A critical barrier to achieving forest restoration goals in the Southwest is a lack of capacity in the forest products industry. Expanding opportunities in the industry sector allows for an increase in acres restored, which improves forest health and reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
On March 2 and 3, the Southwest Ecological Restoration Institutes (SWERI) Wood Utilization Team hosted a virtual seminar on the theme of expanding the forest industry in the southwestern US. More than 300 people from across the US and internationally registered for the event. The participants included federal and state agency employees, academics, forestry contractors, and forest products business employees. The webinar was an open forum for the audience to share innovative ideas, operations strategies, and best management practices to expand forest industry capacities.
The keynote sessions included discussions on the past, present, and future of the forest products industry in the western US, especially economic development opportunities for forest businesses in the Southwest. Four different panels, each consisting of three speakers, touched on topics including steep slope logging, innovative ideas in forest products, business assistance and financing to forest enterprises, and success stories of forest business operations. One unique aspect to the webinar were virtual field trips, where pre-recorded videos allowed the audience to view several active harvesting operations, wood products processing facilities and biomass energy conversion technologies.
In addition to successful business-to-business connections, some of the tangible outcomes from the event are video recordings and presentation documents, which will be posted to the event’s website soon. This was the first in a series of events by the SWERI Wood Utilization Team. The next seminar or workshop will be hosted in fall 2021.
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March 21 – An international day of celebration for forest restoration and forest products!
International Day of Forests: Forest Restoration, A Path to Recovery and Well-Being
World Wood Day Virtual Symposium and the 3rd IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium
