If you're having trouble viewing this email, you cansee it online.
Directors Note - June 2026
Reminder: Our mailing address is PO Box 6058, Santa Fe, NM 87502
The summer is in full swing in the Guild community. There’s so much happeningwe can’t report it all! New forest stewardship apprentices are starting work in the woods and a flurry of new restoration projects are beginning across the country.
You make this all happen so please take a couple of minutes and renew nowfor the 2026-2027 membership year to keep the momentum going.Thank you!
Thank you,
Zander
News from the Forest
Reinvigorating Women Owning Woodlands in New Mexico
Written by Maya Hilty and Megan Rangel-Lynch
To reinvigorate Women Owning Woodlands programming in New Mexico, over a dozen women from across northern New Mexico gathered last month to tour a beaver dam complex along El Rito Creek. The positive, can-do energy the group brought to the field tour and a casual post-tour potluck hosted on the property of one of the local women provided a wonderful reminder of the power of creating women-centric spaces to discuss restorative land stewardship.
Wisconsin’s Tree Planting Pledge is Growing Strong
Written by Bobbie Webster, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Forestry
Five years ago, on Earth Day in April 2021, Wisconsin made a bold commitment to plant 100 million trees, including 1 million trees in urban areas, and conserve 125,000 acres of forestland by 2030. Known as Wisconsin’s Trillion Trees Pledge (the pledge), the commitment is part of a global effort to accelerate nature-based solutions to the shifting precipitation and temperature patterns we are experiencing.
With so much positive momentum within the Guild, it is hard to capture it all in Across the Landscape. Last year we crafted a business plan with Guild members at the center. Our business plan is designed to increase our ability to practice and promote stewardship for the benefit of people and forest.
Be sure to register for upcoming events that interest you most. Remember to check out the Webinar Library to catch up on what you may have missed, and watch our events lineup regularly for new Guild-related happenings!
The Membership and Policy Council spent the first half of 2026 engaging with Guild staff and acquainting ourselves with our new roles. We've welcomed Ali Kosaba, PhD, Kristen Pelz, PhD, and Stephen Montgomery to the MPC. Meanwhile, some longer-tenured MPC members stepped into new leadership roles, including me (Jack Singer, Chair), and Sara Kelso (Secretary). Finally, we had to say goodbye to Malloree Weinheimer, who resigned from the MPC to focus on growing her women-owned ecological forestry consulting business in the Pacific Northwest (Chickadee Forestry). We will welcome Lara Miller to her open spot for the second half of the year beginning in July.
Bobbie Webster, WI Department of Natural Resources
Washburn, WI
Student Members
Matrix Balsley-Petraska, Homeschool
Guilford, VT
Ally Fetterman, College of the Holy Cross
Marstons Mills, MA
Member Highlight
Guild member Robert T. Perschel’s book, Numinosity, launched to #1 New Release on Amazon and reached bestseller status in three categories! Bob is deeply moved by the response. Fellow foresters are calling it "a masterwork that resonates" and praising his ability to "eloquently capture the nuances of such a deeply personal act." Congratulations to Bob, and thank you for this expression and sharing of your experience!
Notes
Announcing our newest workforce development program feature video!Colleen Robinson, our Communications and Membership Manager, directed the Forest Stewards Apprenticeship Program pilot video with support from a Choose Outdoors grant award. Thanks to our partners featured in the video for your participation. Enjoy!
Lilly Roehrig, a junior at The University of Alabama and Guild student leader, was among 65 college students nationally to earn a Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, which identifies future leaders in environmental fields. Lilly says "The work I've done as a Forest Stewards Guild student member here at UA played a significant role in my application, and I am so grateful to have been a member over these past few years."
Each Dollar Invested in Fuel Treatments Yielded $3.73 in Benefits.New research integrated high-resolution data on wildfires, fuel treatments, suppression effort, and damages across the Western United States shows that fuel treatments reduced wildfire spread and severity, avoiding an estimated $2.8 billion in damages.
Forest Stewards Guild Communications Contractor,Daisy Ranney Smith, and her student research team from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Master of the Environment program are seeking private landowners to participate in a 90-minute virtual group interview on wildfire and water management. The project explores how landowners (agricultural and recreational) make decisions at the fire–water nexus and aims to identify knowledge gaps that can help inform future research and resilience efforts across the Intermountain West. Interviews will be conducted via Zoom in small groups. If you are interested in participating, or would like more information, please contact Daisy Ranney Smith at Daisy.RanneySmith@colorado.edu or daisy@forestguild.org
.png)
