Speaker: Joshua White, Forest Supervisor, Colville National Forest

Healthy forests deliver benefits that people need, but due to past management and a history of fire suppression, our forests are unhealthy and in need of restoration. To address the departure of our landscape and reduce the risk of uncharacteristically severe disturbances, we must restore the health and resilience of the Colville National Forest, minimize detrimental impacts of disturbance to important values, and provide relevant opportunities to our communities. Our Forest is departed from its healthy and resilient state. This departure means that the Forest cannot meet the needs of the people, especially in the face of increasing wildfire risk and climate change. In many cases, our landscapes have crossed a threshold and cannot restore themselves without meaningful collaborative management and active management, including use of wildfire, will be necessary. For the past 8 years, the Colville National Forest has been working to change the trajectory of our forested landscapes, and to do so at a meaningful pace and scale. This presentation will highlight successes and challenges the Forest Service has faced moving toward a meaningful restoration program, the opportunities moving into the future, and the challenges faced every day.