Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Calforests Conference
Sarah Billig, the FSC US President, and Tom Kain, FSC US Senior Manager for Certification and Business Development, attended the Calforests meeting in Sacramento, California, from Feb 10th to 12th. This is the annual meeting of the California Forestry Association. The agenda items for this conference included federal and state legislative issues, tribal engagement relations, new and emerging technologies, prescribed fire insurance breakthroughs, and addressing wildfire and forest management issues in California. Sarah and Tom took turns working the FSC booth and were able to speak with members, certificate holders, potential certificate holders, students, and former certificate holders.
The Booth
During the two-day conference, topics like upcoming FSC events, the Pacific Northwest Forest Management Regional Manager hiring status, the Forest Stewardship Standard update progress, and Ecosystem Services were discussed. There were also great conversations with attendees who did not know anything about FSC or how FSC provides a solution for the issues facing the environment.
Conference Talks
One of the talks Tom was able to sit in on was Tribal Engagement. The speakers were Dawn Blake-McQuillen from the Hoopa Valley Tribe, followed by Phillip Rigdon of the Yakama Nation, and then Josh Cook, Tribal Advisor, Mooretown Rancheria. The presentations covered how each group utilized and managed the forest today, guided by their ancestors. Each Tribe has a unique connection to the land and a history of land use far beyond the confines of their current Reservation borders.
On day two of the meeting, Tom sat in on a talk titled “The Contemporary Fire Suppression System in California.” The speakers were Matt Sully, CAL FIRE, Deputy Director of Cooperative Fire Protection, George Morris III, CAL FIRE, Northern Region Chief, and Jaime Gamboa, USFS Region 5, Director of Fire Fuels & Aviation Management. They used a recent fire to talk about how they coordinate all the resources needed internally and externally to attack a large fire and how they have responded to the changing fire conditions in California over the last twenty years from changing contracts to the evolution of aerial fire attack assets.
At The End
Both Tom and Sarah’s voices were very tired from talking to so many people over the two days of the conference. They would like to say a big thank you to all the members and certificate holders whom we were able to speak with during the conference. They look forward to being with you again at next year’s conference!
