The 2020 Council of Western State Foresters (CWSF) and Western Forestry Leadership Coalition (WFLC) Spring Meeting will take place May 12-14, 2020 at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. Registration, lodging information, and meeting agendas will be available later this spring on the event page .

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Kansas: Jason Hartman succeeded Larry Biles as Kansas State Forester on December 29. He was previously the assistant fire management officer for the Kansas Forest Service.

USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station :   Dr. Monica Lear accepted the offer to serve as Station Director of the Rocky Mountain Research Station. She was previously Acting Station Director since July 2019. 

USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region: Elaine Kohrman is Acting Regional Forester while Cal Joyner serves as Acting Associate Chief in the Washington Office.

Congress passed all 12 appropriations bills funding the government for fiscal year (FY) 2020 before the Continuing Resolution (CR) expired in December. This year, the Administration announced a proposed update to rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) aimed at streamlining the process, and a bill was introduced in the House to help lower energy costs and mitigate climate change effects through tree planting.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and State Farm are partnering up again this year for Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. 150 $500 grants are available to help support wildfire risk reduction activities in communities across the country on Saturday, May 2. Since 2014, hundreds of fire safety projects have been completed by individuals and communities as part of Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, including home improvement projects to resist flames and embers, community education about wildfire risks and mitigation, and debris removal. The application process is open now and will close on February 28. For more information, please visit NFPA . To apply for an award, please click here .

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities announced a call for speaker nominations for the second annual Forest Innovation Reviews (FIRz) symposium to be hosted this fall by Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. FIRz is a forum for innovative ideas to solve some of today’s most significant challenges and creates a space for presenting well-formed ideas about forests, forest management, forest products, and forest-rich communities, conveyed through short, powerful talks. The deadline for nominations is February 28, 2020. For more information, please visit FIRz .

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The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Wildlife Habitat Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FedEx, Southern Company, and BNSF Railway are pleased to solicit applications for the 2020 Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration program. The Five Star and Urban Waters program will award approximately $1.5 million in grants nationwide. Full proposals are due January 30. For more information, please see here .

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Urban forestry faces a serious skilled labor shortage. The number of graduates from pre-employment programs is not high enough to meet today’s demand for workers, let alone the projected demand for tree trimmers/pruners, pesticide applicators, forest conservation workers, equipment operators, and more. Through the  Tree Equity: Career Pathways Initiative, American Forests is working to make the case for significant national investment into pre-apprenticeship programs that prepare and place youth, veterans, and others facing barriers to employment into entry-level positions in the field. To provide further insight into urban forestry workforce development needs, American Forests created a 10-question survey . If you have insight in this field, please complete and share the survey.

Find your next position in western forestry on our job blog !

If you would like to submit a job to be listed, please send Kelsey Cruickshank a web link to the job announcement.

Please click the button below to find the 2020 calendar for events hosted by CWSF/WFLC and partner organizations.

If you have an event that you would like added to this calendar, please send the date and location to Kelsey Cruickshank .

Each month, we share member news and announcements. We do this by gathering information from newsletters, news releases, and updates in a monthly blog post on the CWSF and WFLC websites. Share news from your state and/or region by emailing Kelsey Cruickshank .

View the CWSF January post and the WFLC January post .