Three cheers for women stewards! Just as everyday is Earth Day at the Guild, we’re working to recognize women every month. With the addition of Rhiley Allbee in Seattle, Washington, women make up the majority of Guild staff members. While this shouldn’t be a dichotomy and isn’t the best measure of empowerment, it seems worth noting because the field of forestry and conservation was dominated by men for too long.Women stewards helped found the Guild and continue to drive important projects such as Rachel Wood’s “Good Wood” in New Mexico or the Women Owning Woodlands network.Many of our partner organizations are women-led. For example, Laurel Harkness has stepped into the leadership role at Rural Voices for Conservation Coalitionand is advancing Guild-supported Farm Bill priorities.Our work is more effective when we’re more inclusive and equitable.
NEWS FROM THE FOREST
"Good Wood" in New Mexico
Compiled by Rachel Bean
Rachel Wood, a longtime Guild member and professional forester, saw a need for a new kind of wood products market in New Mexico. Markets for sustainable forest goods were closed to most local producers as well as to wood harvested from Forest Service land. In 2016 she applied for and received Collaborative Forest Restoration Project (CFRP) funding to launch Source Verified Good Wood™.
Based in Seattle, WA, I began working for the Forest Stewards Guild as the Pacific Northwest Region Coordinator in November of 2022. I am excited to be with the Guild again after having worked as a Program Assistant in the SW office in 2019 and having been a student Guild member at Michigan Technological University. I've worked on a range of projects across multiple countries all focused on climate change adaptation and mitigation in vulnerable landscapes.
A book review of "A Trillion Trees - Restoring Our Forests by Trusting in Nature" by Fred Pearce
Written by Richard Donovan
Fred is an accomplished journalist, book writer and video producer from the UK, with decades of experience examining environment and forest issues in tropical, temperate, and boreal forests. This 2021 book does a fantastic job of examining forest and forestry issues globally, providing different perspectives that are perhaps new to some as well. My “take home message” is that Fred understands the complexity of forest solutions – none are “perfect” – in the real world.
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Notes
The Guild is actively engaged in educating decisionmakers about how policy can help forests and benefit the climate. We work through the Forest and Climate Working Group (FCWG), the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition, and direct efforts of staff. The Guild signed on to Farm Bill priorities along with key partners. The Guild is also a signatory to the FCWG platform.
Northern Woodlands announces a new series by Guild member Ali Kosiba! "Many of our readers have questions about how carbon moves through forest systems, and how to manage forests in response to climate change. So, we’re excited to launch a new four-part seriesin the spring issue of Northern Woodlands magazine, that addresses these questions in depth. Written by Alexandra Kosiba, the series draws on her educational presentations for the Securing Northeast Forest Carbon Program, a federally funded collaboration among state foresters in New England and New York."
We are happy to share member and partner news, celebrations, requests for help or collaborations. If you have notes to share with our readers, please send them to membership@forestguild.org.
NJ Forest Stewardship Task Force Report. The report reflects a consensus of diverse organizations and voices the need for science-based management of New Jersey's forests.
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