2027 Forestry and Wildlife Research and Practice Review

SFEC and the Minnesota Society of American Foresters are partnering to deliver the Forestry and Wildlife Research and Practice Review! The purpose of this symposium is to present new applied research, knowledge gained through practice, and case study findings relevant to regional natural resource managers, with a focus on silviculture, forest management, and forest-associated wildlife. This focus includes topics related to policy, economics, inventory, remote sensing, and other topics pertaining to forests and associated with natural resources stewardship. 

The audience is professional natural resource managers. Presentations and posters will emphasize results and management implications. We encourage folks to join us in-person, but we do have an online option available for those who need it. 

Logistics and planning related to the MN SAF annual meeting are still being coordinated; however, plan for the usual SAF-specific events such chapter business meeting and the student/professional cornhole tournament in addition to presentations and technical talks delivered as part of the Research Review. A tentative agenda is below:

Tuesday, 12 January:

• 1:00 pm: Executive committee meeting 
• 3:00 pm: Executive committee meeting adjourns
• ~4:00 pm: State business meeting
• ~5:00 pm: Dinner onsite at the Cloquet Forestry Center
• 6:30 pm: Annual cornhole tournament with student/professional teams 

Wednesday, 13 January: RPR27 begins at 8:30 

CEs: The CE rating has typically been about 6 CEs but depends on our final agenda. 

Accessibility: We will be indoors for the duration of the symposium. A nursing mother's room with supplies is available; reach out to Lane Moser at [email protected] for this and any other accommodations. 

Lodging: We have lodging available at the CFC; for questions and reservations please contact Rylee Cyr at [email protected].

Agenda

8:30 am - Welcome

8:40 am - Speaker Block 1

• Fire history of red pine forests near Lake Bemidji and implications for post-blowdown fire risk
  Richa Dhakal, Bemidji State University
• The role of forest disturbance history on mycorrhizal fungi and tree seedling growth
  Shannon Meehan, UMD
• Forestry reclamation of disturbed lands - Mine stockpile pilot project 
  Mehgan Blair, Barr Engineering Company
• Tell me where to go: Bringing seed collection volunteers in rather than sending them out
  Kira Pollack, UMN Extension 

9:35 am - Poster session

10:05 am - Speaker Block 2

• 2024 Continuous Forest Inventory database
  Elin Jaskowiak, UMN-Natural Resources Science and Management Graduate Program
• Participatory science and field research to better understand near-native tree species in Minnesota
  Angie Gupta, UMN-Extension
• Woodland checkups: Addressing small property owner needs in the forested wildland-urban interface
  Matt Picklo, Itasca SWCD
• Using the Minnesota Atlas to assist in creating forest stewardship plans
  Kris Johnson, Natural Resources Research Institute
• Aerial photography systems for natural resource management and planning
  Jennifer Murphy, MN DNR

11:00 am - Break

11:10 am - Speaker Block 3

• Much ado about carbon: Managing carbon alongside other management goals 
  Adrienne Keller, Michigan Tech University / Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS)
• Interactions between live aboveground carbon storage and climate adaptation indicators in the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change experiment 
  Lucy Rea, ORISE / USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station / NIACS
• Differing developmental pathways in recently harvested peatlands
  Eli Gaffney, UMN-Natural Resources Science and Management Graduate Program 

12:00 pm - Lunch

1:00 pm - Speaker Block 4

• Do white-tailed deer prefer nursery or woodsrun origin white pine seedlings?
  Kyle Gill, UMN-Cloquet Forestry Center
• Point-in-time comparison of snag densities in the Minnesota-Wisconsin border region
  Chris Edgar, UMN-Forest Resources Department
• The role of snag structural cohorts in stand development
  Gregory Harris, UMN-Natural Resources Science and Management Graduate Program
• Snags, oaks, and fire: Toward best management practices for red-headed woodpeckers in Minnesota
  Elena West, UMN-Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
• Wildlife responses to enhancing ecological and economic resilience in Minnesota aspen forests through mixedwood silviculture
  Alexis Grinde, Natural Resources Research Institute

2:15 pm - Break

2:30 pm - Speaker Block 5

• Assessing irregular shelterwood systems for retaining breeding songbirds in northern hardwood forests
  Eric Margenau, American Bird Conservancy
• Assisted Migration of bur oak and red oak in Northern Minnesota over 13 years
  Justin Stewart, UMD
• How white spruce seed sources impact climate resilience in an aspen-spruce mixedwood prescription and other strategies to diversify Minnesota's forests
  Mike Reinikainen, MN DNR
• Effects of mixedwood silviculture on understory vegetation dynamics
  Simon Baker, UMN-Natural Resources Science and Management Graduate Program

3:28 pm - Closing