June 19 & 20, 2018 | Evergreen State College | Olympia, WA

Join us for a conference exploring how forests can be managed for greater resilience and carbon storage – from seedlings to wood products.

The changes anticipated for the Pacific Northwest’s climate will challenge our forests to provide the timber, habitat, water, carbon sequestration, and other important ecosystem services on which we rely.

Over two days we’ll go out in the woods and look at a range of harvest treatments, discuss ways to increase carbon stability and climate resilience in forests, and consider potential supply chain solutions that align with these management strategies.

We are bringing together natural resource managers, scientists, local agencies, tribal governments, mill owners, builders, architects, family forest owners, and non-profit leaders from around the region to share information and take part in a dialog to advance ideas to sustain resilience and support carbon storage in Pacific Northwest forests.

An intended outcome of this conference is for invited participants to contribute to the design of a project that integrates concepts from forests and the built environment into a requested grant proposal to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture research initiative for Resilient Agroecosystems in a Changing Climate.

Registration

Registration is CLOSED. The conference is full.

To join a wait list, please contact: conference@nnrg.org

Registration fees include the field tour, meals, and event materials.

Program Overview & Schedule

The schedule, detailed program, abstracts and speaker bios are now available.


View Program

DAY 1 – Tuesday, June 19

  • 8:00-9:00      Registration & Coffee + Light Breakfast
  • 9:00-9:45      Welcome & Morning Keynote
    • Seth Zuckerman, Northwest Natural Resource Group
    • Jerry Franklin, University of Washington, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Ecosystem Analysis
      • Understanding and managing forests as ecosystems: Refreshing our approach in consideration of 21st century challenges 
  • 9:45-10:00    Break
  • 10:00-12:00  Session #1: Forest management for resilience, sustainability, and carbon storage
    • Mike Ryan, Colorado State College, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
      • Tree growth, water availability, water use and drought resistance are tightly linked
    • Mark Harmon, Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Forest Ecosystems & Society
      • Putting forest carbon management on a productive path: Some recommendations
    • Matt Hurteau, University of New Mexico, Earth Systems Ecology Lab
      • Using management to increase carbon stability in fire-prone forests
    • Klaus Puettmann, Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Forest Ecosystems & Society
      • What does silviculture for resilient forests in a changing climate look like?
    • Moderator: David L. Peterson, University of Washington, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
  • 12:00-5:00    Field Tour of the Blue Ridge Unit in Capitol State Forest – managed by Washington State Department of Natural Resources with boxed lunch provided
    • Calvin Ohlson-Kiehn, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, State Lands Silviculture Program
    • Jeff DeBell, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Silviculturist & Geneticist
    • Timothy Harrington, US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Research Scientist
    • Derek Churchill, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Forest Health Scientist
    • Connie Harrington, US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Research Forester
    • Dylan Fischer, Evergreen State College, Forest Ecology
    • Kirk Hanson, Northwest Natural Resource Group, Director of Forestry
  • 5:00-6:00      Networking Reception
  • 6:00-8:00      Dinner & Evening Keynote

DAY 2 – Wednesday, June 20

  • 8:00-8:30      Networking & Coffee + Light Breakfast
  • 8:30-10:30    Session #2: Supply chain solutions – milling capacity & markets, green building that supports carbon-rich, resilient forestry
    • Paul Harlan, Collins Companies, VP Resources
      • How we got to ‘Not Where We Were Going’
    • Skip Swenson, Forterra, VP Policy & Programming
      • The Emerging Mass Timber Market in Washington
    • Allison Capen, International Living Future Institute, Living Building Challenge Technical Director
      • Resilient Forests for a Living Future
    • Laura Soma, GLY, Project Manager
      • Into The Building – The Wood Path
    • Chris Hellstern, Miller Hull, Living Building Challenge Services Director
      • A Sustainably Responsible Material
    • Moderator: Patti Southard, King County GreenTools Program, Residential Green Building, King County Sustainable Cities
  • 10:30-10:45  Break
  • 10:45-12:45  Session #3: Measuring carbon storage & increased climate resilience in the forestry sector
    • Rolf Gersonde, City of Seattle – Watershed Management Division
      • Adapting tree species composition to a changing climate – a planting trial for forest resilience
    • Dylan Fischer, Evergreen State College, Forest Ecology
      • Measuring carbon in west-side permanent plots; aboveground, belowground, and in-between
    • Andrew Gray, US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Research Ecologist
      • Trends and drivers of carbon storage in westside forests of Oregon and Washington
    • Edie Sonne Hall, Three Trees Consulting, Principal
      • Carbon accounting in Washington State’s forestry sector
    • Maureen Puettmann, WoodLife Environmental Consultants, Principal & Director of the Consortium for Research and Renewable Industrial Materials
      • Life cycle assessment can improve decisions to optimize wood use
    • Moderator: David Diaz, Ecotrust, Forestry Analytics and Technology
  • 12:45-1:45  Working Lunch – Brainstorm ideas to discuss during strategy work sessions
  • 1:45-3:15    Session #4: Strategy Work Sessions – Facilitated small group discussions to identify focus areas and develop opportunities to demonstrate climate adaptation and carbon storage in forest management and wood products
  • 3:15-3:30    Break
  • 3:30-3:55    Session #5: Sharing resources and streamlining efforts to access tools for climate adaptation
    • Jerry Krueger, USDA Northwest Climate Hub, Interim Director
      • The NW Climate Hub – The Challenge of Meeting Customer Needs
  • 3:55-4:30   Recap and Adjourn

Steering Committee

We thank our steering committee for their help with this program:

Lodging

For overnight accommodations, a block of rooms has been held at the RL Hotel in Olympia. To receive a discounted rate of $115 per night, make your reservation online or call 1-800-RED-LION (800-733-5466) and reference the group code: NNRG0618. The room block is being held until May 25. Reservations will continue to be accepted after this date based on availability.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations received before May 19 can be arranged through the registration site. Between May 19 and June 8, cancellations can be made by emailing conference@nnrg.org, and are subject to a 15% service charge. After June 8, no refunds are available, but substitutions are permitted.

This conference is organized by The Evergreen State College and Northwest Natural Resource Group

         

Dylan Fischer, PhD Forest Ecology with The Evergreen State College – Dylan is a faculty member at Evergreen whose research is focused on riparian forest ecology, soil carbon, nutrient cycling, root dynamics, tree physiology, and forest carbon cycling. He is part of the Evergreen Ecosystem Ecology laboratory. blogs.evergreen.edu/fischer

Kirk Hanson, Lindsay Malone, and Seth Zuckerman with Northwest Natural Resource Group – NNRG is a non-profit organization that works with private landowners, small forest product companies, land trusts, conservation groups, youth camps, and local government agencies in the Pacific Northwest to steward forests for both ecological health and economic viability. NNRG specializes in landowner education on conservation-based forest management, offers access to Forest Stewardship Council® certification, and helps landowners carry out forest management activities and participate in wood products markets.

Funding for this conference is provided by:

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative

Questions? Please contact us at conference@nnrg.org

Twitter: #forestry4climate

Photo by Matt Freeman-Gleason.

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