Shared Stewardship in Washington State
April 6-7 2021, Virtual
Click here to view the recordings of the 2021 WSSAF Annual Meeting.
Since the 2020 WSSAF annual meeting was cancelled due to the pandemic, the Mid-Columbia Chapter is excited to host the 2021 WSSAF annual meeting. The theme is Shared Stewardship, and presentations will highlight demonstrative engagements that illustrate federal, state, tribal, and private landscape-scale approaches resolving forest health and wildfire hazard risk problems. The “cross-boundary-centric” agenda features coordinated investments and outcome-based actions that have increased the pace and scale of management treatments near Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee— areas prioritized by the Washington State Forest Action Plan and the Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest Restoration Strategy—that are at a scale sufficiently meaningful to make a dent, and reconceptually transferrable benefiting other transboundary collaborations.
Agenda
The meeting opens Tuesday morning, April 6, with a general session featuring Vicki Christiansen, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, and George Geissler, State Forester, and other leadership as they set the stage for the meeting. After lunch, attendees will (virtually) travel to Lake Wenatchee to view video presentations featuring the Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project. The day wraps up at a “virtual coffee shop,” where author Jack Nisbet will tell the Leiberg’s story, one of an American physician and her Swedish naturalist husband who helped shape a turn-of-the-twentieth-century Northwest on the cusp of change, a story that opens a window into the human and natural landscape of a century past that reflects all the thorny issues of our present time.
Wednesday, April 7, begins with a talk about stand-level treatments for restoring forests to be productive and resilient through time, and a panel will discuss the role of partners in sharing stewardship of the landscape. We will take a virtual field trip to the Red-Tail Canyon Farm for lunch, hosted by family forest owners Ross and Marianne Frank. The next field trip stop will feature wildfire hazard treatment projects carried out between Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee. SAF Awards will be presented followed by A Virtual Timber Bid auction benefiting Forester’s Fund grants and WSSAF Foundation student and education-related scholarships.
Also on April 7, there will be a short Executive Committee meeting from 7:45 a.m. - 8:00 a.m., followed by a business meeting from 8:00-8:45 a.m.
Agenda*
*Agenda is subject to change. All times are in PDT.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
8:00 a.m. Zoom will open
8:30 Welcome, Andy Perleberg, Mid-Columbia Chapter Chair, and Josh Meek, WSSAF Chair
8:40 CONFERENCE WELCOME, Connie Mehmel (ret), US Forest Service Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
8:45 We’re All in This Together: Meeting Land Management Challenges Through Shared Stewardship, Vicki Christiansen, Chief,
US Forest Service
9:30 WA State Forest Action Plan and MOU Relevance, George Geissler, State Forester, Washington State Department of Natural Resources
10:00 Break - Sponsor Announcements
10:10 Inland Northwest Forests: Characteristics of Resilient landscapes, Dr. Paul Hessburg, Sr. Research Landscape Ecologist,
US Forest Service PNW Station,
11:00 Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership, Kristin Bail, Forest Supervisor, US Forest Service Okanogan-Wenatchee
National Forest
11:20 Good Neighbor Authority, Trevor McConchie, Federal Lands Assistant Division Manager, WA Dept. Natural Resources
11:40 State & Private Forestry Partnerships, Karen Ripley, Region 6 Forest Health Program Manager, US Forest Service
12:00 p.m. Lunch - Sponsor Announcements
12:20 Virtual Lunch Table - How the Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project Came to Be
- Bob Bugert, Chelan County Commissioner
- Steve Wright, General Manager, Chelan County Public Utility District
1:00 A Virtual Field Trip to the Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project
- Connie Mehmel, Forest Entomologist (ret), US Forest Service Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
- Jeff Rivera, District Ranger, Wenatchee River Ranger District
- Lloyd McGee, The Nature Conservancy
- Patrick Haggerty, Cascadia Conservation District
- Pete Weir, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Silviculturist
- Don Youkey, Wildlife Biologist, Wenatchee River Ranger District
- Chuck Hersey, WA Dept. Natural Resources Forest Health
2:00 Break Sponsor Announcements
2:15 Virtual Coffee Shop featuring Jack Nisbet, author of The Dreamer and The Doctor
3:15-5:00 Social Hour, networking
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
8:00 a.m. WSSAF Business Meeting, Josh Meek, WSSAF Chair
9:00 Welcome, Andy Perlberg, Conference Chair
9:10 Silvicultural objectives; Pre- and Post-treatment Stand Characteristics; basin characteristics, Dr. Derek Churchill,
Forest Health Scientist, WA Dept. Natural Resources
10:00 Break - Sponsor Announcements
10:15 Sharing Stewardship and the Role of Partners
- Lloyd McGee, The Nature Conservancy
- Jen Watkins, Washington Department of Natural Resources
- Bob Bugert, Chelan County
- Phil Rigdon, Yakama Nation
- Melody Kreimes, Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board
- Paul Ward, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
- Matt Comiskey, American Forest Resources Council
- Brian Vrablick, American Forest Management
- Andy Perleberg, Washington State University
12:00 p.m. Lunch - Sponsor Announcements
12:15 Virtual Lunch on the Tree Farm, Ross and Marianne Frank, Owners, Red-Tail Canyon Farm
1:00 Virtual Field Trip to Virtual Field Trip to Sunitch & Spromberg, Chumstick Projects; Chiwawa & River Road, Plain Projects,
and Cascade High School
- Nolan Brewer, Washington Deptartment of Natural Resources
- Corrine Hoffman, Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition
- Chris Wright, Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Connor Craig, Wildfire Home Protection
3:00 Celebration SAF Awards, Josh Meek, WSSAF Chair, followed by a student poster session hosted by
Green River College SAF student chapter
Registration
Registration for SAF members is $50, SAF student members is $25, and $75 for non-members. Please register at 2021 Virtual WSSAF Annual Meeting (123signup.com).
Sponsorships and Exhibitor Opportunity
WSSAF depends on generous donors to make the annual meeting a success. We hope you are willing to continue partnering with us and be involved with the event next year.
Sponsorship of all amounts are accepted.
Contact Tom Hanson or Darren Goodding for more information on sponsorships and exhibiting.
SAF Credits Available
This meeting has been approved for CFE Cat 1 8.5 credits.
Optional Workshop: Qualified Tree Farm Inspector Training -- Stay tuned for rescheduling information
Questions?
Registration:
Melinda Olson, SAF NW Office, (503) 224-8046
General Questions:
Andy Perleberg, Mid-Columbia Chapter Chair and WSSAF Annual Meeting Chair
(509) 630-4217 (mobile)