A Shared Stewardship: Connecting Forestry and Wildlife Conservation
Wednesday, October 25 • 8 am - 3 pm
5 CFEs Category 1 • 5.25 ISA Certified Arborist • 1.3 ESA CEUs
Speakers: Darren A Miller, M.S., Ph.D., CWB - NCASI; Darren JH. Sleep, PhD, CWB- The Sustainable Forestry Initiative; Fran Cafferata, CWB - Cafferata Consulting; Jake Verschuyl, PhD - NCASI; Andy Crosby, PhD - University of Alberta
As forestry evolves, so do interests in how forest management relates to various objectives, e.g., wildlife conservation. In this workshop, presenters will describe forestry and wildlife management goals, focusing on commonalities and collaborative conservation to reach these goals. There is common ground between forestry and wildlife, and both professions often “fight” similar battles.
Discussions will focus on the theory of wildlife management; progression of focus from game species to biodiversity; forest management outcomes in terms of wildlife conservation; certification with a focus on wildlife, SMZs, and leave trees/snags; landscape-scale planning for wildlife in managed forests; and natural disturbance and forest management at landscape and stand scale.
This workshop is intended for professionals who are knowledgeable and interested in the management of wildlife populations, curious about wildlife conservation, and those who need to apply wildlife needs to forest management practices.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Understand the objective of wildlife management and how the needs of wildlife species can be balanced.
2. Apply knowledge of wildlife needs to forest management practices to achieve desired outcomes for individual species or groups of species.
3. Evaluate how forest management can influence the way biodiversity patterns across forested landscapes.
Data Science for Forestry Applications
Wednesday, October 25 • 8:30 am - 12 pm
3 CFEs Category 1 • 3 ISA Certified Arborist • .75 ESA CEUs
Speakers: Robert Froese, PhD, CF, RPF - University of Alberta;
James McCarter, PhD, MF - Rayonier
Forest and natural resource managers are increasingly using data in new and complex ways. This hands-on workshop will showcase how data science can be used in forestry applications. Learn how to use open-source software (specifically R) to work quickly and efficiently with forestry data, with a focus on using large datasets such as Forest Inventory and Analysis data.
Take advantage of this workshop as a primer on data science techniques for forestry applications. This workshop is perfect for graduate students and professionals who want to learn more about how to use R and work with the data they have. It will be especially valuable to graduate students who are at an early stage in their programs or undergraduates planning to go on to graduate school.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1.
Setup R and RStudio to write, edit, debug, execute, and save R programs.
2.
Experiment with forest inventory data in R and generate tabular and graphical summaries.
Materials Needed: Participants should bring laptops.
USDA NRCS TSP Workshop
Wednesday, October 25 • 8 am - 3:30 pm | FREE and Open to the Public
5.5 CFEs Category 1 • 1.44 ESA CEUs
Speakers: Charlotte Brewster, NRCS National TSP Program Manager;
Stacey Bradshaw, NRCS TSP Regional Coordinator - West and Southeast;
Steve Hill, CA NRCS TSP State Coordinator;
Peter Hoagland, NRCS TSP Regional Coordinator – Northeast;
Chris Zimny, CA NRCS State Forester
Technical Service Providers (TSPs) provide conservation planning assistance to private landowners on behalf of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). TSPs are certified by NRCS to develop planning and practice design documents such as Forest Management Plans to help private forest landowners assess the current condition of their lands and to schedule conservation practices meeting NRCS standards and specifications.
For interested TSP applicants, this workshop will give participants a detailed overview of the process to become a TSP. This workshop will satisfy the TSP training requirements of the “TSP Orientation and Conservation Planning” course as well as the “Introduction to the Field Office Technical Guide” course. For current and renewing TSPs, this workshop will have a break-out session which will cover TSP program updates, the TSP Registry renewal and modification processes, and other important program guidance.
The USDA NRCS TSP Workshop is free and open to the public. Convention registration is not required to attend this event. However, workshop registration is required. Register here.