Natural Resource Management

"We are working hard to control our invasive Arundo, and do not want to see Oregon experience similar impacts," said Doug Johnson, executive director of the California Invasive Plant Council. Read more

Brenda Zollitsch (2009), whose work as a policy analyst at the Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) is partially funded by a Switzer Leadership Grant, says one underappreciated challenge in addressing wetland loss is a chasm between the management of these issues between programs.

We have a number of Fellows leading in Sonoma County, working to understand the impacts of climate change at a micro level and develop solutions to improve local resiliency to climate change impacts that could be rolled out nationally.

Rigorous integration will ensure the goals inspire rather than deter commitment, say Angel Hsu and Alisa Zomer. Sustainable development is an elusive concept, one that is open to interpretation and difficult to define, let alone measure. UN negotiators therefore have a challenging task: how to specify a clear set of indicators to track the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before they are finalised in September.

Brian Milakovsky, a forest projects coordinator with WWF-Russia based in Vladivostok, described how the FSB steps in to handle corruption in the region. “They have a division for fighting corruption and they view forest crimes correctly as some of the most linked to corruption,” he told RTCC.

The Johnson Creek Watershed Council last week announced the selection of Daniel Newberry as its next executive director. He will relocate to the watershed area from southern Oregon and will begin leading JCWC on Feb. 26. Founded in 1995, JCWC is a grassroots nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote restoration and stewardship of the Johnson Creek watershed through science and community engagement.

State Forestry is regarded by political ecologists as a coercive tool deployed by state authorities to nationalize, control and order the forest as a resource within the territory of a nation. The consequence of this is civilizing local people and subjecting them to the grip of the state. Much of this literature comes from the global South.

Peter Vorster is a spritely hydro-geographer (“I invented that term!” he told me, beaming) from the Bay Institute, a group that studies this watershed “from the Sierras to the sea.” I’d asked him to join us on the mountain. He arrived a shaken-up soda can of a person -- just literally bursting with stories. It was easy to see how much he loves this river; his enthusiasm was infectious.

Does Elevated CO2 Alter Silica Uptake in Trees?