Forest Stewards Guild

Fire refugia: where and why do conifer forests persist through multiple fire events?
2021-10-07 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Denver)
Register today!
October 7, 2021
11:00 a.m. PT
Presenter: Dr. Meg Krawchuk, Oregon State University
Changing wildfire regimes are causing rapid shifts in forests worldwide. In particular, forested landscapes that burn repeatedly in relatively quick succession may be at risk of conversion when pre-fire vegetation cannot recover between fires. Fire refugia (areas that burn less frequently or severely than the surrounding landscape) support post-fire ecosystem recovery and the persistence of vulnerable species in fire-prone landscapes. Observed and projected fire-induced forest losses highlight the need to understand where and why forests persist in refugia through multiple fires.
This research need is particularly acute in the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion of southwest Oregon and northwest California, USA, where expected increases in fire activity and climate warming may result in the loss of up to one-third of the region’s conifer forests, which are the most diverse in western North America. We model the key controls on fire refugia occurrence and persistence through one, two, and three fire events over a 32-year period. Refugia that persisted through three fire events appeared to be partially entrained by landscape features that offered protection from fire, suggesting that topographic variability may be an important stabilizing factor as forests pass through successive fire filters. Results from this study could inform management strategies designed to protect fire-resistant portions of biologically and topographically diverse landscapes.

Forest Impacts of Climate Change: Monitoring Indicators web-tool (webinar)
2021-10-12 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Register today!
October 12, 2021
Noon – 1:00 p.m. ET
One Category 1 SAF continuing education credit is available
Join this FEMC webinar Forest Impacts of Climate Change: Exploring a new tool to monitor critical ecosystem indicators as The Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative announces the tool’s release. We’ll share more information about using the tool and results from an initial gap analysis of monitoring in the northeast.
This tool allows users to explore where forest monitoring is occurring of 24 expert-identified climate change indicators in the Northeastern U.S. Users can access protocols and visualize where monitoring studies are already being conducted with a focus on aquatic systems, forest systems, trees, and wildlife. Landowners, managers, and researchers can then use these protocols to implement their own, comparable monitoring programs that will be added to the database that already consists of 350 studies with 168 replicable protocols. Developing this network of monitoring sites provides critical information to help close spatial gaps in monitoring efforts and provides baseline data for further inquiry into how forest systems are shifting in response to climate change.

Bottomland Hardwoods Management Workshop, NC
2021-10-26 13:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York)
Register today!
Webinar portion:
October 26, 2021
1:00 – 4:30 p.m. EST
3 category 1 continuing education credits from TWS and SAF for webinar only.
Webinar agenda for download

Field tour portion at Bladen Lakes State Forest (choose one of the four below):
Field tour participation is not required to attend the webinar.
October 28, 2021

9:00 a.m. – Noon or
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

October 29, 2021

9:00 a.m. – Noon or
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

The Nature Conservancy, NC Forest Service, Forest Stewards Guild, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon NC, NC State Cooperative Extension, and GFR Forestry have teamed up to present a workshop on bottomland hardwood management, funded in part by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The workshop is designed for landowners, land managers, and consulting foresters who have a primary interest in enhancing wildlife habitat and water quality in bottomland forests, while generating some revenue from management activities. The workshop will discuss the ecological and economic values of bottomland forests and present suggestions for management.
The workshop consists of a webinar for all on October 26. Participants can choose from one of 4 identical field trips following the webinar. Field trips are capped at 20 participants each and COVID safety protocols will be followed. It is not required to attend a field trip in order to participate in the webinar.

