Across the Landscape

The Forest Stewards Guild has recently added two Upper Peninsula forests to its Model Forest Program. The Model Forest Program recognizes places, people, and relationships that foster sustainable forest management and demonstrate successful silviculture.

In Houghton, Michigan Technological University’s Ford Forest, managed by long-time Guild member Jim Schmierer, was designated in November 2016. 

In August, the Forest Stewards Guild is completing updates for two Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) in New Mexico. Since 2003, thousands of communities have developed and implemented CWPPs to collaboratively identify and prioritize fuel reduction treatments and reduce the threat of home ignition. Each CWPP can be very different because of local decisions about scale, approach, areas of emphasis, and depth. Some CWPPs provide communities with practical, well-thought out plans for making communities safer.

On the weekend of June 11th and 12th a group of University of Wisconsin – Madison forestry and wildlife ecology students joined experienced Guild foresters and ecologists for a hike to explore sustainable land management practices on-the-ground in one of Wisconsin’s premier natural areas – the Baraboo Hills. 

“Nothing so important as an ethic is ever 'written'… It evolves in the minds of a thinking community.”

- Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic (1949), ASCA 225

Restoration. Conservation. Collaboration. The 2016 national meeting of the Forest Stewards Guild and friends at The Nature Conservancy and Society of American Foresters drew over a hundred and thirty natural resource managers, researchers, and students together for a singular event designed to empower practitioners with restoration tools rooted in forest science, conservation, and collaboration. The three-day program created an exceptional space to learn and, to Leopold’s philosophy, to evolve the land ethic in the minds of a thinking community.

The conglomerate cliff-face loomed fifty above, and the members of the El Rito Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crew looked uncertainly towards the top. The ropes had been set up, and everyone had a harness, helmet, and climbing shoes, yet nobody wanted to be the first one to go. Eventually, one person volunteered to start things off, and before long each member of the crew had tried their hand at climbing the crag. None of them had ever been climbing before.

The North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange (NAFSE), in which the Forest Stewards Guild is a partner, held a two-day workshop on Fire in Oak: Regional Differences, Local Applicability. Hosted by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MA DFW), the workshop featured a full-day field trip to fire-influenced oak sites in the vicinity of Westborough, Massachusetts, as well as an outstanding indoor program featuring speakers with fire and oak experience in New England and beyond. Participants came from federal, state, and local agencies as well as universities, conservation organizations, and consulting businesses, all with an interest in fire, oak, or both.

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has announced the 2016 Barrett Foundation Business Concept Challenge to foster innovation in natural resource management. This unique competition is open to representatives from for-profit and nonprofit organizations, tribal entities, businesses, individuals and students, staff, or faculty at nationally accredited colleges and universities. 

We're happy to announce the release of the first issue of our new publication The Forest Steward!

During the week of June 6th, the Guild’s Director of Science and Programs, Zander Evans, travelled to Durango, Mexico to talk about ecological forestry. He was invited to participate in the North American Forest Commission’s silviculture working group meeting. The meeting was hosted by Mexico’s Comisión Nacional Forestal and featured participants from the Canadian and US forest services. Zander shared the Guild’s research on mixed conifer forests and our experience working with communities on sustainable forest management. Other presentations focused on new efforts in Mexico to integrate increased protection of biodiversity into community managed forests – a theme very familiar to Guild members.

Second Public Consultation Now Open!

Forest Stewardship Council US invites your participation in the second public consultation of the supplemental requirements for FSC certification of lands managed by the US Forest Service. Your review and input in this process is essential for a successful outcome, and we hope you will take some time to share your perspectives with us.
 
The 30-day consultation period closes on July 3, 2016.
 
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