2025 Fall Meeting
Northwest Community Forest Coalition
Photo: Montesano City Forest, Sustainable Northwest
Our Fall Meeting took place in Montesano, Washington, this past October.
The two-day event featured a visit to the Montesano City Forest, followed by an in-person meeting that covered an array of topics around community forest management.
Photo: Montesano City Forest, Espresso Trail, Credit: Sustainable Northwest
The Recording of the 2025 Fall Meeting can be viewed in the video
The Meeting included speakers, presentations and panelists from across the region
You can view presentations and the associated timing below:
Panel discussing how the management of local forestland can support the Local Wood Economy.
With John Bull - Montesano City Forest, Malloree Weinheimer, Chickadee Forestry, Cody Wayland, Jefferson Timber Cooperative, and Jordan Zettle, Sustainable Northwest Wood Markets Program, 0:00:00 - 01:34:16
Presentations on the Cross-Boundary Management in Community-Owned Forestland.
with Erin McKay - Highlighting Chelan County’s Cross-Boundary Management Successes and Garrett Dalan, sharing The Nature Conservancy’s work in Partnering for Resilient Outcomes, 1:35:00 - 2:18:00
An update regarding Washington Recreation and Conservation Office’s Community Forest Grant Program, from RCO Policy Specialist, Ben Donatelle, 2:18:30 - 2:35:00
A presentation on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Private Forest Accord’s Mitigation Fund, from ODFW Coordinator, Andy Spyrka, 2:35:00 - 2:45:00
A review of the Washington Opportunity Fund and how it can support community forests from John Rose, co-founder of the Washington Opportunity Fund. 2:46:00 - 3:01:00
An Introduction of the Community Forest Training Cohort with Trust for Public Land, from David Patton and Sophie Neuhaus, Community Forest Staff with TPL. 3:03:00 - 3:11:00
To wrap up the meeting - Daniel Wear, Forest Program Manager with Sustainable Northwest, and Vanessa Kritzer, Executive Director with Washington Association of Land Trusts share next steps with the Coalition, regarding Advocacy work to support community forests moving forward. 3:12:00- 3:30:00
This meeting picked up coverage from the Daily World Newspaper. You can read the article below.
During our October Meeting, the attendees were able to visit the Montesano City Forest (Pictured Left). The property does a wonderful job balancing trails access and public use with active forest management efforts.
Read more about the visit on a blog post at the link below.
Meeting Materials
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Presentation: ODFW PFA Mitigation Fund
Andy Spyrka, Private Forest Accord Mitigation Fund Coordinator with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shared the updated Private Forest Accord Mitigation Fund Grant Guidelines during the Fall meeting. You can review a draft overview of these guidelines, and application details at the link below.
The Private Forest Accords Mitigation Fund will be open for applications from November 14, 2025, - January 9, 2026.
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Presentation: Washington RCO Programs
During this session, Ben Donatelle with Washington Recreation and Conservation Office provided an update to the program’s upcoming Grant Offerings.
In the coming 6 months, a wide array of the RCO funded programs with the State will be accepting applications. Including but not limited to the Washington RCO Community Forest Program. See below for his presentation materials.
Photo: Nisqually Community Forest, Rachel Lee, Washington Conservation Action
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Survey: Future of NWCFC Advocacy
As shared at the end of the Fall Meeting, the NWCFC is poised to increase our advocacy efforts moving forward. With the intention of remaining in line with the needs of the members and participants of the NWCFC, we’ve developed a survey to be filled out by Coalition members.
Please take 10 minutes to fill out the survey below, and share if you’re interested in taking an active role in future advocacy efforts for Community Forests in the Northwest.