Changing Faces of Forestry - an online discussion
2021-11-01 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Denver)
Register today!
Panelist bios
Revised event – details below….
All are welcome!
The Forest Stewards Guild has been around for 25 years. As we celebrate this anniversary and look back, by the nature of the Guild’s focus we must also look to the next 25 years. This is a time for more than remembrance, it is a time for reflection, mutuality, and regeneration. Interpersonal dynamics, lessons learned in the forestry field, and the lessons to come are just as complex as a forest’s ecology. During this session, forestry professionals with varied years of experience among them will share where they are in their careers and how forestry has changed.
We will then build off our panelists’ insights and continue the discussion together. Thinking back on your stories and experiences we will discuss where we are going, our legacy and the legacy of the forests we conserve. This is the time to reflect and talk about our challenges, barriers, and opportunities for forestry. Rather than simply debrief our status, we hope to spark and encourage different thoughts and actions for the future of forests.
We welcome you and your colleagues and students of forestry to join and engage and connect.
Agenda:

Welcome & Introductions
Panelist Discussion
Breakout Group Discussion
Summary and Closing Remarks

Tracking Shifts in Disturbance Regimes - online tool intro webinar
2021-11-03 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Register
November 3, 2021
Noon – 1 p.m. ET
The Forest Ecosystems Monitoring Cooperative of the University of Vermont is excited to announce the release of the new online tool “Tracking Shifts in Disturbance Regimes.” The tool allows users to track changes, explore trends, and look for shifts in causes of and responses to disturbance regimes across northeastern forests. Specifically, this project focuses on the extent, frequency, and severity of disturbance caused by native and non-native insects and diseases, flooding and high wind events, drought, and fire. Studies exploring the responses to disturbance by macroinvertebrate communities, coldwater fisheries, and invasive plants are also available for users to further investigate how disturbances are impacting northeastern forests.
To use the tool and read the technical report, please visit the project page: https://www.uvm.edu/femc/disturbance/
This webinar will provide further information about using the tool and share results of trend analyses as presented in the technical report.

Southeast Virtual Guild Gathering
2021-11-30 14:30 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Register
Tuesday November 30, 2021
2:30 – 4:00 p.m. EST
Agenda for download
The Forest Stewards Guild’s Southeast Office is hosting a Virtual Guild Gathering for Southeast Members. During the 90-minute meeting we will connect with fellow Guild members in Introduction Circles (a Guild member tradition), share results from the National Member Survey that went out this past July and discuss how we are going to use member feedback moving forward. We’ll wrap up the session by discussing how the Southeast office can support members in 2022 and beyond. If you want a sneak peek at survey results, check out the October ATL article.

WPFC Webinar – Increasing Prescribed Burn Capacity in Wisconsin
2021-12-02 10:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
Register
December 2, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
The Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council is pleased to present our first ever webinar, Increasing Prescribed Burn Capacity in Wisconsin – Getting More Fire on the Ground Safely! This event is the first of a series of discussions focused upon increasing prescribed burn capacity in Wisconsin!
This event will feature presentations from WDNR Fire Ecologist and Natural Resources Research Scientist Jed Meunier and WPFC Vice Chair and Researcher Stacey Marion on the historic, current, and future use of prescribed fire in Wisconsin and updates to the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Needs Assessment. A panel discussion featuring diverse perspectives within the prescribed fire community will follow. Panelists from the WDNR, US Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy and Quercus Land Stewardship Services (a WPFC supporting member!) will discuss current fire initiatives, future goals, and how to achieve those goals.
Come prepared to join the discussion and engage with our panelists. We look forward to igniting the conversation of why and how to get more fire on the ground safely with you!

American Ginseng (webinar)
2021-12-06 15:00 (America/New_York)
Register
December 6, 2021
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET
Hosted by Dr. Jen Chandler and the University of Pennsylvania
Presenter: Dr. Eric Burkhart (Penn State)
Neither wild nor cultivated: American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) trade surveys in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., provide insights into an internationally traded, non-timber forest product.

