2024 National Silviculture Workshop

Photo Credit

Robert Slesak, USDA Forest Service

Patch cut treatment at the Copper Ridge Unit of the Silvicultural Options Study in Capitol Forest.

The 2024 National Silviculture Workshop was held in Tacoma, Washington, July 16–18th. The biennial event is a forum for sharing silvicultural advances among Forest Service field foresters and research scientists, as well as scientists and forest managers from universities, other federal and state agencies, and other forestry-centered entities. The USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS) and Pacific Northwest Region (Region 6) hosted this year’s workshop. The program committee included Rob Slesak (program chair, PNWRS), David Gwaze (Forest Service, Washington Office), John Bailey (Oregon State University), Ken Borchert (Bureau of Indian Affairs), Robyn Darbyshire (Region 6), Florian Deisenhofer (Washington Department of Natural Resources), Kellen Nelson (PNWRS), and Crystal Perez Gonzalez (Forest Service Enterprise Program).

More than 250 people gathered at the Tacoma Convention Center to learn about cutting-edge silviculture and related issues in the context of fostering resilient forests from stand to landscape scales. The workshop kicked off with an excellent keynote address delivered by John Bailey that explored challenges and opportunities for silviculture under an uncertain future. The sessions that followed focused on various topics including new technologies and tools for forest assessment, mature and old-growth forests, climate adaptation and assisted migration, wildfire landscapes, and reforestation. Several technical panels were also held on ecological mapping, seed needs for reforestation, and the use of shaded fuel breaks in silviculture.

Photo Credit

Lexi Neukirch, USDA Forest Service

Justin Crotteau, a research forester with the Rocky Mountain Research Station, speaks about ponderosa pine silviculture on the first day of the workshop.

A full day field tour visited three locations around the region to learn about ongoing silviculture research and forests of the Pacific Northwest. Tour stops included a mature Douglas-fir stand and the Silvicultural Options Study located in the Capitol State Forest, as well as a planting density study on land owned by Green Diamond Resources. The tour was a great success and enjoyed by all, with fantastic weather and good discussion at each of the stops. Tour presenters deserve a special thanks for their contributions: Tim Harrington (PNWRS emeritus) and Adam Duarte (PNWRS), Dan Donato and Jeff DeBell (Washington Department of Natural Resources), Lauren Magalska (Green Diamond Resource Co.), and Tom DeMeo (Region 6).

The workshop included an evening awards banquet where individuals were honored for their outstanding contributions to silviculture practice and research. Prior to the banquet, a memorial was held for David Gwaze (U.S. Forest Service National Silviculturist) who passed away suddenly just weeks before the workshop. David was a leader who had a tremendous influence on the Forest Service silviculture program and was instrumental in organizing the workshop. The evenings activities celebrated the individuals who positively impact silviculture within the Forest Service.

By all accounts, the 2024 National Silviculture Workshop was a great experience for those who attended, providing opportunity for learning, developing collaborations, and networking, all while being in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!

Photo Credit

Lexi Neukirch, USDA Forest Service.

Dan Donato, a natural resource scientist with Washington Department of Natural Resources, speaks about old-growth stand characteristics during a stop on the field tour in the Capitol State Forest.

Photo Credit

Lexi Neukirch, USDA Forest Service.

Recipients of the National Silviculture Excellence Award and the National Silviculture Lifetime Achievement Award from left to right: Eric Knapp (research ecologist, Pacific Southwest Research Station), Mike Battaglia (research forester, Rocky Mountain Research Station), Terrie Jain (research forester (emeritus), Rocky Mountain Research Station), Mike Hennigan (forest silviculturist, Southern Region), Richard Gonzalez (assistant regional silviculturist, Southwest Region), Leif Anderson (forester, Southern Region), Megan Lowell (regional silviculturist, Rocky Mountain Region), Daniel Dey (research forester, Northern Research Station), Nicole Balloffet (National Reforestation & Nurseries Program Manager, Washington Office).