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Missoula to host forest health summit for governors- June 17-19

Five Western governors – those of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Arizona – are expected in Missoula for three days in mid-June for a summit on wildland fire risks and the health of public and private forests.

By SHERRY DEVLIN of the Missoulian

Called by Montana Gov. Judy Martz, who chairs the Western Governors’ Association, the forest health summit will bring to town the complete cast of characters in the ever-dramatic debate over how best to address the increasing incidence of large – and largely unstoppable – wildfires.

From Washington, D.C., will come Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and his deputy chiefs, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton and her assistant secretaries. Expected, too, are hundreds of state foresters, firefighters, city and county leaders, timber industry officials and environmentalists from throughout the West.

More than 300 people already have registered for the June 17-19 summit and its associated field trips.

If all goes as planned, the end result will not only be "a lot of goodwill and elbow rubbing," but also 20-25 recommendations for the full assemblage of Western governors (the association includes 18 states) to consider, said WGA counsel Paul Orbuch.

"We’re looking for a strategy that will produce a collaborative effort to try and address this region’s forest health problems," Orbuch said in a telephone interview from his office in Denver. "We want to identify new partners, forge new relationships, find out what’s working and what’s not, and what could be done better."

The summit will begin Tuesday evening, June 17, with addresses by Martz – who has made forest health a priority during her chairmanship of the governors’ association – and Bosworth, who before being named Forest Service chief by President Bush was the agency’s regional forester in Missoula.

On their first full day together, the governors and hundreds of others will board school buses at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 18, and embark on a field trip to the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest, Pyramid Mountain Lumber Co. in Seeley Lake, Big Larch Campground and the Forest Service’s Clearwater Stewardship Project just north of Seeley Lake.

Thus far, summit organizers have confirmation from governors Martz, Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming and Ted Kulongoski of Oregon.

Kempthorne and Napolitano will give keynote addresses and lead an after-the-field-trip discussion of forest health issues on Wednesday evening. All sessions are at the Holiday Inn Parkside; registration for the summit has closed, although some seats may be available on the day of the event.

Thursday, June 19, is the work day.

An opening panel – at 7:30 a.m. – will provide forest health perspectives from Butch Blazer, New Mexico’s state forester; Lynn Jungwirth, executive director, Watershed Research and Training Center, Hayfork, Calif.; and Rep. Tom O’Halleran, Arizona Legislature.

Then will come the call to action, dubbed "accepting the challenge and getting results" and featuring remarks by Martz, Norton and Kulongoski.

For three hours, summit participants will split into five breakout groups intended to examine different pieces of the forest-health puzzle: improving fire prevention and suppression; reducing hazardous fuels; restoring fire-adapted ecosystems; promoting community stability; and collaboration challenges.

Each breakout group will have its own panel of experts but a similar assignment: Report back to the larger group with recommendations for the policymakers.

"The breakout groups are where the conversation gets real," Orbuch said. "We’ve tried to cover all the corners of the region and all the different perspectives. That’s the way we operate."

"The governors’ strategy is to look at this forest health issue across all landscapes," he added. "All land ownerships, all ecosystems, all perspectives."

Two years ago, the governors endorsed a 10-year national wildland fire and restoration strategy predicated on "building collaboration at all levels of government." Then came an implementation plan, calling for improvements in fire prevention and suppression, reduction of forest fuels, restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems and the promotion of community-based fire-risk reduction programs.

At this month’s summit in Missoula, the governors will attempt to assess how far Western states and the federal government have progressed in implementing their plan – and begin deciding where to go next.

Everyone is welcome at the table, said Orbuch, whose job it is to be "the balancer." What comes of the conversation, he said, is anyone’s guess.

Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at [email protected]

If you’re interested

For the complete agenda of the Western Governors’ Association forest health summit, visit the association’s Web site at http://www.westgov.org. The Web site also carries full copies of the governors’ 10-year wildland fire strategy and implementation plan.

http://missoulian.com/articles/2003/06/08/news/local/news02.txt

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