Oaks in New England Forests (webinar)
2021-12-11 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York)
Oaks in New England Forests: Keystone Trees for Biodiversity and Resiliency
Register via email to Lisa Hayden (lhayden@newenglandforestry.org) to request the Zoom link and dial-in info.
December 11, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET
Hosted by the New England Forest Foundation, join the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership and two local experts to learn more about one of the key species in our local forests, landscapes and yards – the oaks.
Dr. Desiree L. Narango, a UMass/Amherst ecologist, will discuss her research on the importance of oaks to wildlife habitat, while Logan Johnson, Northeast Region Coordinator of the Forest Stewards Guild, will present resources to support woodland owners and managers in improving the resiliency of oaks in our landscape.
Seventy percent of the forests of southern New England are dominated by oaks. This forest type, is facing pressures that compromise its long-term health and ability to regenerate. Oaks are champions of carbon sequestration, soil stabilization, and watershed management, producing enormous root systems, and sustaining a crucial and complex web of wildlife above ground. Native oak trees host more than 500 species of moths and butterflies. Acorns and leaves feed many creatures, and oak canopy and fallen oak leaves provide shelter for still others. Oak leaf litter can help suppress invasive species, and filters rainwater to cut back on runoff, improving groundwater quality.
​Narango is studying how land management and global change affect songbirds, bees, butterflies, moths and other wildlife. Her conservation research takes place in forests of all types; from naturally regenerating and preserved forests to ecosystems significantly altered by people, such as urban street trees, residential yards, and agroforestry. Narango’s ultimate goal is to help land managers and communities implement effective and efficient action to support both biodiversity and people in a rapidly changing world. She is currently a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow working with ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. Read about Narango’s research at her website: https://desireelnarango.weebly.com/
In the second half of the program, Johnson of the Forest Stewards Guild, will speak about their work focused on education, training and resources to support landowners and managers in increasing resiliency in southern New England’s oak forests.
Current threats include heavy deer browsing, and defoliation from Lymantria dispar (also known as gypsy moth) and other pests, while trends of seasonal drought and climate change pressures compound other disturbance factors. Widespread canopy mortality impacts wildlife species that depend on oaks for food and habitat, as well as cause safety hazards in residential neighborhoods or on roadsides, and deal a financial blow to private woodland owners. Given the ecological importance of oak species in this region’s forests, all land management approaches stand to gain by integrating measures to promote the long-term resilience of this forest type. Visit the Forest Stewards Guild’s Oak Resiliency webpage here: https://foreststewardsguild.org/oak-resiliency/
The Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership (MTWP), founded in 2013, seeks to bring financial and technical resources to a 21-town rural region in northwestern Massachusetts focused on forest conservation, use of sustainable management on private lands, increased natural resource-based economic development and improved fiscal stability of the municipalities. To learn more about the Partnership, visit MohawkTrailWoodlandsPartnership.org/
For more information, contact: Beth Girshman, Chair of the MTWP Education/Outreach and Research Committee, bgirshman@gmail.com

Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative Annual Conference
2021-12-16 10:30 - 2021-12-17 12:00 (America/New_York)
Register (hosted virtually, $28)
December 16, 2021: 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET
December 17, 2021: 8:30 a.m. – Noon ET
Full conference info is online
Some highlights:

Full conference approved for 7.0 Category 1 SAF credits
Two plenary sessions with presentations by Drs. Erika Svendsen and Julia Burton,
Twenty-eight contributed talks held during two concurrent sessions with a total of seven topic tracks,
A poster session with opportunities to speak with presenters,
Four working group sessions that provide a chance to contribute to project development,
Networking and connection breakout rooms to chat with colleagues from across the region during the lunch and coffee breaks,
A resource board for sharing jobs, events, RFPs, and other opportunities

Management for Old Growth Characteristics
2021-12-16 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Register
December 16, 2021
Noon – 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time
This webinar with Dr. Bill Keeton will focus on approaches and strategies managers can use to encourage the development of late successional or old growth characteristics. Because old growth forests are rare and many species depend on them, managers may seek to help younger forests hold attributes of older forests faster than nature can on its own. Scientists have experimented with structural complexity enhancement techniques such as encouraging the growth of larger diameter trees, standing dead trees, large down logs, and structural diversity. Dr. Bill Keeton will share his research and answer questions.

Oak Resiliency Assessment Tool Workshop (webinar)
2022-01-19 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Register
January 19, 2022
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET
Approved for 1 Category 1 SAF CFE credit
Join the Forest Stewards Guild to learn how you can use a web-based Oak Resiliency Assessment Tool to assess the resiliency of oak on land you manage. During the workshop, you will learn why this tool can provide value to you and the landowners you work for, the resources the tool provides, and practice using the tool in a meaningful way to assess the resiliency of oak forests.

