New Mexico Forestry and Climate Change Workshop November 20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

MANAGING FORESTS IN THE AGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE:
Workshop to bring forth latest thinking on climate changes' effect on New Mexico's forests and forestry

Santa Fe, New Mexico-The Forest Guild and over two dozen partners throughout the Southwest are collaborating to present the New Mexico Forestry and Climate Change Workshop, Thursday, November 20, 2008, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Albuquerque Grand Hotel in New Mexico.

The goal of this workshop is to provide foresters and other natural resource professionals with information about climate change's projected impacts on New Mexico's forests and potential responses to incorporate into their management decision making. Forest managers, researchers, landowners, students, activists, and the general public are encouraged to attend.

Four working groups, each comprised of researchers and forest managers focusing on one of New Mexico's dominant forest types (bosque, piñon-juniper, ponderosa pine, and mixed conifer/aspen) began meeting this past spring and their presentations will include practical on-the-ground knowledge and management considerations about climate change for use by foresters and other resource managers. The workshop will also include a plenary overview session about climate change and New Mexico's forests as well as a luncheon with a guest speaker discussing prospects for new state and federal climate change legislation and policies in 2009.

"Natural resource professionals already have many societal needs and values to consider in their forest work including wildlife habitat, fire, wood supply, water resources, and recreation. Now they must also incorporate the influence of climate change on the outcomes they are managing for. This workshop will provide them with information they need on this topic to consider and apply," said Howard Gross, Forest Guild Executive Director.

The speakers include Craig Allen, Jemez Mountains Field Station, U.S. Geological Survey; Connie Millar, Sierra Nevada Research Center, U.S. Forest Service; Julie Coonrod, Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico; Deborah Finch, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service; and Denise Fort, University of New Mexico School of Law.

The Workshop Steering Committee is comprised of representatives from the Forest Guild, NMFWRI, New Mexico State University Mora Research Center, University of New Mexico, BLM, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico Chapter of the Society of American Foresters, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Forest Service.

WHAT: New Mexico Forestry and Climate Change Workshop

WHEN: Thursday, November 20, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

WHERE: Albuquerque Grand Hotel, 2910 Yale Boulevard S.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico

COST: $45. Includes the luncheon, morning and afternoon coffee breaks/refreshments, and a conference packet.

CONTACT: Howard Gross , Forest Guild, 505-983-8992, x42 howard@forestguild.org.

Funding for this workshop has been provided by The Thaw Charitable Trust, Biophilia Foundation , Forest Guild , New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute (NMFWRI), Bureau of Land Management - New Mexico State Office (BLM) , The U.S. Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station and Region 3 and the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation

The Forest Guild, headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a national organization of more than 600 foresters, allied professionals, and supporters who manage forestlands in the United States and Canada and advocate for ecologically sound forest practices. The mission of the Forest Guild is to practice and promote ecologically, economically, and socially responsible forestry-"excellent forestry"- as a means of sustaining the integrity of forest ecosystems and the human communities dependent upon them. The Guild maintains a presence nationwide with staff and volunteer coordinators in 12 states and nearly all major forest regions of the country.

INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

www.forestguild.org/nmfccworkshop.html

Contact:
Jennifer Marshall
505-231-1776
jennifer@jmarshallplan.com
www.jmarshallplan.com