Forest Forensics Field Trip

Boulder County Nature Association and Left Hand Watershed Center have joined forces to bring you classes on forest ecology and fire mitigation. Each class will focus on a different topic, so participants can attend one or both. On this forest forensics field trip, we will talk about how ecologists and foresters use on-the-ground observations and historical data to understand what a “healthy forest” should look like in a given location. Participants will walk away with more knowledge of how to get a glance into the past and desired future conditions of the forest through observations. This includes observations of old tree stumps, productivity gradients (soil moisture gradients and associated plant productivity), and topography. We hope you’ll join us to get one step closer to being a “forest detective”!

Jonas Feinstein is a West Regional Conservation Forester with the USDA’s National Resource Conservation Service. He has worked with the NRCS for over 12 years, and works to advance a science based multi-resource approach to achieve traditional forestry and ecology based goals. Through critical partnerships, he collaborates to develop and integrate conservation planning tools that appropriately, effectively and efficiently address resource concerns related to the sustainability and resilience of Colorado’s forests and ecosystem services, that include soil, water, air, plant, animal, human, and cultural resources.

Chiara Forrester is the Forest Program Manager for the Left Hand Watershed Center, a non-profit based in Boulder County that works to protect and restore watersheds using a collaborative and science-based approach. The Watershed Center is the coordinating entity of the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership, a collaborative of 100+ agencies, organizations, stakeholders, and communities whose vision is to restore the resiliency of forests and communities in the St. Vrain Watershed. Chiara is an ecologist, and her PhD at CU-Boulder focused on the impacts of climate change on alpine plants and the use of science in land-management decisions.

Tuition: $30. Limited to 14 participants.