Forest Restoration Workshop
Forest Restoration Workshop
On November 1, 2016, the Central Oregon Forest Stewardship Foundation, with support from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Federal Forest Restoration Program, The Nature Conservancy, and other regional partners, hosted a multi-day workshop to facilitate peer-to-peer learning among land managers, forest restoration industry and contractors, and collaborative stakeholders.
Participants engaged in high-level, technical discussion on topics surrounding the challenges and opportunities of applying innovative forest restoration implementation efficiencies and effective strategies to successfully increase the quality, pace and scale of dry forest restoration treatments.
At the conclusion of the Workshop, a centralized Resource Database was compiled to provide educational tools.
Objective
The objective of this workshop was to facilitate peer-to-peer learning among land managers, forest restoration industry and contractors, and collaborative stakeholders around innovative implementation efficiency and effectiveness strategies.
Need
There are a wide variety of innovative, efficient restoration practices being utilized on individual National Forests of Central and Eastern Oregon. We recognized the need for peer-to-peer learning opportunities between collaborative groups, Forest Service staff, forest industry, and contractors to utilize these innovative, efficient strategies. This workshop provided an avenue for this kind of peer-to-peer learning with the goal of reducing costs per acre of restoration, increasing trust and transparency and increasing collaborative engagement in implementation processes.
Overview
The multi-day workshop engaged forest collaborative members, forest industry, contractors, and Forest Service staff in high-level, technical conversations and peer-to-peer learning opportunities related to understanding the benefits and challenges of innovative implementation efficiency and effectiveness strategies. The workshop was designed to:
- Provide peer-to-peer learning between individual National Forests of Central and Eastern Oregon
- Share lessons learned (successes/challenges) among forest industry, contractors, Forest Service staff, and forest collaborative groups
- Encourage collaborative engagement throughout implementation as well as during planning
Long term desired outcomes included:
- Per-acre costs of restoration making implementation funds available for more on-the-ground restoration work
- Increased trust and transparency through increasing collaborative engagement throughout implementation
- Increased understanding of implementation processes by collaborative members
Audience
The workshop successfully provided a forum for high-level technical exchange among forest collaborative members, forest industry, contractors, and Forest Service staff. This required a baseline of knowledge related to implementation, although those without a technical background were still welcomed to attend.