Akinomaage: Teaching from the Earth (webinar)
2022-01-20 15:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Register
January 20, 2022
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. CT
Vern Northrup (Fond Du Lac Band of Ojibwe), artist and retired wildlands firefighter, will present his photographs and teachings that offer Anishinaabe perspectives on the place of humans in the world, the seasons, and more. An audience Q&A will follow.
This event is one of a series of public talks entitled “Transdisciplinary Engagements with Indigenous Thinkers.” Learn more about the IAS Research and Creative Collaborative presenting this work here.
Funding is provided by the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the Institute on the Environment (IonE).

“The Radical Forest Manager” online presentation
2022-01-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join link
Saturday, January 22, 2022
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. ET
“The Radical Forest Manager” at the Green Mountain Club Burlington Section Annual Meeting
In a changing climate, forests are both an asset – helping slow and mitigate the effects of climate change by absorbing the carbon we emit – and under threat. At the same time, climate change, resource extraction and environmental degradation threatens peoples, species and ecosystems worldwide. While some of these problems may seem remote, is it possible that Vermont’s forests have a broader role to play in crafting a just and sustainable world?
In this presentation, Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation will discuss the role that forests and forest management play in our past, present and future, with an eye on social and environmental justice in Vermont and across the globe. Tapper will discuss how responsible, ecological forest management can help support justice, equity, healthy communities and healthy ecosystems here in Vermont and world-wide.

Aquatic Health and Biodiversity of Central Appalachian Forests (webinar)
2022-01-25 12:30 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Register
January 25, 2022
12:30 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Draft agenda for download
Approved for 1.5 Category 1 SAF continuing education credits (CFE)
The Central Appalachian ecoregion spans the Appalachian, Allegheny, and Blue Ridge Mountain ranges in northwestern North Carolina to southern Pennsylvania. This ecoregion consists of many geologic variations and contains the largest drainage divide in the eastern U.S. between the Atlantic Slope and Mississippi Valley rivers. Forests in this region host a diverse amount of plant and animal species. This diversity is exceptionally high due to two main factors: lack of glaciation in the southern reaches of this region, and there is a high variability of microclimates. Additionally, this region is one of the richest temperate freshwater regions in the world and it contains parts of the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mobile River drainages, which are global hotspots for freshwater fish and invertebrates.
While the forests in Central Appalachia provide valuable ecosystem services, they are threatened by several human-caused factors. One of these threats includes hydrologic alteration and degradation, leading to reduced quality of aquatic habitats. Forestry best management practices are used to ensure the protection of water quality during silviculture operations. Many states provide guidelines that are voluntary, quasi-regulatory, or regulatory.
This webinar will focus on the biodiversity of aquatic systems in Central Appalachian forests, highlight the importance of good water quality, and discuss ways to mitigate threats to water quality by using the recently updated NC BMP manual for forestry.

Accelerating the development of structural complexity
2022-01-27 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Anchorage)
Accelerating the development of structural complexity: a case study from Ellsworth Creek Preserve, Washington.
Register
January 27, 2021
Noon – 1:00 p.m. PT
Presenters: Dr Van Kane, Caden Chamberlain, University of Washington, and Michael Case, The Nature Conservancy.
Restoration treatments can theoretically accelerate the development of structural complexity in simplified forest stands. New research provides insights into the effects of restoration treatments on the structural complexity of forest stands in the Ellsworth Creek Preserve in southwestern Washington 10 years post-treatment. The research team also compared forest structure and gap patterns between treated stands and existing late-successional areas within the preserve. In addition to sharing research results, the discussion may help forest managers and landowners in the region who are considering restoration treatments as an option for improving short-term structural complexity in simplified forest stands.
For more information, the full research paper is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119641

Yankee SAF Winter Meeting: Hot Forestry Topics for Warming Winters (webinar)
2022-02-15 12:00 - 14:45 (America/New_York)
Register
Yankee SAF Winter Meeting, co-hosted by the Forest Stewards Guild
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
12:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. ET

