Save the date (registration will open in early April)

Evening of June 10 – 12, 2026
Ellsworth Creek Preserve

Theme: Restoring Watersheds, Reimagining Forests

Event flyer for download

Join us at The Nature Conservancy’s Ellsworth Creek Preserve—one of the Pacific Northwest’s most ambitious watershed-scale restoration sites—for a deep dive into the future of ecological forest stewardship. Explore a living laboratory where old-growth giants, recovering salmon streams, and regenerating forest mosaics reveal what’s possible when science, community, and economic viability work in harmony.

As in past years, the summit will center on shared learning, with a mix of field-based and discussion-oriented sessions. A full-day field tour through the Ellsworth Creek watershed will highlight restoration efforts across a working forest landscape, including topics such as:

• Old-growth reference conditions

• Road decommissioning and access trade-offs

• Stream restoration and engineered log jams

• Silvicultural strategies for advancing older forest characteristics

Throughout, we’ll explore broader questions around watershed resilience, restoration in working forests, and balancing ecological goals with the ongoing quest for economic viability.

The summit will begin with an evening welcome and orientation on June 10 and conclude the morning of June 12, with optional field explorations to follow.