Susan Jane Brown

Western Environmental Law Center

Biography

Susan Jane Brown is a staff attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC). Her primary focus of litigation is federal public lands forest management, but her practice includes cases involving the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, National Forest Management Act, and other land management statutes. She is Co-Chair of the National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule and is also heavily engaged in collaborative forest restoration in the Upper John Day Basin in eastern Oregon.

Presentation Topic

Do Collaboratives Matter in Litigation?

Presentation Description

This presentation will discuss the recent federal court decision in Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. United States Forest Service, where the District of Idaho denied a preliminary injunction to plaintiffs seeking to stop a large landscape restoration project on the Payette National Forest in Idaho, largely on the basis of collaborative group involvement in the planning of the challenged project. The presentation will include an overview of the case and a discussion of its potential implications for collaborative restoration in our region.

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Workshop Schedule

Registration Opens

10:00 AM

Light Lunch

11:00 AM

Key Note Speaker

12:00 PM

Panel: The Economics of Forest Restoration

Topics: Making Forest Restoration Economical, Contractor Logging Costs & Opportunities for Cost-savings, The Economics of Dry Forest Stewardship Projects, and Using the Land Fin Tool

Panel: From Inception to Implementation, Planning for Success

Topics: Planning at the Landscape Scale, Making Use of Good Neighbor Authority, Authorities to Maximize Restoration, and Packaging Federal Resources for All-lands Restoration

Panel: Cutting Edge Technologies for Sale Layout and Implementation (Part 1)

Topics: Virtual Boundaries and Discernable Boundaries, Integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in daily forest operations: from cruising to regeneration survey, Using Avenza PDF Maps in Concert with Cut-To-Length Harvesting Systems, and Planning Ground-based Harvest Operations to Limit Soil Impacts

Reception and Featured Speaker

5:30 PM

Breakfast

7:00 AM

Featured Speaker

Panel: Forest Treatments for Riparian Health

Topics: Hydrology Concerns for Treatments in Riparian Areas, Riparian Thinning Using Cut-to-Length, and Riparian Thinning: An Example from the Deschutes National Forest

Panel: Managing Good Fire at the Right Place and Right Time (Part 1)

Topics: Managed Fire: A tool or a Hazard? An in-depth discussion with the Lakeview Forest Stewardship Group.

Panel: Managing Good Fire at the Right Place and Right Time (Part 2)

Topics: Prescribed Fire at Scale and Contracting Prescribed Fire

Panel: Bridges and Water Crossings: Challenges and Opportunities

Topics: Roads, Crossings and Culverts, Low-cost approaches to Low-Volume Roads and Water Crossings, Prioritizing Roads, Crossings & Culverts with NetMap.

Lunch: A View from All Sides: Perspectives on Implementation Efficiencies, Challenges, & Opportunities

Summary Statements from Forest Service Staff, Collaborative Member and Industry Representative discussed over Lunch

11:45 AM

Adjourn

Have a safe trip home!

1:00 PM

Breakfast

7:00 AM

Featured Speaker: Do Collaboratives Matter in Litigation?

with Susan Jane Brown

Panel: New Opportunities for Conventional Harvesting Systems and Biomass Utilization

Topics: Cut-to-Length vs Whole Tree Logging Systems, Biomass Utilization: Harvesting and Markets, and Managing Slash: Needs, Challenges, Opportunities

Panel: Steep Terrain Harvesting Systems

Topics: Skyline Logging: New Approaches to Traditional Systems, Steep Slope Logging, and Tethered Assist

Lunch

with optional practical application activity

12:30 PM

Facilitated Conversations on the morning’s topics

Continue the discussion: The key elements of making forest restoration work economically viable

Panel: A Grounded Approach: Soil Considerations for Harvesting

Topics: Soil Matters: Improving Forest Landscape Planning and Management for Diverse Objectives with Soils Information and Expertise, Soil Resources Management for Logging in Steep Slopes, Interaction of Steep Slope Equipment with Soil Resources

Panel: Cutting Edge Technologies for Sale Layout and Implementation (Part 2)

Topics: Tablet applications for Implementing Silvicultural Prescriptions, Forest Restoration in the Tablet & Smart Phone era: Marking and Realtime Monitoring using the ICO APP, and Non-contact tree measurement for forest harvesting machines

Panel: Designation Methods: Lessons Learned

Topics: Alternative Contracting Methods and Implementation Strategies for Commercial Harvest, DxP and DxD

Facilitated Conversation on Afternoon Topics

or optional practical application activity

Dinner on your own

Enjoy one of the many area dining options at your leisure.

6:00 PM

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