How 3D Glasses and Photos from the 1930s are Making Forests Healthier
With Kerry Metlen, Forest Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy
Doors Open @ 5PM | $5 Suggested Donation
The safety of both nature and human health are at risk of uncharacteristically severe wildfires across the west. Climate change is increasing the likelihood and severity of wildfires while simultaneously making them more difficult to control. Fortunately, there is much that we can do to change the effects of fire in the forest, thereby protecting communities and nature. To this end, communities, conservation organizations and businesses have come together to approach forest restoration with a new, collaborative approach to protect the lands and waters on which they depend.
In southwestern Oregon, plants grow fast and the summers are dry, an ideal recipe for fire. Historically, a mix of nature’s ignitions and fires set by Native Americans maintained a resilient forested landscape, with open areas between larger trees. More than a century of extractive timber harvest and aggressive fire suppression tactics have resulted in a landscape that is unnaturally dense and prone to uncharacteristically severe fire.
In the Ashland watershed, The Nature Conservancy is demonstrating a nationally recognized model for collaborative forest restoration, working jointly with the City of Ashland, Lomakatsi Restoration Project, and the US Forest Service to apply the best forest science to work on the ground. Using a variety of information, including historic aerial photographs, thorough data about fire frequency, dendrochronology, and forensic forestry, the Conservancy and its partners are restoring the beautiful forests above Ashland to thrive by protecting certain areas of closed forest, then opening up the canopy and reintroducing controlled burns.
Come learn about this science and how it is protecting drinking water, community, recreation, and abundant wildlife in this iconic landscape.
A Forest Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy since 2010, Kerry is a core member of several collaborative technical working groups, coordinates multiparty monitoring for the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project, conducts research on reference forest conditions in mixed conifer/hardwood forests, and supports TNC in Oregon’s Forest Team. Kerry grew up in Cove, Oregon and earned a B.S. in Biology from Eastern Oregon University in 1994. He earned an M.S. from the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation in 2002 while working as part of the Fire and Fire Surrogates project to understand understory responses to forest thinning and fire. His dissertation work at the Division of Biological Sciences, also at UM, focused on interactions among native and exotic plant species and their implications for exotic plant invasion. Kerry is fascinated by applying fundamental ecological principles to the applied questions surrounding forest restoration.
Dinner will be available in our restaurant, Theory, or from the Empirical Café. Guests can check-in at the theater entrance to reserve a seat before grabbing dinner and drinks. Food and drink are welcome in the theater. Parking is free for the event. Doors open at 5pm
For more information or to sign up for our mailing list, email: sciencepub@omsi.edu.