The San Juan National Forest invites the public to an informational meeting entitled, "What Does the Future Hold for Spruce-Fir Forests?" The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, March 21, in the Vallecito Room at the Fort Lewis College Student Union Building. The presentation is a followup to the "Meet the Beetles" public presentation held at the college last year.
Jason Sibold, an associate professor from Colorado State University, will give a presentation on the science and ecology of spruce-fir forests in relationship to natural disturbances and management influences. He will contemplate what the future may hold for this forest type based upon past experience. In addition, Tony Cheng, director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute and professor at Colorado State University, and Mike Battaglia, a U.S. Forest Service Research Forester, will be available for questions and answers.
Local National Forest officials will also offer brief updates on the status of forest-health projects in spruce-fir forests across the San Juan National Forest. All presenters will be available for further discussions in an informal open-house setting.
For those who cannot attend the event, Fort Lewis College will livestream the proceedings (and also post afterwards) on YouTube at https://youtu.be/LDUhi-XIqwo.
People can also go to the Fort Lewis College Youtube channel and the video will be advertised there beginning two days before the meeting.
For more information, call Travis Bruch at 385-1317 or email tbruch@fs.fed.us.
