CWSF Business Meeting- Minutes
Casper, Wyoming
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Facilitator:
Chris Maisch – In-coming chair – CWSF
Attendees:
State & Pacific Island Foresters, CWSF Staff, NASF Officers / Staff,
Regional Executive Directors
Welcome / Introductions……………………………………………………….........Caitlyn Pollihan, Exec Director
Meeting Goals……………………………………….................................................... Chris Maisch, Incoming Lead
CWSF Treasurer’s Report (Year-end Summary)…………………………………Scott Josiah, Secretary/Treasurer
Motion to approve Treasurer’s Report and seconded – unanimously approved.
Meeting Locations Selections……………………………………………………………..Pete Anderson, Past Lead
 May 10-13, 2011 Spring Meeting – Coeur D'Alene, ID
 2012 Spring Meeting – Moab, Utah
Motion to approve and seconded – unanimously approved. Possible dates May 7-11 or May 14-18.
Election of CWSF officers (2010-2011)………………………………………...................Pete Anderson, Past Lead
Outreach to find Secretary/Treasurer-elect for 2011 will continue. Nominations and interested members should
contact a member of the CWSF Executive Board. CWSF Executive Board will discuss at June committee meeting.
FY2011Grant Processes / Timeline……………………………………..................Dana Coelho, Program Manager
 Competitive Resource Allocation: 2011 process will look similar to last year. Grant packet will
be sent out after WFLC Executive Board (EB) approval. WFLC webinar will be held 6-8-10. The
WFLC grants review team training will be held 6-15-10. A second webinar on programs authority
guides is scheduled for later.
The deadline for proposals is 10-4-10. The grants team will have a conference call to score grant
proposals and then a meeting before the WFLC fall meeting to discuss issues, evaluate process and
create the final recommendations for WFLC approval.
 WUI Grants: The grant package will be available by 5-30-10. Proposals are due September 3rd.
The review and scoring of the grants will happen prior to the WFLC Fall Meeting and will be
presented for WFLC approval at the meeting in San Diego. All related information will be posted
and available on the WFLC website.
Redesign National Update……………………………………………………………Steve Koehn, NASF President
The Redesign Implementation Council (RIC) will undergo a name change 6-18-10. The RIC will sunset and
become the State & Private Forestry Board (S&PF Board). The RIC is working with the US Forest Service (USFS)
to discuss the transition of the USFS State & Private Forestry program organizations/operations to ‘fit’ with the
redesigned state processes. See the May Redesign Update posted on the WFLC website for more detailed
information.
State Assessment and Strategies Discussion……………………………………………………CWSF Membership
State Assessments and Strategies (SAS) will be submitted to the USFS 6-18-10. The submittal and USFS ‘checkoff’ process will be ongoing. S&PF Board congressional outreach will begin in September to coincide with oneyear anniversary of the USDA Secretary’s All-Lands Vision speech.
The USFS, NASF and each of the regional State Forester organizations will be synthesizing the information from
the State Assessments in different ways. The USFS has hired a contractor/enterprise team to examine five
questions related to the State Assessments. The USFS is not ‘rolling up’ the assessments into a national document.
The Northeastern Area Association of State Forester has their state planners working together on this document.
The Southern Group of State Foresters is holding a half-day meeting for their members to discuss the status of their
State Assessments. In the West, we have completed our RFP process and will be hiring a contractor to synthesize
the western assessments. The contractor will identify common themes, priorities and issues across the western US
and possibly in western sub-regions.
Other Issues………………………………………………………………………………………CWSF Membership
Discussion about the flood of initiatives and how they do or do not connect – CFLRA, Great Outdoors, 4 pillars,
rural revitalization, DOI, USGS landscapes, etc. – and how forests and state foresters are included and engaged.
NASF Update………………………………… Steve Koehn, NASF President and Jay Farrell, NASF Exec Director
 Hill Visits and Executive Board Meeting – Discussed SAS, the revision of the planning rule and
the Integrated Resource Restoration proposal in the President’s FY11budget proposal.
Congressional staff seem to be focused on Planning Rule revision and the America’s Great
Outdoors Initiative.
 Biomass Definition Update – Support for the 2008 Farm Bill definition is still there and the NASF
Legislative team is exploring opportunities. The NASF Executive Committee will continue to
discuss.
 Cohesive Strategy for Wildland Fire Management and the Wildland Fire Leadership Council
(Council) – Vicki Christiansen is the State Forester representative on the Council and Caitlyn
Pollihan and Dan Smith have teamed up on the Cohesive Strategy Oversight Committee.
 NASF Business Update – Jay Farrell discussed the need to order Smokey materials through NASF
as it is an important revenue source. The 2012 NASF Annual Meeting will be held in the west and
more information will become available after the 2011 meeting in Orlando, FL.
