The 2020 PNW Forest Collaboratives Workshop Series
This workshop provides space for forest collaborative members, scientists, state and federal partners, Tribes, and others to network, share success stories, and develop solutions to forest management challenges. Sessions will be held virtually via Zoom in lieu of the annual in-person meeting.
OCTOBER
Recipe and Ingredients for All-Lands Projects, October 13
Working across all lands is essential to address the ecological and economic challenges facing rural communities. This interactive session will help collaborative members understand the roles, responsibilities, and capacities needed to accomplish all-lands projects, and share key considerations to address prior to embarking on a project. The discussion will build off lessons learned from RVCC’s all-lands peer learning work. This is a peer-learning event that depends on active engagement from all participants. This webinar was held on October 13, 2020. Click here to view the recording.
Dry Forest Restoration on Steep Terrain, October 19
Restoring dry forests on steep terrain remains economically and politically challenging. Policies developed in the ‘70s preclude the use of ground-based harvesting equipment on slopes greater than 35% with the goal of limiting soil erosion and protecting environmental values. The result is that forest slopes above important watersheds frequently remain untreated given the high costs of nonground based systems. Ironically, the long-term result is increased likelihood of high-severity wildfires, leading to soil erosion as well as impacts to fisheries, wildlife habitat, and other resources.
Ground-based harvesting techniques and equipment have changed significantly since 1970, as have the frequency and severity of wildfires. With the goal of reducing barriers to ecologically appropriately dry forest restoration, over the past 2 years the Central Oregon Forest Stewardship Foundation (COFSF) has engaged diverse stakeholders in learning about current ground-based harvesting systems. exploring whether, where, and how it is appropriate to undertake restoration on steep terrain. In this session we present a synthesis of participant input gathered from the Dry Forest Restoration on Steep Terrain workshop (2018) and Demonstration Project (2019). Participants will provide input to the pilot project design via small group breakout sessions. This webinar was held on October 19,2020. Click here to watch the recording.
Good Neighbor Authority, October 30
Learn how Good Neighbor Authority projects are implemented on National Forests by the Oregon Department of Forestry Federal Forest Restoration (FFR) Program and Washington DNR. During this session, speakers will:
- Share examples of how Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) projects are being implemented in the Pacific Northwest.
- Answer the following questions: How is GNA meeting land management objectives for the Forest Service and Oregon and Washington? How are Collaboratives engaging in GNA projects? What are the opportunities for GNA going forward?
Suggested audience: Collaborative partners engaged in or interested in GNA, USDA Forest Service employees, ODF and DNR employees. This webinar will be held on October 30.
AUGUST
Forest Restoration, Collaboratives, and County Budgets, August 12,
Federal forest management directly impacts county budgets through timber receipts (in counties not receiving Secure Rural Schools funding), and indirectly through the kinds of economic activities generated by forest management. This layer often complicates decisions about implementing forest collaborative projects, sometimes contributing to tension between forest collaboratives and county officials. Mark Haggerty of Headwaters Economics will unpack timber payments, Secure Rural Schools, Payment in Lieu of Taxes, and how they intersect with federal forest management, state law, and local politics. We will also be joined by County Commissioners Court Boice, Curry County, and Tom Lannen, Skamania County, for a panel discussion and Q&A about managing these issues. Click here to view the recording.
Pacific Northwest Regional Update, August 26,
Tune into to hear updates from the Forest Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and Oregon Department of Forestry. An additional update on Oregon climate and wildfire policy will be provided by Dylan Kruse from Sustainable Northwest. Sustainable Northwest will provide you with what to expect this year from the Washington Forest Collaboratives Network and the new Oregon Forest Collaboratives Network. The session will conclude with Q&A. This session is geared to participants working in Washington and Oregon but is open to all who are interested. Click here to view the recording.
JULY
Collaborative Administrative and Judicial Review Opportunities
In NEPA 101, we learned about the components of the National Environmental Policy Act and the role of collaborative engagement in the environmental analysis process. In this follow-up webinar, Susan Jane Brown from the Western Environmental Law Center will give a presentation on and answer your questions about collaborative administrative and judicial review opportunities, and dig deeper into the administrative review process for the Forest Service, judicial review of agency decisions, and how collaborative groups can engage in these processes. This webinar was held on July 9, 2020. Click here to watch the recording.
Historical Range of Variability (HRV): Uses and Various Approaches
Range of Variability (ROV) concepts – including Natural (NRV), Historic (HRV), Current (CRV), and Future (FRV) – are frequently used by the US Forest Service to help define land management goals. Nathan Poage, Forest Service Ecologist, joins us to provide an introduction to ROV terminology and examples of how the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests in the Blue Mountains have applied ROV concepts during project planning when addressing key requirements of the Eastside Screens. The discussion will include overviews of tools commonly used to conduct ROV analyses. Q&A will follow the presentation. This webinar was held on July 17, 2020. Click here to watch the recording. The ppt used in this webinar is attached below.
MAY
NEPA 101
Do you ever find yourself wondering, what is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)? What are the main components? How do they work? What are the roles and responsibilities associated with NEPA? This webinar will aim to answer all those – and more! Susan Jane Brown and Pam Hardy, of the Western Environmental Law Center, will give an overview of NEPA and collaborative engagement and then will open the conversation up for participant questions and answers. This webinar was held on May 15, 2020. Click here to watch the recording.
OTHER RESOURCES
Sustainable Northwest published the "Best Practices for Remote Collaboration Guide" to support collaboratives during these unpredictable times. The guide is attached below.
Downloads