Status of Forests and Forestry in California

The Status of Forests and
Forestry in California: Webinar Series

 Sponsored by:

Northern California Society of American Foresters and
University of California Cooperative Extension

To register click here

Every five years the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) prepares a report detailing the conditions in California's forest and range ecosystems and working landscapes. This webinar series is planned in part to present some of the information gathered during the process of preparing the report that will be published in 2016. Three topics will be covered over the course of four two-hour sessions:

Topic 1: Forest Inventory and Management (February 9)

11:00 a.m. Keith Gilless, Chairman of the State Board of Forestry and Dean of the College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley “Perspective on the State of California’s Forests and Forest Industry”

11:30 a.m. Richard Harris, Northern California Society of American Foresters “California Forest Industry and Management”

• This webinar session will focus on description of the forest resources in the state with emphasis on commercial forest types, ownership patterns in California forests, timber harvest trends over the past 18 years, the management landscape, and third-party certification of forest management

Topic 2: Status of the Forest Industry (February 16)

11:00 a.m. Steve Brink, California Forestry Association “The Forest Products and Biomass Energy Industries in California”

11:45 a.m. George Gentry, California Forestry Association “Regulation of Forest Management on Private Land in California”

• This session focuses on trends in forest products, existing mills, employment in timber harvesting and wood products manufacturing, the biomass energy industry and regulation of the forest industry

Topic 3: Forest Health (March 1)

11:00 a.m. Jeffrey Moore, US Forest Service “Aerial Surveys of Forest Mortality in California”

11:45 a.m. Nathan Stephenson, Adrian Das, and Phillip van Mantgem, US Geological Survey “Lessons from the Drought:  Forest Vulnerability, Causes of Mortality, and Management to Increase Forest Resiliency”

• This session will focus on mortality in California forests, the effects of drought, insects and disease and the ecological effects of forest mortality

Topic 4: Forest Health, continued (March 8)

11:00 a.m. Glenn Barley, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection “The Tree Mortality Task Force”

11:30 a.m. Chris Fischer, US Forest Service “Forest Service Response to Elevated Tree Mortality in the Sierra Nevada”

The intended audience for the series includes state and federal resource agency executives and staff, forest industry, environmental activists, local (county) decision-makers and staff, researchers, media representatives and interested citizens.

The University of California Cooperative Extension will host the webinar series. All presentations will be recorded and posted on this page for viewing at later dates. Attendance at the webinar series is free and open to all.

The series is planned for February 9 and 16 and March 1. The final agenda will be posted at the website cited above in the near future. Registration for the series is required and must be done here.  For more information contact Dr. Richard Harris, rrharrisconsulting "at" gmail.com.

This series is supported in part by a grant to the Northern California Society of American Foresters from the U.S. Forest Service State and Private Forestry Forest Stewardship Program.