The forests of the Crown of the Continent are vital to health and quality of life of communities in the Crown and beyond. These forests form part of the headwaters of clean, flowing rivers that supply our drinking water, are essential for natural adaption to climate change, and support a diverse community of plants and animals while providing a multitude of recreational opportunities. Effective models of restoration logging, recreation and amenity improvement, fire, and other disturbance mitigation and watershed and ecosystem monitoring are occurring throughout the forested land base of the Crown.
The Southwest Crown Collaborative in Montana has pioneered a model of collaborative restoration forestry, working as a partnership with the US Forest Service, industry, conservation groups, and community stewards. Some of the “lessons learned” from the SWCC could be used in B.C. and Alberta in exploring alternative management practices to the current forest management model. Representatives of a community conservation, government, and industry working in the southwest crown will present their experience with collaborative management and the positive outcomes achieved in on the ground forest management.
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