Would you like to know how to:

• Measure forestland to the nearest one-tenth acre? Measure the size of food plots, farm ponds or stream-side management zones?

• Mark entrance gates, landings, or lucky fishing or hunting spots?

• Mark boundaries, roads and trails? Record your favorite drive in the country?

If you answered yes to any of those, then the Understanding Global Positioning System workshop, offered by the Warren County Extension Service and Warren County Forestry Association, is the thing for you.

Dr. Steve Dicke, area Extension forester, and Butch Bailey, Extension forestry associate, will teach the basics of GPS and how to find waypoints, routes and tracks. These skills can help foresters, loggers and other professionals, as well as hunters, fishermen and forest landowners. The workshop, set for 9 to 2 p.m. March 27, will be indoors and outdoors with hands-on training. We will be using Garmin GPS-60 models for demonstration purposes, but participants are welcome to bring along their own handheld GPS units.

The cost of the workshop is $20 per person, which covers tuition, refreshments, lunch and supplies. Enrollment is limited, so participants are urged to register at the Extension office no later than March 23. Professional foresters and loggers will receive two hours of Category I continuing education credits.

Also of interest to forest landowners and forest tax professionals, Dr. Deborah Gaddis, Extension taxation specialist, will present a Webinar program, Casualty Losses in Timber: Determining a Deduction, from 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Gaddis’ presentation is ideal for individual education because it can be viewed at no cost by anyone with a home computer and Internet access. The Webinar can be viewed as a live or archived program. Participants must download the Elluminate program for viewing.

The Warren County Extension Service will also serve as a host site for the Webinar. Hopefully, this will provide a useful service to rural landowners with limited or no Internet access. 

Information is at www.forestrywebinar.net. Technical questions or problems should be addressed to Bob Bardon at Robert_Bardon@ncsu.edu or 919-515-5575.

Gardeners are reminded to catch the final day of the Jackson Garden and Patio Show at the Mississippi Trade Mart today. Norman Winter, Extension horticulturist and host of “Southern Gardening,” will pre-         sent Landscaping Mississippi Style at 11:30 a.m., and Dr. David Nagel, Extension vegetable production specialist, will speak at 2:30 on techniques and varieties for the vegetable garden.

John C. Coccaro is county Extension director. Write to him at 1100-C Grove St., Vicksburg, MS 39180 or call 601-636-5442. E-mail him at jcoccaro@ext.msstate.edu