148-Wildfire Coexistence with Lori Daniels

148-Wildfire Coexistence with Lori Daniels

Wildfire has always been here, and humans have always had a relationship with it. These days, we have recognized that our relationship to fire has been less than ideal. Wildfire smoke has consumed our summers, wildfire threat has persisted in our minds, and there seems to be no end in sight. So, how do we begin to change our relationship to fire? How do we go from surviving it, to thriving with it? The knowledge exists, the solutions are there, how do we make it happen? Transformational change is hard.

147-Emulating Natural Disturbance with Ellen Macdonald

147-Emulating Natural Disturbance with Ellen Macdonald

Nature knows best…right? So, our forest management strategies should try to emulate nature? That’s what we used to think. Unfortunately, our ideas on how to emulate natural disturbance rarely result in something that acts like a natural disturbance. Bottom line, we are not fire, and we want different things from fire, so we need to not act like fire. We have had some good ideas, and our minds were in the right place, but it is now time to shake things up. Let’s put that big head of ours to use and come up with something that would make mother nature proud.

146-The Life Beneath Our Feet with Cindy Prescott and Sue Grayston

146-The Life Beneath Our Feet with Cindy Prescott and Sue Grayston

In forest management, we spend a lot of time on the things we can see; charismatic megafauna, trees, pests and plants. But what about the things we can’t see? What if I told you there was an entirely unexplored ecosystem below our feet? One that has more biodiversity than we can imagine. This community is responsible for half of the carbon sequestration of the forest, and the maintenance of ecosystem function for above ground species. This life beneath our feet is as much responsible for the forests we love as the biggest trees and the cutest caribou. Let’s show it some love. 

145- The Landscape Ecology of Institutions with Ira Sutherland

145- The Landscape Ecology of Institutions with Ira Sutherland

What stands in the way of the future of sustainable forest management? There are many answers to this question, but the deepest answer may be colonialism. The very structure of our governing bodies and institutions have made it very difficult to try new things. It is possible that our colonial system of organization and decision making now stands in the way of progress. Organizations have to fight against the system to make new decisions, and move in new directions. The first thing we have to do is recognize the problem.

144-Empathy For Land with Jim Lane

144-Empathy For Land with Jim Lane

As modern culture expands, wilderness dwindles in its wake. It has become more challenging to create empathy for land through real experience. Luckily, there are people like Jim Lane. Jim teaches an Ecology and Conservation course for High School students. His approach gets students out in the bush to experience nature first hand. They learn about scientific observation, interconnectedness, ecology, history and colonialism all through observing nature. All this without leaving school property.

143-Climate Change and The Boreal Forest with Miguel Montoro Girona, Sylvie Gauthier, Guillaume Grosbois

143-Climate Change and The Boreal Forest with Miguel Montoro Girona, Sylvie Gauthier, Guillaume Grosbois

The Boreal Forest is the worlds LARGEST forested biome! Understanding the inner workings of such a callosal giant can be overwhelming. Now add climate change to the mix. What does the future hold? Luckily, an enormous team of researchers have banded together to create this incredible book that details what we need to do to keep the Boreal Forest healthy, and thriving, for the foreseeable future. Did I mention this incredible resource is completely FREE? See show notes for that link.

142- Achieving Tree Equity with American Forests

142- Achieving Tree Equity with American Forests

Why is tree equity important? They are just trees, right? So what? They don’t impact health, wealth, quality of life? They just look good!

Well, in fact trees do ALL of these things. They drastically reduce deadly heatwaves, reduce breathing problems, shelter your home from the elements, reduce drainage costs, increase your mood, and save you money in all kinds of other ways. Now a new tool shows us which communities are receiving these benefits and which are not. Urban communities in particular are dangerously low on tree cover. We can help deliver basic human rights to those that need it just by planting trees.

141-The Paradigm Shift with Garry Merkel

141-The Paradigm Shift with Garry Merkel

How we value forests is changing, and our management strategy is often playing catch up. As a result, forest management in British Columbia is undergoing a paradigm shift. It is a values shift. A more holistic approach to managing forests that accounts for more than just the sustainability of trees. Old Growth was the lighting rod, ecosystem health is the goal. Garry Merkel came on to give us the run down how things area changing and why.

140-Protecting Old Growth Trees with Greg Herringer

140-Protecting Old Growth Trees with Greg Herringer

What better way to learn about Old Growth and Big Trees then to talk to a guy who thinks about nothing else!? Greg Herringer spends his work time finding big trees, talking about big trees and creating programs to protect big trees. He also spends his free time going on expeditions to find more big trees. This guy is THE Big Tree Guy! We try to answer the question, how do we protect big trees in a world that need wood fiber? Greg sees a path forward.

