be held in Lviv and other locations in the Carpathian Mountains. As part of that assignment, they will be exploring local contacts and developing a plan to foster a sister organization of private forest stewards in Ukraine.

Balliet also is developing plans with Michael Jacobson, Penn State associate professor of forest resources, to take delegations of Pennsylvania Forest Stewards to Ukraine to explore forest management issues in the context of Ukrainian culture, and to bring forest landowners from Ukraine here as part of a mentoring program.

"Understanding the issues is only the first step in effecting change," says Balliet. "Through these exchanges and the Woskob International Research in Agriculture program, I see lots of exciting opportunities to expand our knowledge, our experiences and our world."

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EDITORS: Ken Balliet can be reached at 570-837-4252 or by e-mail at klb26@psu.edu.

Chuck Gill 814-863-2713 cdg5@psu.edu