NORTHWEST INNOVATIVE FORESTRY SUMMIT

2024 fALL Summit

Fall 2024 Summit | October 3-5, 2024 | Trout Lake, WA

Theme – Forest Horizons: Honoring the Past, Understanding the Present, Securing the Future

Location – Camp Jonah, 31 Little Mountain Rd, Trout Lake, WA

The Northwest Innovative Forestry Summit (NIFS) is a space for regional learning, knowledge exchange, and ongoing cooperation to foster ecologically-based forest management strategies with programs focusing on sustainable, forest-related innovation – past, present, and future.  

Forests have been essential resources, sustaining communities and economies amidst change. Understanding our past is vital for shaping the future of forest management. The 2024 Northwest Innovative Forestry Summit (NIFS) in Trout Lake, WA, delves into this journey, by looking at the past, present, and future of forest management in this unique area. Nestled within the White Salmon and Klickitat watersheds, this region, framed by Mount Adams (“Pahto”) to the north and the Columbia River Gorge to the south, has a rich legacy of stewardship by Native People. This summit explores sustainable stewardship practices that marry innovation with tradition, from pre-settlement stewardship to modern collaboration among interested parties, including federal, state, tribal, and local entities. 

We will explore the past, present, and future of forest management in this unique area throughout the summit. During Day 1, we will look to the past with presentations on Native History and Use, Early Settlement and Use, and Current Ownership and Management. For Day 2 of the summit, we will be going on an extensive field tour to explore current forest management taking place in the area. This will include stops at the Mt. Adams Community Forest and the South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative Group. Additionally, we will also be making stops to explore examples of cross-boundary management between USFS & Mt. Adams Resource Stewards and management between USFS and WA-DNR through the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA). Day 3 will be focused on reflection and visioning for the future, led by Dr. Cristina Eisenberg and Dr. Klaus Puettmann.

Agenda
Map of Day 2 Tour Stops

SUMMIT ORGANIZERS

Please email membership (at) forestguild.org if you have questions about the summit or are interested in joining the organizing team.

Past Events

In April 2022 we held a month-long series of virtual sessions that acted as a precursor to the in-person Summit at Pack Forest in the fall. These events were be a mix of presentation and discussion. You can view recordings of the events at the links below.

Living with Change: Discussing Future Challenges and Opportunities

The goal of the session is for participants to share what changes they see on the horizon for forestry, gain an understanding of the associated challenges, and collect ideas how we can best deal with those changes. The session starts with a brief summary of results from a survey about the ecological, economic, and social changes respondents see as challenges or opportunities for our region. Participants will then discuss changes in smaller groups.

The Co-evolving Story and Stewardship of Northwest Forests

Like beauty, ecological integrity and forest productivity are in the eye of the beholder. Those madronas growing among the Douglas-fir — are they competitors or cooperators? That forested park — is it a wildlife refuge or a tinderbox of excess fuel for wildfires? Not only is forest stewardship changing, so are the stories we tell ourselves about the forest and our place in it. This panel will take stock of how the narrative about forestry has shifted both within the forestry community and in the larger public arena.

Diversifying Forest Revenue and Values: What’s the Same and What’s Changing?

Carbon credits, wood-based certifications, non-timber forest products, conservation finance, and ecotourism are some examples of financial opportunities that forest landowners consider to diversify revenue streams – but these opportunities are not always lucrative. How are the opportunities and markets for forest owners changing or staying the same? Join us for a panel discussion on which opportunities are fulfilling their promise to landowners and which are falling short.

Working Together: New Partnerships in Forest Ownership and Conservation

Flux in forest ownership has long been a reality and driving force in the Northwest. We are in a period of relatively rapid ownership transition and the outcomes continue to shape both the forests and forest-dependent communities. All across our region people, organizations, agencies and businesses are finding innovative ways to work cooperatively together toward common goals for forests and human communities. In this session we will explore the role of innovation and lessons learned from case studies, in varying levels of maturation, from across our region. Participants will be invited to consider how these lessons might be applied throughout our region.

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