139-Big Ol' Trees with Amanda Lewis

139-Big Ol' Trees with Amanda Lewis

Who doesn’t love Big Old Trees!? “You would have to be some kind of monster!” That pretty much sums up the episode. Author Amanda Lewis shares her journey around her book Tracking Giants-Big Trees, Tiny Triumphs, and Misadventures in the Forest. Amanda brought a breath of fresh air into the way I think about big trees. Her fun nature and transparent writing style make for a great dialogue and an even better read!

138-Ukraine's Forest and Russia's War with Brian Milakovsky

138-Ukraine's Forest and Russia's War with Brian Milakovsky

I never thought I would have to talk about war as a forest disturbance. I was not prepared, nor did I have the experience or knowledge to provide any relevant feedback. This discussion really opened my eyes to the complexity and devastating nature of war as a disturbance. How even when the war is over the consequences will last generations. The ecology will be forever shifted, and the dangers of unexploded ordinances will haunt the people of Ukraine for decades to come.

137-Morality and Nature with Nathan Kowalsky

137-Morality and Nature with Nathan Kowalsky

Do we have a moral obligation to Nature? Most people extend moral standing to their family, friends, town, country, maybe as far as human species. What about beyond that? Animals? Sure, they have a nervous system and they can be cute. What about things that are nothing like us? Trees? Fungi?… Rocks? What universal force obliges us to act respectfully toward them? Does ethics even apply to rocks? Or was this just the tired ramblings of an overthinker? Listen and see…

136-A Forest Journey with John Perlin

136-A Forest Journey with John Perlin

How important are forests? How important is the wood we harvest from forests? The answer to both questions is - crucially important! We can imagine the role forests play in ecological function of the globe, but have you ever really considered where we would be without wood? The truth is we are dependent on both, and that is not going to change. In the re-release of his 1989 book “A Forest Journey” John Perlin explores the “Role of trees in the fate of civilization.”

135-Reconsidering the 'Wood Wide Web' with Justine Karst

135-Reconsidering the 'Wood Wide Web' with Justine Karst

Trees communicating? Protecting their offspring? Sending warning signals? Even helping “competing” species? These are some of the incredible things we have heard about the “Wood Wide Web”. But, is it true? Or has the story got ahead of the science? A team of mycorrhizal researchers has discovered some painful truths about these fungal connections we have all come to be fascinated with. Justine Karst breaks down the myths and misconceptions about Common Mycorrhizal Networks (CMN), and the pain it caused her to do so. The first 50min is the science, the last 50min is the story behind it.

134-Saving Whitebark Pine with Brenda Shepherd and Amelie Rivera

134-Saving Whitebark Pine with Brenda Shepherd and Amelie Rivera

Against all odds, one species is making a comeback! Whitebark Pine! At the top of the mountain, where few other trees even try to survive, this species thrives. It is a keystone species that has developed a particularly peculiar way of spreading its young about the mountain side. Co-evolution anyone? If you like old trees, cool birds, species killing fungi, and most importantly, a story of hope, than this is the podcast for you!

133-White Pine with John Pastor

133-White Pine with John Pastor

Imagine a forest full of hardwoods (leafy trees). Then imagine towering sentinel Pines standing a full tree length above the rest. Now imagine a full forest of these Pines. That is what the North woods of eastern North America use to look like. Today, the Eastern White Pine is scarcely a remnant of what it use to be. The reason? It built America. A foundational tree in every sense of the word. White Pine is a keystone species, an ecological driver and one of the tallest, straightest, and fattest trees in the North woods. John Pastor came on the podcast to tell the human and ecological history of this species, and it truly opened my eyes.

132- The Big Burn with Jacob Margolis

132- The Big Burn with Jacob Margolis

Fire is many things; wild, controlled, rejuvenating, destructive, cultural, ecological, and most obviously, dangerous. Science writer Jacob Margolis lives in California where fire has become a constant worry. As a result, he plunged headfirst into the world of fire and came out with one of the best podcast series on fire that is available today. The Big Burn starts from the beginning and allows listeners to make sense of fire and to help them better understand, and therefore better cope with, the reality of fire.

131-Artificial Intelligence In Forestry with Rolf Schmitz and Christof Danzl

131-Artificial Intelligence In Forestry with Rolf Schmitz and Christof Danzl

The old ways are changing. Technology moves fast, and with it our methods and strategies for managing the landscape. Artificial Intelligence, or machine learning, presents an incredible opportunity in forest management. Better and faster data means more time spent on other values. Values like biodiversity, clean water, carbon storage and recreation. Today we find out how far we have come and what lies ahead! Hopefully not Skynet…

130-We Don't Know What We Don't Know with Carla Rhyant

130-We Don't Know What We Don't Know with Carla Rhyant

Public forests hold a lot of value for people. Clean water, fresh air, organic food, rich ecosystems, recreation opportunities, and timber for our homes. Now, it is forest professionals job to manage the public resource for these values. Only, how do we know what the public values? Have we asked? This episode is about social license, and the idea of a forest profession that is forever moving forward to better protect the public interest.

WHERE YOU CAN LISTEN

Contact: yourforestpodcast@gmail.com