Managing for the parts of the sum (webinar)
2022-02-24 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Anchorage)
Managing for the parts of the sum: restoration treatments to accelerate late successional structures
Register
February 24, 2022
Noon – 1 p.m. Pacific Time
Presenter: Dr. Klaus Puettmann, Oregon State University
This webinar highlights results from various large-scale, long-term studies. General vegetation response trends after restoration treatments were highly predictable, but most responses were spatially very variable. Thus, accounting for the variability in initial conditions at neighborhood and stand scales in the prescription of restoration treatments is crucial for efficient management. In addition, to achieve the wide range of structures and composition found in late-successional stands requires a full suite of silvicultural treatments, in our case from unthinned leave islands to areas with variable density thinnings and creation of larger canopy gaps. Furthermore, different components of stand structure and vegetation composition responded to restoration treatments at different time scales or even in different directions. Thus, treatments are more efficient we set priorities where and when the different vegetation components are most desirable within a stand or landscape and design restoration treatments accordingly.

Oak Hill Community Park & Forest Learn-and-Burn
2022-03-26
Update on this event:
The burn has been cancelled due to weather for March 26. These days, we know at least a few days in advance if weather is going to be good to burn. Our current plan is to keep everyone who registered notified of the new burn day as it comes. We know it may be short notice, but we want to try to give you the opportunity to observe a live burn this season. Please stay tuned if you had registered for either the original date or rate date of this event (both of which were postponed).

Webinar (completed)
Watch the webinar recording to learn about the basics of prescribed fire, the Oak Hill Community Park and Forest, and wildfire mitigation resources.
Live burn (registration closed)
Date TBD
9:15 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET (lunch included)
Oak Hill Community Park & Forest.
820 NC-126, Morganton, NC 28655 and then follow the signs. See map for details and pinpoint to the parking area.
You do not need to attend both the webinar and live fire to participate in this hybrid workshop.
Prescribed fire is a tool often used for ecosystem management and wildfire mitigation. Join Foothills Conservancy, Carolina Land-and-Lakes RC&D, The Nature Conservancy, Forest Stewards Guild, and NC Forest Service to learn about the benefits of prescribed fire. This hybrid workshop will explain the role of prescribed fire in forests of Western North Carolina, introduce how to conduct a prescribed burn, and describe how to use prescribed fire and other tools to mitigate wildfire risk.
Live burn summary: We will be burning two units (map) on the Canoe Creek tract, one is a grassy field and the other is wooded. Wear close-toed shoes and non-synthetic pants. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves and safety glasses will be provided as needed. Lunch will be provided. Registration is required.

2022 Northwest Innovative Forestry Summit: Spring virtual series
2022-04-07 15:30 - 2022-04-28 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Registration open now on the full event webpage
Thursdays in April, 3.30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. PT
Speaker bios
April 7: Living with Change: Discussing Future Challenges and Opportunities

Please complete this pre-event survey by March 30 if you are attending the April 7th session.

April 14: The Co-evolving Story and Stewardship of Northwest Forests
April 21: Diversifying Revenue Streams: What’s the Same and What’s Changing?
April 28: Working Together: New Partnerships in Forest Ownership and Conservation
Full topic descriptions available on the full event webpage. Speaker bios coming soon…

Collective Action for Wildfire Risk Reduction across Land Ownerships in the West (webinar)
2022-04-19 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver)
Register
April 19, 2022
12:00 p.m. Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Presenter: Dr. Susan Charnley, USDA Forest Service
Brief Abstract: Over the past decade, government policies and programs to incentivize “all-lands approaches” to reducing wildfire risk have emerged that call for collective action among diverse public, private, and Tribal landowners who share fire-prone landscapes. This presentation draws on research from Oregon and California to offer insights into what collective action looks like, when it is desirable, and how to promote it to increase the resilience of fire-prone forests.

