Forest Stewards Guild

Forest management from a landowner's perspective (webinar)
2020-09-09 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Halifax)
Register
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Approved for 1 SAF Category 1 CFE credit
Foresters often talk with landowners about the value of working with a professional in managing their land, but professionals frequently do not get candid feedback from their clients. What is the experience of taking care of a property and working with a forester, from the owner’s perspective?
Landowners Bet and Patrick Smith of rural northeastern Connecticut will share how they came to own and steward their woodland and will discuss their experiences and lessons learned from working with different private and public foresters. We will also be joined by Connecticut NRCS District Conservationist Bill Purcell, who has worked with the Smiths and many other landowners and is familiar with common issues that can arise.
This “flipped” webinar will be a good opportunity for foresters and allied professionals to learn from landowners and participate in a facilitated discussion about how we can best work in partnership.
The event is part of a larger USDA Forest Service tri-state grant project focused on Increasing Resiliency in Southern New England Oak Forests.

Using Trail Cameras to Study Wildlife Behavior
2020-09-09 16:00 - 17:15 (America/Halifax)
Register
Wednesday, Sept 9
4:00 – 5:15 p.m. ET
This one-hour talk followed by Q&A will introduce trail cameras – how they work and how to set them up – and then discuss smart camera placement so that you too can capture photos and videos that reveal the secret habits of animals. These “camera traps” have become critical to wildlife research because they are a noninvasive way to shed new light on the private lives of wild creatures. But, you don’t need to be a scientist. Anyone with curiosity, persistence, and an inexpensive trail camera can study cutting edge animal behavior topics.
About the Presenter:
With a master’s degree in conservation biology and a Level III Wildlife Tracking certificate from CyberTracker, Janet Pesaturo teaches wildlife tracking and camera trapping through Winterberry Wildlife in Massachusetts. She is the author of Camera Trapping Guide: Tracks, Sign and Behavior of Eastern Wildlife and chronicles her nature discoveries and adventures in a blog at winterberrywildlife.ouroneacrefarm.com. This program is made possible by gifts to the NH Coverts Project.

Identifying Birds by Sight & Sound (webinar)
2020-09-10 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Halifax)
Register
Thursday, September 10
1 – 2:30 p.m. ET
This is the first webinar in a four-part virtual series by ForestHer NC.
The opportunity for backyard bird-watching is growing exponentially! We are excited to share all the tips and tricks you need to get started identifying birds by sight and sound. It’s a wonderful world of color and song you won’t want to miss!
We will also look at Who We Are & How Far We’ve Come. In North Carolina, 65 percent of private forestland is entirely jointly owned by women. Learn more about these women (including you!) and why ForestHer NC is so important.
About the series: ForestHer NC is going virtual! Presentations scheduled for the March 2020 Managing for Wildlife workshops will now be held as a free, four-part virtual series. Join us as we come together as a statewide community for the first time!

National Tribal and Indigenous Climate Conference (NTICC)
2020-09-14 - 2020-09-17
“Climate Justice for Seven Generations”
Register by August 31!
Online conference – full event website
September 14 – 17, 2020
Agenda and details coming soon.
Call for proposals deadline: August 7, 2020
The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) is honored to host the United States’ First Biennial National Tribal and Indigenous Climate Conference (NTICC) along with support from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Resilience Program. The NTICC is open to all US tribal nations and Indigenous Peoples from throughout the world, with an emphasis on including our Elders and Youth. The NTICC will convene experts on climate change and will include a balance of Traditional Indigenous Knowledges and Western Science. This conference will allow an opportunity to share information and support one another. We welcome all to join us!
The conference features keynote speaker Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi band of Ashinaabeg and founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project. A full conference agenda will be available soon.

Insights for resilient forest landscapes in the Rogue Basin of southwestern Oregon
2020-09-17 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver)
Register
September 17, 2020
Noon – 1:00 p.m. PT
Severe wildfires threaten forests and communities of the northern Klamath Mountains. Historically these forests thrived with frequent, low-mixed severity fire. However, hotter, drier summers, a century of fire exclusion, and past destructive logging practices are increasing the likelihood of destructive fire. Insights from historical fire regimes and stand conditions have been integrated with contemporary evaluations of wildfire risk and habitat needs to inform the collaboratively derived Rogue Basin Cohesive Forest Restoration Strategy.
Dr. Kerry Metlen, Forest Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy of Oregon, will share this approach to thinking about forest management from an integrated regional perspective in a webinar open to all (recording will be available afterward).