NASF has recently hired a new administrative staffer on a part-time basis and will be hiring a new
fiscal specialist to assist LouAnn Gilmer. The recent financial audit went really well and NASF is
now revising their operations manual, committees and business documentation. The information
will be shared with the regional executives once complete.
Regional Reports……………..........Mike Zupko, SGSF Exec Director and Ian MacFarlane, NAASF Exec Director
 Southern Group of State Foresters – Priority issues for 2010 are 1) Conservation of forest land
2) Addressing a changing marketplace for forest landowners 3) Southern wildland fire and climate
change opportunities. The Southern Forest Futures Project is ongoing and will identify
opportunities to better manage and influence the landscape based on forecasting. The Project will
be completed in early fall 2011.
Mike discussed some working happening on state-level biomass guidelines and a compilation of
state activities in carbon opportunities and ecosystem services. The guiding principles for the
development of carbon sequestration projects are available on the SGSF website. The SGSF now
has a part-time contractor working to secure new funding sources as well as a position to enhance
the WUI training modules.
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Northeast Area Association of State Foresters – The NAASF summer meeting theme is
Landscape Scale Conservation and will be held July 12-15 in Marquette, MI. NAASF is working
on new approaches to the Stewardship program to be more effective and reach more owners. They
are also examining a competitive process for some of the Forest Health Protection funding in their
region. NAASF is working on a future forests project in cooperation with the Northern Research
Station, Northeastern Area of State and Private Forestry and USFS Region 9.
CWSF Federal Forest Lands Policy Task Force……………………………Bob Harrington and Dave Groeschl
 Planning Rule – The Task Force drafted comments to the Notice of Intent which were submitted
by the CWSF and NASF to the USFS. A small group has been indentified to talk about what needs
to be brought up at national level. Caitlyn Pollihan has been attending the national roundtables and
science forums on this issue and many State Foresters have been engaged in the local roundtable
discussions. The USFS plans to have the Planning Rule finalized by 11/11/11. Several states have
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requested official Cooperative Agency Status, such as Alaska. Membership discussion around the
need for WGA engagement and they may be some applicable resolutions. The CWSF Task Force
will work on crafting principles and those principles can be used to discuss this issue with WGA.
FY 2011 Budget – The Task Force held a conference call with Deputy UnderSecretary Jay Jensen
on the President’s FY11 Budget Proposal, specific to the Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR)
proposal. There are not many details available on what the IRR would look like ‘on the ground’.
NASF had statement in budget on this item – if it provides more flexibility then maybe we could be
supportive. The Task Force will continue to engage on this proposal and will submit
recommendations to the CWSF Executive Committee for our next steps.
Forest Products Industry Infrastructure – Discussion centered around the CWSF and the Task
Force and how we have (Threats Project, Industry Infrastructure One-Pager, etc.) and will continue
to engage in this issue through future projects and outreach with agency and industry partners.
Resolutions / Issues for WFLC / NASF Mtg(s)……………………………………………….CWSF Membership
 Firewood Movement Resolution – Discussed the final Firewood Movement Report. There are
gaps that the report does not address such as limited response time, conflicting issues between
agencies, non-invasive concerns and quarantine and nursery stock impacts. Small group of
members and CWSF staff will work to tweak the draft NASF resolution to address these issues.
 Opportunities for Diversification – Discussion focused on future needs of the CWSF and the
membership. Seeking relationships, partnerships and future funding with/from other agencies and
partner organizations will be examined.
 Stewardship Allocation Methodology – Discussed the proposal for a new methodology being
discussed by the NASF Forest Resource Management Committee in partnership with USFS.
NASF membership must be in full agreement for a methodology to be approved. Rather than
adopt a new methodology the NASF FRMC should build a strategy to convey importance of
stewardship. The CWSF membership also recommended that this be discussed by the S&P
Forestry Board at their next meeting. Caitlyn Pollihan will follow up with the NASF FRMC
Chairperson.
 NASF Draft Briefing Paper: State Forestry Agency Perspectives Regarding 2009 Federal
Wildfire Policy Implementation – This draft document was undertaken by the NASF Fire
Committee. The draft should be vetted with each of the regional state forester organizations and
then NASF Executive Committee will discuss/approve.
State/Territorial Foresters Round Robin………………………………………………………CWSF Membership
Each State Forester discussed current issues that they are addressing / dealing with including; budget cuts, reduced
staff, more ‘un-funded mandates’, completion of their State Assessments & Strategies, and other important issues.
This time allows State Foresters to learn from other members who may be dealing with the same issues.
Adjournment…………………………………………………………………………Chris Maisch, Incoming Chair
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