Maine Forest Climate Change Webinar Series
2022-04-27 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Register today for the last in this free webinar series!
Wednesdays: October 27, December 1, February 23, and April 27
Noon – 1:00 p.m. ET
Each webinar = 1 Category 1 CFEs
Each field tour = 3 Category 1 CFEs
Each webinar will feature a panelist of diverse experts who will address climate impacts on specific forest types (spruce-fir, oak-pine, coastal, mixed hardwood) found throughout Maine.
Check out the accompanying field tours for this series of Science and Practice, Addressing Forest Climate Change in Maine.

Virtual Workshop: Managing pitch pine under the threat of southern pine beetle
2022-04-28 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Register
Thursday, April 28, 2022
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET
Approved for 2.5 Category 1 CEUs by the Society of American Foresters.
This three-hour virtual workshop is designed to make practical plans and establish a community of practice around pitch pine barren management in light of southern pine beetle (SPB). Participants will use resources for developing management plans for at-risk pitch pine stands across the northeastern U.S. and share information about applications of thinning and prescribed fire.
​A follow-up workshop on May 12 will enable participants to “woodshed” their individual management plans.

Forest structure and composition over the last millennium in California’s Klamath Mountains
2022-05-03 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Register for this webinar
May 3, 2022
Noon – 1:o0 p.m. Pacific Time
Presenter: Clarke Knight, US Geological Survey
For millennia, forest ecosystems in California have been shaped by fire from both natural processes and Indigenous land management. Understanding the relative influence of climate and Indigenous burning on the fire regime is key because contemporary forest policy and management are informed by historical baselines. This webinar will discuss research on climatic versus anthropogenic influence on forest conditions over 3 millennia in the western Klamath Mountains—the ancestral territories of the Karuk and Yurok Tribes— combining paleoenvironmental data with Western and Indigenous knowledge.

Wildlife & Carbon Webinar (NAFSE Webinar)
2022-06-16 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Register
Wednesday, June 16, 2022
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET
Webinar (join information will be sent to you after registration)
We will hear from Caitlin Littlefield, Lead Scientist at Conservation Science Partners, and John Scanlon, recently retired MassWildlife Habitat Program Manager, as they examine the trade-offs between maximizing forest carbon and habitat restoration goals. These trade-offs and knowledge of the related climate impacts can help land managers and landowners determine what management goals best suit the land they are on and what sustainable forest practices are needed. This webinar will then delve into the implications of these trade-offs specifically for pitch pine-scrub oak barrens and the wildlife therein.

A webinar on land development shifts and declining losses of forest and ag land
2022-07-19 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Register
July 19, 2022
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Webinar Presenter: Dr. Daniel Bigelow, Montana State University
Land development, which typically results from the conversion of lands previously in agricultural and forest uses, is one of the most fundamental ways in which humans impact the natural environment. We study the remarkable decline in land development rates across the conterminous United States over the period 2000–2015, which occurred after development rates had grown rapidly over the last two decades of the 20th century. Despite relatively constant population growth since 1980, we find that the current annual rate of land development has declined consistently across several stratifications of the U.S. land base and amounts to less than 25% of the peak rate observed in the mid-late 1990s, implying that the developed land base of the U.S. has become increasingly dense in recent years. We show that the widespread shift in land development rates resulted in 7 million acres of avoided land development, roughly half of which would have come from conversions of forested lands.

Collaborating to Manage Ecosystems
2022-10-03 - 2022-10-26
Registration coming August 23 (both elements of the hybrid course are required).
Online training October 3 – 21, 2022
In-person workshop Oct 25 – 26, 2022 at Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka, FL
Full event website
This is a Natural Areas Training Academy (NATA) Core workshop, leading to the Certificate in Natural Areas Management. This training builds an appreciation of how to manage natural areas as part of a larger ecosystem, in coordination with neighboring land owners.

Participants will:
Develop an understanding of the concept of ecosystem management and its relevance to resource management
Become familiar with approaches that can be used to address threats facing entire ecosystems
Discover strategies that bring multiple organizations and private individuals together to achieve common goals and seek common solutions
Learn about a variety of working groups used to cope with complex environmental issues in Florida
Develop skills in listening, communicating, moderating group dynamics, and facilitating to cope with conflict

ONLINE COURSEWORK:
Approximately 9 hours over 3-weeks (on your own, prior to the in-person training).
IN-PERSON TRAINING:
Two day in-person training at Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka, FL.