Prospects for Resistance Breeding in Trees (webinar)
2020-09-22 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Halifax)
Register
September 22
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Training event announcement
Our speaker Carolyn (Carrie) Pike is a Forest Regeneration Specialist with the USDA Forest Service. Carrie will talk about ongoing work to improve resistance in beloved tree species like American elm, the ash species, and butternut to build in resistance to Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, and butternut canker, respectively, that have devastated these species.
This is part of a Forest Ecology and Management Webinar Series by the Forest Ecology Working Group and the US Fish and Wildlife Services National Conservation Training Center (NCTC). Previous webinars are available to few for a few weeks at the Training Center’s website.
Contact John Ossanna with technical questions or if Closed Captioning is required: john_ossanna@fws.gov

Woodland Owner Webinar Series: Forestry and Climate Change
2020-09-23 01:30 - 14:30 (America/New_York)
Register
September 23
1:30 – 2:30 pm CT
1 CFE credit is available for attending the live webinar
How can we protect our woods in a changing climate while also taking advantage of our forests as carbon sinks? This webinar will help answer these questions.
Stephen Handler, a climate change specialist with the USDA Forest Service, will discuss how you can factor climate change in forest management. He will also discuss tools to help evaluate your climate change risks.
Gabriel Burns, a climate change specialist for the MN DNR Division of Forestry, will talk about emerging carbon market opportunities for private forest landowners. He will discuss different incentive programs designed for landowners interested in improving forest health and provide an example of a landowner who benefited from enrolling their lands in an offset program.

Efficacy of Post-fire Treatments
2020-09-24 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Register
September 24
2:oo – 4:00 p.m. CT (3:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET)
A robust conversation on the efficacy of post-fire treatments and current research results.
Registration is free thanks to sponsorship of National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy! Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc is hosting.

Physiological Response of Trees in Maine Mountain Forests to Climate Stress (webinar)
2020-09-24 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Halifax)
Register today (free of charge)
September 24, 2020
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET
Physiological Response of Trees in Maine Mountain Forests to Climate Stress
Speaker: Dr. Jay Wason, University of Maine
The Maine Mountain Collaborative is hosting a series of webinars leading up to the autumn Symposium on Climate Change in Maine’s Mountains. This is the third in the four-part webinar series. Prior webinars in the series can be found on our webinar library page.

Colorado Wildland Fire Conference
2020-09-30 08:15 - 2020-10-01 13:00 (America/Chicago)
Register
The Colorado Wildland Fire Conference is moving to a virtual platform this year, incorporating the “Discover Your Role” theme including a variety of presentations.
September 30
8:15 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. MT
and
October 1
8:15 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. MT
Conference schedule
Special message from Fire Adapted Colorado
This event has been approved for:
Society of American Foresters: Sept. 30, 4 CAT 1 CFE and Oct. 1, 2.5 CAT 1 CFE
Society for Range Management: 5 CPRM Credits
Society for Ecological Restoration: Pending

Virtual and interactive workshop on prescribed fire in northern Minnesota
2020-09-30 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Register
Title: Prescribed Fire: Forest History and Today’s Implementation
September 30, 2020
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. CT (7:00 – 8:30 p.m. ET)
The use of fire on the landscape is a hotly debated topic, despite being a natural process in our northern forests. It is seen as a vital tool by land managers to improve forest health and spur regeneration.
This webinar will look at the history of fire and its benefits in the NE region of Minnesota. Then, virtually, take a walk in the woods with us to see and hear how the Superior National Forest land management team is using fire as a tool to restore the forest and wildlife and plant habitat within its borders.
This event is hosted by Dovetail Partners and supported by the U.S. Forest Service – Superior National Forest. The webinar agenda includes speakers Lane Johnson from the University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Center, and Timo Rova the West Zone Fire Management Officier from the Superior National Forest.

