Our stories of a collective difference on the landscape
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From Our Communications Desk
October 2025
Reminder: Our mailing address is PO Box 6058, Santa Fe, NM 87502
This e-newsletter edition is full of celebratory news! I’m grateful to our entire Guild community for that, as we all need a healthy dose, and we keep on providing for each other.
It’s not surprising that even when it’s difficult for people to work together and find common ground in our broader context, the Guild continues to shine as a steady model for what works.
We are telling lots of stories of how we are better together, like the 2-3-2 features below (see Notes) and with people like Robert, who leave a legacy of stewardship. Thank you so much for giving us something to celebrate every single day, and giving me stories I love to share from the Guild communications desk!
Best wishes to all,
Colleen
News from the Forest
Putting our Principles into Practice: Reflections from the Northeastern Old Growth Conference
Written by Rachel Swanwick and Michelle Giles
This year’s Northeastern Old Growth Conferencetook place at the charming Bread Loaf Campus of Middlebury College in central Vermont. Oldgrowth forest enthusiasts gathered for four days of engaging workshops, talks, and guided forest walks. Participants included land trusts, preservation advocates, authors, and stewardship-focused organizationslike the Guild.
People make the Guild special. Members, staff, and supporters light the spark that powers the Guild’s positive impact. We’re lucky to have many of our founding members still actively engaged as we celebrate our 30th anniversary. Recognizing staff who have demonstrated their commitment to our mission over decades is also important. Eytan Krasilovsky and Mike Lynch have both hit milestones worth celebrating.
In 2000, Congress passed the Community Forest Restoration Act to address conflicts over forest management after years of fire suppression and logging. This led to the creation of the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CFRP) in New Mexico and provided federal funds through the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for collaborative science-based restoration projects to improve forest health and watershed conditions.
There are many Guild and partner events this autumn— Don’t forget to check out the Webinar Library to catch up on what you may have missed, and watch our events lineup to stay in the loop with all Guild-related happenings coming up.
Thank you all for being part of this community. Membership years run July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026! Renewalscontinue to roll in at this essential time for Guild membership. It's a great time to join the Guild too, if you've been considering it!
Professional and Retired Professional Members
Sarah Altemus-Pope, Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative
Oakridge, OR
Paul Ferre, Beasley Timber Co
Hazlehurst, GA
Travis Kornegay, Larry Walker Associates
Davis, CA
Seth Zuckerman, Northwest Natural Resource Group
Vashon, WA
Affiliate Members
David Moskovitz
Whitefield, ME
Student Members
Chloe Arnold, Stockton University
Bordentown , NJ
Alyssa Briggs, Duke University
Durham, NC
Rachel Burkholder, Glenville State University
Canvas, WV
Georgia Brightman, University of Alabama
Tallahassee, FL
Carson Cheramie, University of Alabama
Lockport, LA
Colin Kuriger, Stockton University
Sicklerville, NJ
Edward McDoanld, Duke University
Durham, NC
Kelly Slade, University of Alabama
Franklin, TN
Wensley Souverain, Arizona State University
Delray beach, FL
In Memoria
We are saddened by the passing of Robert Rausch, long time Guild member and forester at Gould Farm, a Guild Model Forest. Bob excelled professionally at Gould Farm. In 2005, he was instrumental in a decision to place a 200-acre Agricultural Preservation Restriction on approximately one third of Gould Farm's property. A year later the Forest Stewards Guild designated the Gould Farm woodlands as a Model Forest - an exceedingly rare designation - due in no small part to Bob's steady leadership in developing a comprehensive management plan with the help of a local forester and the Conway School of Landscape Design.
Notes
Guild efforts are getting attention!
Are you aware of the 2-3-2 Cohesive Strategy Partnership?If not, you'll want to be! It a highly inspiring project for which the Guild plays a keystone role in southwest states. The name is a mouthful, but the recent videos, articles, and reports that tell part of it's story are delightful! Check them out today, and in upcoming Guild social media posts.
Integrating AI into ForestryThe southwest fire Consortium explores how Artificial Intelligence AI use can be applied to forestry practices, highlighting current uses, potential benefits for forest management and wildfire response, and key challenges, such as data quality, infrastructure, and policy gaps.
What is a Conglaborative and why does one exist? Learn about large landscape conservation and collaboration in this report co-authored by the Guild's own Lily Bruce. Lily studied the 2-3-2 Cohesive Strategy Partnership in graduate school and has a leadership role in sustaining and advancing the partnership to make forests and watersheds more resilient to wildfire.
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