Timber Harvest Series: Online Session
2022-11-03 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York)
To register, contact Andrew Smart: a.smartfarms@gmail.com or (207) 837-0924
Thursday, November 3, 2022
5:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET
Online Session: What is a Wildlife Management Area (WMA), how are they managed, and the plan for Frye Mountain WMA in Montville, Maine.
Full series flyer for download
Maine Woodland Owners, in partnership with Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, are hosting a four-part series for woodland owners to observe a timber harvest operation from start to finish. Held at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W) Frye Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Montville, the program will be led by the DIF&W forester managing the harvest, John Chappen. The goal of the program is to expose people to how DIF&W manages the land they own, how to use timber harvesting as a means to create, maintain, and improve wildlife habitat, and how a timber harvest is set up and carried out. Sessions will be held over a 12-month period and will start with this online introduction session on Thursday, November 3.
The sessions will include:
Thursday, November 3, 2022, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm: DIF&W Lands Program and Frye Mountain WMA Overview. This online session will provide information about DIF&W Wildlife Management Areas, how they are managed, and the management plan for Frye Mountain WMA Compartment F.
Sunday, November 6, 2022, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Pre-Harvest Field Tour at Frye Mountain WMA. The pre-harvest tour will look at skid trail layout, timber marking, brook crossings, the condition of the forest stands before operation, and the considerations used to make decisions about the upcoming harvest.
Late February/Early March 2023 (date TBA): Active Harvest Field Tour at Frye Mountain WMA. Attendees will see the timber harvest in action and how the operation is conducted.
September 2023 (date TBA): Post-Harvest Tour at Frye Mountain WMA. Attendees will see how the harvested area looks once the operation is complete.
Attending all four sessions is not required but is encouraged. To register and for more information contact Andrew Smart: a.smartfarms@gmail.com or (207) 837-0924

Searching for Climate-Smarter Forestry in Oregon; Accelerating the Transition
2022-11-15 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Vancouver)
Register
November 15, 2022
Noon, Pacific Time
Webinar
Presenters: Peter Hayes and Dean Moberg
Current and anticipated climatic conditions challenge us to work together to innovatively improve forest stewardship in ways that provide mitigation solutions while also increasing forest resilience. This webinar will explore the ways that 80 forest-connected Oregonians of diverse experiences came together in the forest to discuss and agree on the meaning, practices, and future of climate-smarter forestry. Participants dug deep in search of common ground, with respect for inevitable uncommon ground, in the course of four sessions. Participants roughed out a general plan for working together to accelerate the transition toward climate-smarter forestry. Join us as we share about work that is completed, lessons learned, and future plans people have committed to, as well as discussion of relationships to related work underway across the country and world.

Conservation and Community: Beyond the Public-Private Binary in the History of Land Conservation
2022-11-15 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Register
November 15, 2022
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Zoom
Approved for 1.0 hours of CFE credit from the Society of American Foresters.
Speaker: Curt Meine
Join us for the 2022 Lynn W. Day Lectureship in Forest and Conservation History. This year’s presenter is conservation biologist, environmental historian, and writer Curt Meine.
For more than a century, conservationists have pursued their goals through various mechanisms that recognized shared interests in the land and ecological relationships that worked across legal and jurisdictional boundaries. While they have fitfully come to understand that a wider variety of people, uses, and perspectives must be considered, progress has been constrained by a mindset that reinforces a simple division of interests: private and public. Moving from this simple binary framing to a more flexible and nuanced view may allow conservationists to embrace a wider array of community-based approaches to conserving the public interest in private land. It may also allow historians to find new insights in the evolution of conservation science, policy, and ideas. Conservation biologist and environmental historian Curt Meine will discuss this reframing and the many new opportunities it presents.
Curt serves as Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature. He has authored and edited several books, including the biography Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work (1988/2010) and The Driftless Reader (2017).