Appalachian Cove Virtual Series - Invasives webinar
2020-10-02 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Halifax)
Bittersweet taking over a stand of trees. Photo courtesy of EcoForesters.
This webinar is the third in a series that replaces an original event entitled Mountain Cove Forest Management and Conservation in the Central Appalachians. That original event will not be held due to Covid-19.
Invasives in Appalachian cove sites
Watch the webinar recording
October 2, 2020
Noon – 1:00 p.m. ET
Pre-approved for 1 SAF CFE credit
Pre-approved for 1 CE credit with MD-DE Master Logger Program
Agenda for download
Forests in the Southern Appalachians have seen a steady increase in non-native invasive plants for decades. Did you know that invasive plants are present on 1 out of every 10 southern forest acres? These invasives inhibit regeneration and growth of native trees and plants, adversely affecting the overall health of our forests. They can even destroy native forests! EcoForesters is a non-profit professional forestry organization dedicated to conserving and restoring Appalachian forests through education and stewardship, and one way they do that is through invasive species control.
About EcoForesters Non-Native Invasive Species Control Crew: developed to provide landowners an option for ecological stewardship action by improving your forest’s health through invasive species assessments and control. Our crew mechanically treats targeted species predominately through the use of handsaws and hatchets, with the assistance of herbicides tailored for specific species.
This webinar will talk about managing non-native invasive plants that threaten cove forests. Through interactive example scenarios, you will gain the tools needed to start the journey of implementing invasive species treatments on properties you manage or your own land.
Some questions we will answer:

What can I do if my property is overrun with invasives?
How do I identify invasives?
Are the treatments the same for every species?
What tools do I need?
When should I treat invasives?
I’m a forester and work with landowners. What should I tell them to do about their invasives?
How do I communicate with landowners the importance of site preparation to limit the spread of invasives?

Presenter Bios
Andy Tait: Andy has been the EcoForestry Director at EcoForesters since its inception in 2015. He oversees all of EcoForesters’ Southern Appalachian forestry projects, including forest stewardship planning and timber sale administration. Prior to this position, he spent 6 years conducting on-the-ground research on forest restoration at the US Forest Service’s Southern Research Station and the Bent Creek Experimental Forest in Asheville. In addition, he also did hands-on ecologically beneficial stewardship on both public and private woodlands in western North Carolina.
Mary Vann Johnston: Mary Vann is the Non-native Invasives Control Crew Leader with EcoForesters. She received her B.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in Sustainable Forestry from Warren Wilson College. She began her career in forestry with a student internship at Forest Stewards and after college began working full time at Blue Ridge Forestry in Asheville. Mary Vann is passionate about her work at EcoForesters because of its dedication to positive impact forestry, conservation, and education here in the Appalachian Mountains.
A downloadable flyer for the full Appalachian Cove Virtual Series will be updated as we have more information.

Science and Practice: Addressing Forest Climate Change in Maine webinar series #1 of 8
2020-10-07 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Halifax)
Register
Forest Operations, with Virtual Field Tour, and Best Management Practices
October 7
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET

Full series information:
View full webinar series schedule
Science and Practice: Addressing Forest Climate Change in Maine
An Interactive Webinar Series for Stakeholders and the Interested Public
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET
First Wednesday of each month, Registration Required
The Forest Climate Change Initiative and Forest Stewards Guild invite you to join us each month as a panel of researchers, scientists, and stakeholders tackle issues of climate change and how it is influencing Maine’s forests and forest economy. Topics will include impacts on forest health, recreational use, forest management, biodiversity and pests, as well as the role of carbon and greenhouse gases. Each hour-long session will include an informal presentation, followed by panel discussion and Q&A. Registration is required.
Have a question related to one of the topics that you would like the panelists to address? Submit your questions in advance to: crsf@maine.edu

Invasive Plants & Their Impact on Wildlife and Landscaping for Wildlife with Native Plants (webinar)
2020-10-08 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Halifax)
Save the date!
Thursday October 8
1 – 2:30 p.m. ET
More information about this event coming soon!
This is the second webinar in a four-part virtual series by ForestHer NC.
About the series: ForestHer NC is going virtual! Presentations scheduled for the March 2020 Managing for Wildlife workshops will now be held as a free, four-part virtual series. Join us as we come together as a statewide community for the first time!

