2025 IATC Public Forum Recap
Photo courtesy of Kyle McCrohan.
This October, IATC held its fifth annual public forum, themed Stewarding Healthy Forests in the Issaquah Alps and Beyond. Given the increasing pressures our public lands face due to funding cutbacks, environmental changes, and heightened usage, IATC hoped to encourage a dialogue amongst local stewards and our community about how we might tackle these challenges together.
We were honored to welcome Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove as our keynote speaker. The Commissioner drove over three hours each way to discuss DNR’s wildfire prevention plans and conservation priorities. Among his recent efforts is the Commissioner’s Order, signed this past August, which conserves 77,000 acres of structurally complex forests.
Commissioner Upthegrove also emphasized the need for new legislative tools such as the authority to participate in carbon markets and funding for replacement timberlands: “The legislature should fully fund public education and we shouldn’t have to pit kids against trees. It’s time to chart a new course, one that sustains our climate, our communities, and our economy for generations to come.”
A panel of community experts followed Commissioner Upthegrove’s keynote address. Dr. Ernesto Alvarado from the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Tor Bell from Mountains to Sound Greenway, and Warren KingGeorge from the Muckleshoot Tribe and Upper Skagit Tribe weighed in on what makes up a healthy forest and how our land managers and community members can continue to be good stewards of our public lands.
Photo courtesy of Kyle McCrohan.
When asked what the phrase “healthy forest” meant to him, Warren KingGeorge spoke of an intimate moment looking upon the Hood Canal with a late mentor of his, Bruce Miller. When Miller asked KingGeorge what he saw, KingGeorge pointed out the salt water and the massive forest. Miller encouraged KingGeorge to look a bit deeper, though, to consider the relationships between the trees he saw. As KingGeorge went on to explain, forests are much more than trees: “[Forests] mean more to us than just a place to sit in the shade and escape the direct sunlight. It’s more than just walking through and filling your lungs with that fresh, clean air. It’s more than that. There’s a relationship there that should be acknowledged, for a true forest, for a healthy forest, will touch each and every one of you who walk through it. And you will feel that; you will feel that relationship.”
Dr. Alvarado’s idea of stewardship is best encapsulated in a conversation he had with an elder of a Peruvian community he visited years ago. When Dr. Alvarado asked the elder about his responsibility to his community, the elder replied, “If I don’t share the knowledge with the younger generations, it’s like the knowledge didn’t exist. It will disappear when I die.” By sharing knowledge with his students and with audiences through panels like IATC’s public forum, Dr. Alvarado finds he fulfills his role as a steward.
We also took a moment to ask each of the panelists which forest stewardship practices our region is excelling in and which areas could be improved. Tor Bell noted the area’s commitment to land acquisition—it was not that long ago that Rattlesnake and Taylor Mountains were not in public ownership—along with riparian restoration and recreation as strengths of the region. As for areas needing improvement, Bell urged the community to take the removal of invasive species more seriously, explaining that the removal costs of these species go up drastically if left unchecked.
Thank you to all that volunteered and attended our fifth annual public forum, and a special thank you to our keynote speaker and panelists. This “hiking and agitating” club is nothing without its community.
Photo courtesy of Kyle McCrohan.
If you were unable to attend the Public Forum, you can watch the recording on the IATC YouTube channel.
Learn more about IATC’s long history of advocacy and our continued commitment to the conservation, education, and advocacy for the land, wildlife, and trails of the Issaquah Alps for present and future generations.