Welcome by WADE President and Awards. CTD Spotlight: Meet your CTD team, hear about an exciting new project, and learn how CTD resources can help you grow professionally through training, tools, and collaboration. (General Audience)
This presentation traces the history of Northwest Tribes from the Stevens Treaties through profound land loss, forced policies, and enduring resilience. It highlights key moments such as the Fishing Wars and the 1974 Boldt Decision, which reaffirmed Tribal sovereignty and established co-management between Treaty Tribes and the State of Washington. The story concludes by emphasizing government-to-government relationships, education, environmental stewardship, and the ongoing importance of family, community, and kinship. (General Audience)
This talk explores how Indigenous land management practices and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) offer practical, time-tested frameworks for contemporary land stewardship. Centered on biocultural restoration models, Linzie draws on place-based, community-engaged work to demonstrate how food production, ecological restoration, and cultural responsibility are deeply interconnected. The presentation highlights how land management and restoration efforts informed by Indigenous knowledge can strengthen soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience across a range of working landscapes. Participants will leave with clear insights into engaging TEK in modern land management through responsible partnerships, long-term relationships, and place-based accountability. (General Audience)
Introduction for new employees. This will be an orientation to the workings of Districts and roles of employees in achieving local conservation success (Entry Level)
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest have long shaped their environments through sophisticated ecosystem management practices. Practices such as prescribed burning, transplanting, and tending of "wild" perennial food plants have created a patchwork of cultural ecosystems, including forest gardens—unique species-rich habitats that now occur near former village sites. Long term community-guided work with Canadian First Nations, U.S. Tribal Nations, archaeologists, and historical ecologists has led to the re-identification of these sites. This talk presents new archaeological and ecological data from forest gardens in Nuu-chah-nulth, Ts’msyen, and Salish territories, showing that Indigenous land-use legacies have had long-term effects on plant community composition and functional trait diversity. These findings challenge narrow definitions of agriculture and demonstrate how Indigenous stewardship continues to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. They also carry implications for the ecocultural restoration revitalization of community relationships with these landscapes. (Entry Level)
The presentation will introduce the NRCS Interim Conservation Practice Standard 825 - Cultural Plantings for Soil Health. It will cover the development of interim practices, the implementation of Standard 825, and examples of its application. The topic will build on the previous talk, linking forest gardens and cultural landscapes with the planting of various culturally relevant plants that improve soil health and provide other ecological benefits. This presentation is designed for an intermediate level audience. (Intermediate Level)
Many landowners are interested in growing a diverse forest, not just a monoculture. This talk will provide you with helpful guidelines and tips for choosing and combining timber species, along with management considerations when planting them. We will review current science on mixed species stand management. Participants will also take part in a group exercise on species selection and learn about techniques that support healthy mixed forests. (Expert Level)
How do we get more people on the land and capable of stewardship for the least cost with a model that can scale? Thurston County includes 180,000 acres of shoreline and buffers around streams, rivers, wetlands and waterbodies, and in lowland Puget Sound we are talking about a 1,000,000-acre land base. The Skykomish Biocultural Restoration Field Station is a 4-year experiment in biocultural restoration, that combines agroforestry, wildcrafting, camping, core habitat sites, and community development. (Intermediate Level)
Whether you're just hearing about the CWDG federal grant or you're a seasoned applicant, you'll learn about what this grant funds, updates on the most recent application round, and tips and tricks for a strong application. Insight on application scoring and the success of previous applications will also be shared. (Expert Level)
Is your CD prescribed fire curious? In this session you'll learn from an expert panel of speakers in the WA prescribed fire world about opportunities, experiences, resources, and the future of Rx fire. Bring your "burning" questions! (Expert Level)