Wildfire Risk to Communities: New Features & Data
2020-10-14 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Halifax)
Register
October 14, 2020
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. MT (1:00 p.m. CT, 2:00 p.m. ET)
Wildfire Risk to Communities is a national tool with interactive maps, charts, and resources to help every community in the U.S. understand, explore, and reduce wildfire risk. In the fall of 2020, the website was updated with new data and features, including new map views and GIS data available for download. During this webinar, see a demonstration of the Wildfire Risk to Communities and learn about data updates. Wildfire Risk to Communities was created by the USDA Forest Service under the direction of Congress and builds on nationwide LANDFIRE data.
Speakers:

Kelly Pohl, Communications & Policy Director, Headwaters Economics,
Greg Dillon, Spatial Fire Analyst, U.S. Forest Service,
Frank Fay, Applied Fire Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service & Business Lead, LANDFIRE,
Jim Menakis, Fire Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service

Webinar sponsors: LANDFIRE, The Nature Conservancy, Headwaters Economics.

Deer, Invasives, Residual Density, and Forest Regeneration
2020-10-20 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Halifax)
Register
October 20, 2020
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Download the event flyer
Chronically overabundant white-tailed deer populations and invasive plant species have made it difficult to regenerate desirable forest tree species throughout much of eastern North America. Dr. Ward will share some recipes for success as well as the possibilities for disaster, when these issues are overlooked.
Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey S Ward, Chief Scientist, Connecticut Department of Forestry and Horticulture.
Presentation Objectives:

Describe direct and indirect impacts of invasive thickets and chronic deer browse on forest ecosystems.
Describe influence of invasive shrub control, deer management, and intensity of harvest prescriptions influence native herbaceous and woody plant communities.

Suggested reading: Ward, J.S., and S.C. Williams. 2020. Influence of deer hunting and residual stand structure on tree regeneration in deciduous forests. Wildlife Society Bulletin 1-12; DOI:10.1002/wsb.1120.

Crossing Boundaries - A Starting Point (webinar)
2020-10-20 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Halifax)
Register
October 20, 2020
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET
A slide presentation and discussion about the value of conservation, cultural understanding and natural resource management with world class ecologist Sue Morse and veteran field educator Peter Lynch. Peter and Sue will focus on 22 years of collaboration between Keeping Track and Green Across the World.

Wisconsin Health Emergency: Communicating Solutions to the Climate Crisis
2020-10-20 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Register
October 20, 2020
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. CT (8:30 ET)
During this event, doctors and nurses from around the state will discuss how climate change is already affecting the health of Wisconsinities. The event witl by moderated by Dr. Jonathan Patz, a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change.
This event is brought to you from a collaboration of the UW-Madison Global Health Institute, the department of Life Sciences Communication, and the non-profit Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action.

Zena Forest virtual tour!
2020-10-21 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Denver)
Custom Douglas Fir Floor by Zena
Register
October 21
10:00 a.m. PT (11 a.m. MT, Noon CT, 1:00 p.m. ET)
Our partners at Zena Forest Products are offering a virtual tour of their forest. Zena is a multigenerational family business in Oregon’s Willamette Valley that makes sustainable hardwood flooring in order to support the robust forest they have been stewarding for decades. Zena Forest is also a Guild Model Forest.
In this free webinar, they will use photos to explore three areas of their forest that are ordinarily too remote to bring visitors to, and they’ll talk about the joys and challenges of each one.

