Join the Northern Blues Forest Collaborative for an all-day field tour of recent work in the Lower Joseph Project on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Wallowa Mountains Ranger District.

This tour will visit three project areas where participants will explore how restoration treatments are being planned, implemented, adapted, and monitored over time. Conversations will focus on the practical realities of forest restoration, including tree selection, Designation by Prescription, contractor and mill capacity, temporary road decommissioning, prescribed fire, wildlife considerations, and the economic factors that shape implementation on the ground.

This tour will:

• Explore the “art and science” of tree selection and how managers balance multiple restoration objectives, site conditions, and operational constraints.

• Discuss economic challenges and opportunities, including Designation by Prescription, local contractor capacity, mill access, log size and pulp market fluctuations, and longer-term contracting pathways.

• Visit recent treatment and prescribed fire areas to look at outcomes, lessons learned, monitoring needs, and how restoration decisions are adjusted over time.

Please bring water, lunch, and appropriate clothes and footwear; the tour will include walking on uneven ground. Transportation and parking are limited. If you need special accommodations, please note those in the registration link below.