2020 New Mexico Wildland Urban Fire Summit
2020-10-22 09:00 - 2020-10-23 12:30 UTC
Register (this virtual summit is free of charge)
2020 New Mexico Wildland Urban Fire Summit: Learning from Raging Fires in the Southwest.
October 22 & October 23
9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Agenda for download
Fire season is a challenging time let alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local governments, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations that have a passion for fire prevention are hosting this virtual NM Wildland Urban Fire Summit (WUFS). The event provides a continuous effort among community leaders, fire responders, and government personnel to share the latest techniques, cohesive strategies, and resources for wildfire adaption and economic resiliency, wildfire preparedness, and planning.
The summit is a collaborative effort of New Mexico Counties, NM Municipal League, Forest Stewards Guild, NM Prescribed Fire Council, Southwest Fire Science Consortium, NM State Forestry, NM State Land Office, U.S. Forest Service Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Maine Mountain Collaborative Symposium on Climate Change
2020-10-26 08:00 - 2020-10-27 17:00 (America/Halifax)
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we postponed the Symposium originally scheduled for May 14-15 in Rangeley, Maine to October 26-27, 2020.
Although we are disappointed about the postponement of the Symposium, we are pleased to announce that the Editors of Northeastern Naturalist have approved a special issue to be published based on Symposium topics and presentations. We will move forward with the special issue despite the postponement; specifically, draft papers will be due to issue editors (Nelson and MacKenzie) by September 1, 2020 with a likely final publication date in spring 2021. As you continue to work on your Symposium presentation projects, please consider submitting a paper for consideration in the special issue. It does not need to be focused solely in Maine – papers are welcomed that have broader regional relevance. If you are considering submitting a paper, please email Sarah Nelson at snelson@outdoors.org for more information and updates.
Abstracts for posters to be presented at the symposium will continue to be accepted until September 1, 2020 (same deadline for draft papers). The Call for Abstracts can be found on the Maine Mountain Collaborative website.

Inclusivity in Cooperative Extension Programming, With an Emphasis on Natural Resources and Climate Change
2020-10-26 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Halifax)
Join the webinar (a “join” button will be available on the page linked to the left. No need to pre-register.)
Title: Inclusivity in Cooperative Extension Programming, With an Emphasis on Natural Resources and Climate Change
Time and Date: October 26, 1:00 p.m. ET
Full details, and the link to join the webinar on the date and time it is held, are available at this Northeast Climate Hub webpage.
Summary: Through a case study from Washington, DC, participants will learn how to get feedback from historically underrepresented groups and tailor cooperative extension programs to people of different races, ages, and academic backgrounds.
Some people, such as minorities and those from under-educated and lower income backgrounds, are typically excluded from conversations surrounding the degradation and improvement of ecosystem structure, function, and services. In an effort to provide an opportunity for under-served populations to be heard, inform content creation in academic courses and in cooperative extension programs, and create experiential learning opportunities for students at our land-grant university, we developed a survey instrument to gather public perceptions and knowledge on natural resources and climate change. This survey was administered in-person by undergraduate students at the University of the District of Columbia and online in Washington, DC.
This webinar is presented by the USDA Northeast Climate Hub. Contact Jennifer Ryan, Science & Technology Training Library content manager, for more information.

Defining Healthy Woodland Soil (webinar)
2020-10-29 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago)
Photo by Jan-Willem Jansens of Ecotone Landscape Planning, LLC.
Register
October 29, 2020
12:00 p.m. MT (11 a.m. PT, 1:00 p.m. CT, 2:00 p.m. ET)
Hosted by the Guild and Ecotone Landscape Planning, LLC.
This webinar will provide information about the ecology of Pinion-Juniper ecosystems, specifically the interactions that occur between the surface and soil ecologies. The webinar:

addresses the interests and knowledge level of landowners, ranchers, and local, volunteer fire fighters,
defines and clarifies different types of Pinion-Juniper ecosystems,
explains what soil is,
covers soil health conditions, and
presents several methods to observe and rate soil health.

We look forward to sharing time with you to focus on principles of soil health in Pinion-Juniper woodlands!

Managing Plantations with the Guild: 3 Regional Examples
2020-10-29 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Halifax)
Register (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting)
October 29
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET
1 SAF Cat 1 CFE credit is approved
This webinar seeks to spotlight how Guild foresters in 3 separate regions are managing plantations in non-traditional ways. We will provide a brief historical context of how plantations have been managed in each speaker’s region, and how each speaker uses silvicultural techniques to support their own unique style of management, among other things. Following each speaker’s presentation, attendees will be invited to participate in a question and answer session.
Meet our speakers:
Matt Fehrenbacher, Trout Mountain Forestry
Matt Fehrenbacher, Trout Mountain Forestry, Corvallis, OR. A native of the rural Willamette Valley, Matt has spent the last 20 years in the woods of the Pacific Northwest managing private forestlands for a broad range of objectives. As a forest engineer and silviculturist on a large industrial ownership in Oregon he implemented some of the earliest salmon habitat restoration projects crafted under the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. During his ten years as Director of Stewardship at Pacific Forest Trust he was instrumental in the first forest carbon project registered under California’s Climate Action Reserve and directed all stewardship and forest management activities on over 20,000 acres of easement lands. At Trout Mountain Forestry, Matt has developed a diverse client base which includes family forests, non-profit conservation organizations and municipalities. Matt works closely with Pacific Forest Trust on management of the vanEck Oregon Forest, a 7,200 acre forest in Lincoln County conserved under a working forest conservation easement.

Keith Karnes, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
Keith Karnes, Forest Manager at Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Cass Lake, MN. Keith is a 2003 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with majors in Forest Management and Forest Administration & Utilization. I have been working for Tribal Forestry since 2004 and have been in my current position since 2006.
Brian Palik, USDA Forest Service
Brian Palik, science leader for applied forest ecology with the USDA Forest Service-Northern Research Station, in Grand Rapids MN. Brian has Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in forestry and ecology. He works broadly on questions related to the ecological sustainability of managed forests through use of operational-scale and long-term silviculture research.

Bruce White, GFR Forestry Consultants, PLLC
Bruce White, Gelbert, Fullbright, and Randolph, Raleigh, NC. Bruce began working with Gelbert & Company Forestry Consultants of Durham, North Carolina as a technician in junior high and high school. After earning his BS in Forestry from North Carolina State University he worked eleven years with Willamette Industries in Chester, SC both as procurement and a land management forester, in the Piedmont of South and North Carolina. He specialized in natural stand and wildlife habitat management on the company land base during this time. In 2004, he started his consulting business, White Oak Forest Management, in Chester, helping private landowners manage their land for multiple use benefits. He also contracted services to other consulting firms such as Gelbert & Co. and their successor, Gelbert, Fullbright, Edwards & Randolph. In March of 2007 Bruce joined Gelbert, Fullbright & Randolph Forestry Consultants, PLLC and is now working with the private landowner client base in both North and South Carolina out of the Raleigh office.

Adaptation Short Course!
2020-11-02 14:00 - 2020-11-19 15:00 (America/Halifax)
Register! ($150/land trust or 5 staffers)
November 2, 5, and 19, 2020 at
11 a.m. Pacific/12 p.m. Mountain/1 p.m. Central /2 p.m. Eastern
Full course information
Course flyer for download
The Land Trust Alliance and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) are offering an online short course for land trusts actively working on stewardship projects in rural, suburban, and urban forests, forested watersheds, and wetland systems.
Land trusts can participate as individuals or in groups up to five. The course will be held over three weeks in November, and includes three virtual live sessions and a self-guided field session, along with assignments and coaching.

Appalachian Cove Virtual Series - Aquatic Biodiversity webinar
2020-11-06 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Halifax)
Photo by S. Austin.
This webinar is the last in a series that replaces an original event entitled Mountain Cove Forest Management and Conservation in the Central Appalachians. That original event will not be held due to Covid-19.
Register (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting)
Aquatic biodiversity in Appalachian coves
November 6, 2020
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET
Download the agenda
Approved for 1 CFE credit from SAF. WV Master Logger program credits pending.
The Central Appalachian ecoregion hosts a diverse abundance of plant and animal species. Additionally, this region is said to have the richest temperate freshwater systems across the globe. In this webinar we will look at the richness of the region through the lens of the Cheat River in West Virginia. We will be joined by Madison Ball with Friends of the Cheat for the bulk of the presentations. We will also have an additional special guest speaker, Jeremy McGill from West Virginia Division of Forestry, to speak about silviculture BMPs.
Speaker bio: Madison Ball received her B.S. degree in 2014 in Natural Resource Management, and shortly thereafter moved to Bartow, WV to serve as a Watershed and Fisheries AmeriCorps with the Monongahela National Forest for two years. She also served as a Watershed Technician for WV Trout Unlimited & the US Forest Service, and was a seasonal Environmental Educator with Experience Learning (formerly The Mountain Institute) at Spruce Knob, WV. Madison began her time with FOC as the Monitoring Coordinator in 2018, and was promoted to Restoration Program Manager in 2019, where the program has expanded to include ecological restoration activities such as riparian reforestation and aquatic organism passage improvements.

How to balance forestry and biodiversity conservation? A view across Europe
2020-11-09 05:00 - 2020-11-10 12:00 (America/Halifax)
Register for this online conference
November 9 – 10
5:00 a.m. ET – 12:00 p.m. ET
View the agenda
Various project initiatives over the past years have dealt with the topic of integrative forest management. The question on how to improve the situation for endangered species in multifunctional managed forests (see e.g. INTEGRATE, INTEGRATE+, INFORMAR and oFOREST) is key and these initiatives have thus provided a good overview of the state of biodiversity in European forests. This topic is well established now both at the political level and across Europe, but is also taken up in other parts of the world, mainly in regions which are meeting resource demands of other countries that are/plan to set aside large forest areas. It is thus essential that existing knowledge, experiences and good practices on integrative forest management are made available to all actors in forestry and nature conservation at the implementation level in order to promote biodiversity within the framework of multifunctional forest management.
Conference participants will get a broad overview on options, good practices and lessons learned. It will further allow them to identify common interests and challenges in practice, policy and research, discuss needs for further action while stimulating interaction and field visits within and across country borders.

Managing Forests for Carbon and Climate Change
2020-11-12 07:00 - 20:30 (America/Halifax)
Register
November 12, 2020
7:00 – 8:30 p.m. ET
Climate change, shifts in disturbance regimes, massive fragmentation and loss of forests, an increasing prevalence of non-native invasive insects, diseases, plants and animals have created considerable uncertainty around how to best care for our forests into the future. In response to these challenges, foresters, forest landowners and ecosystem managers are adapting their management techniques to help keep forests healthy and functional in light of massive environmental changes.
Responsible forest management can help our forests adapt and respond to a changing climate, encouraging the growth of healthy, diverse forests with huge carbon sequestration and storage benefits. Responsible forest management can do all this while producing local, renewable resources; lowering adverse social effects linked to resource extraction and presenting a kinder, more just and more sustainable source of resources.
Join City Market and Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester, for a webinar discussing the effects of climate change on our forests, and opportunities to manage forests for climate mitigation and for adaptation and resilience in a changing climate.
This class will be hosted on the Microsoft Teams platform. You will receive instructions and a link to join the live event in an email after registering online. We recommend setting up Teams in advance and joining the live event few minutes in early.

Managing Woods and Fields for Wildlife (webinar)
2020-11-12 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Halifax)
Save the date!
Thursday November 12
1 – 2:30 p.m. ET
More information about this event coming soon!
This is the third webinar in a four-part virtual series by ForestHer NC.
About the series: ForestHer NC is going virtual! Presentations scheduled for the March 2020 Managing for Wildlife workshops will now be held as a free, four-part virtual series. Join us as we come together as a statewide community for the first time!

Changing Climates and Forest Insect Impacts in the Northeastern U.S.
2020-11-17 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Halifax)
This is part of the Forest Ecology and Mangament Webinar Series
Registration link coming on November 12…
November 17, 2020
1:00 – 2:00 ET
Presenter: Kevin J. Dodds, Forest Entomologist, U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Protection
Forests in the northeast face an array of threats, with invasive species and changing climates at the forefront. Warming climates have been implicated in the spread of both native and invasive forest insects. Increased frequency of storms and the severity of these events can create opportunities for bark beetles and other insects to build damaging populations. Increased drought and tree stress result in less resilient trees that can succumb to defoliators and other organisms. Kevin will discuss three projects related to climate and insects, including:

range expansions,
severe windstorms, and
the interaction of drought, tree stress, and defoliation on hardwood forests.
