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We're gonna jump right
into a panel discussion

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that Heather's going to moderate.

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We're fortunate to have
three experts with us today

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who are gonna speak to each
of the things called out

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in the theme of the conference:

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biodiversity, climate
change, and well-being,

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and can talk about those
things in the context

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of the sort of promise of forests

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as providing solutions
to those in more detail.

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So I'd like to welcome
those three panelists

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up to the stage.

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This morning, we have Dr. Ali Kosiba

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who's an Extension Assistant
Professor of Forestry

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and an Extension Forester right here

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at the University of Vermont
based in South Burlington.

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We have Dr. Michelle Kondo,
a research social scientist

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with the USDA Forest
Service, Urban Forest,

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Human Health and Environmental
Quality Unit in Philadelphia,

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and Tim Duclos, who's the
Healthy Forest Program

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Senior Associate with Audubon Vermont,

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based in Dorset, Vermont.

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Awesome, thank you.

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(attendees clapping)

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Good morning.

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You guys hear me okay?

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All right, good.

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Awesome.

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Well, welcome to our panelists.

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We're gonna take a few minutes to let each

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of our panelists introduce themselves.

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And we have a couple of
questions to get us started,

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but I encourage you to
be, as you're listening

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to our panelists, to think
about questions that you have

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'cause we'll be taking
questions from the audience.

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So why don't we start with you, Allie?

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Is this, you can hear me
through the microphone?

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All right, so I'm assuming
my slides will come up here.

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All right, here we go.

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Good, up on the big screen.

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So I am Alexandra Kosiba, I go by Allie.

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You, she, her pronouns.

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I am the Extension Assistant
Professor of Forestry here

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at the University of Vermont,

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and I serve as a state extension forester.

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I've been in this position
for a little bit over a year,

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but in Vermont for a lot longer than that.

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Previous to my position, I
came from the state of Vermont,

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where I was a climate
forester and had other hats,

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including, I used to work for the FEMC

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a number of years ago.

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My expertise is in tree
physiology, forest ecology.

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And specifically, I work
on climate change impacts

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and carbon and forest health

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to help inform decision-making
on the landscape.

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So to talk about a
couple of those buckets,

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the carbon topic has been
really of interest lately.

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So I do a lot of work educating folks

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on the science of forest carbon.

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How does it move through forests?

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What are the dynamics?

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What are the pools?

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How can we influence some
of those different dynamics

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with some of the decisions we make?

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And so thing levels
from educating foresters

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on forest management.

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We just hosted a Northeast
Silvicultural Workshop

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in Massachusetts for New
England and New York Foresters

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to really delve into this topic deeper.

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It's a topic that most folks
did not get education on

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in their forestry education.

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So really, you know, lifting us all up

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as a community and learning together.

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But I also do a lot of work
to educate the general public.

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And one of those resources is

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the "Northern Woodlands" Magazine.

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And so I've been doing an article series

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this whole year on forest carbon.

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These were supported by a grant,

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so they are not under a paywall.

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So you can go to Northern
Woodlands, access the PDFs

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of the articles for free.

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I also have them on my website.

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So please, you know, access
those, distribute those.

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And if you want physical copies,

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I can get those to you, as well.

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And in this role, too,
I also help the state

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with landscape level carbon
accounting on our forest.

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How much carbon is in our forest?

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How much does it sequester each year?

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What are the dynamics with
harvested wood products

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and other perturbations like forest loss?

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How does that affect our carbon
benefits from our forests?

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The other big bucket I
work on is climate change.

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So understanding the impacts
of climate change on forests,

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and then what can we do to
have a climate change lens

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in our decision-making in the woods

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and across our Vermont forest landscape.

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So things, again, different levels.

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I created this sort of
12-steps to climate resilience

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for landowners to really
introduce some of these topics

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of things and tweaks they
could make in their woods

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to incorporate climate change impacts

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and promote resilience in their forests.

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And I do a lot of work like
with sugar bush managers

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and thinking about
resilience in sugar bushes.

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So across different types of forests

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doing some vulnerability assessments.

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And a well plug here,
afternoon work session led

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by Tony D'Amato, we're doing forest level

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vulnerability guides and management guides

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that we're starting with
Northern hardwoods Spruce Fir.

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So if you would like to
provide input on that,

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we would really welcome some feedback

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in that afternoon session.

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I also have a survey that
I released this summer.

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And if you didn't have a chance

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to input on that, I welcome more input.

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But really, trying to
understand what are folks doing

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on the landscape, and really
create a community of practice.

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I know that there is a lot
of good work happening.

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People are being creative,
trying different types of things

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to incorporate resilience
in their management.

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And so I really wanna showcase that

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and tell our story better.

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And it helps folks that maybe are

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a little bit more reluctant
to try some of these things

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to see what other folks are doing,

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seeing what landowners, foresters,

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conservation groups are
doing on the landscape.

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And the last bucket that I work on is

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a little bit more forest health related

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landscape level planning

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with a lot of state of Vermont partners.

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So Heather mentioned our
Hemlock Conservation Guide

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that we released this summer.

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This is the first
species level state guide

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on a species of concern.

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And so we hope this will be
something we continue updating

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and working on as we
have more information.

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But this idea of thinking a
little bit more holistically

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across the state on how
do we think about work

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and managing and conserving a species

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that we're worried about
its potential loss,

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not only from Hemlock woolly adelgid

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but also the impacts of climate change.

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And I'll plug Vermont Conservation
Design as well, working

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on finished a version two,

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and that will be presented
later this afternoon, as well.

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So that's a great tool for thinking

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about strategically how we
have continuity, connectivity,

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protecting our biodiversity in our state.

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And if you want any more information

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on any of these things,
building a website,

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if there are things on this website

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you think should be there, let me know.

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I really want this to be a
repository for information.

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So you can use that QR code

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or just Google UVM Extension
Forestry and it'll pop up.

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Thanks.

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Awesome, thank you.

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(attendees clapping)

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I think we're going to Tim.

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Tim's slides might be next?

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Sweet.

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How's it going, everybody?

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My name's Tim Duclos and I
am the Healthy Forest Program

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Senior Associate at Audubon, Vermont.

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I grew up in Vermont, born and
raised here in rural Vermont.

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And I went to my undergrad here at UVM

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in the Rubenstein School.

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I've been in conservation
since I was more or less

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about 16 years old, I'd say.

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I got involved through the Green Mountain

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Conservation Camps, run
through the state of Vermont,

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fantastic Camps, and was inspired

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by our state wildlife
biologists to do what I do now.

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After my undergrad years, I bounced around

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and did a lot of the seasonal jobs

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that we do after undergrad.

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And I've been privileged to work

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with many of you in this
room, either through stints

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in AmeriCorps, with
the Nature Conservancy,

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or with Vermont Fish and Wildlife,

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Vermont Center for Eco Studies.

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In my graduate education,
I was able to really dive

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into my interest in
Montane Ecology, hiking,

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and spending time in our mountains.

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I was able to study birds

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and how our bird
communities are structured

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along elevation gradients
in the White Mountains

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and looking at forest structure,

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how the forest structure
forms bird habitats

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and how climate kind of also forms

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population structure along mountains.

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So very much thinking
about how climate change

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in our forests define bird communities,

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and especially along elevation

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where we can really
see changes in climate.

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I was with the Northeast
Climate Adaptation

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Science Center and US Forest
Service when I was doing that.

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After that, I came back to Vermont

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where I worked at Merck
Forest and Farmland Center

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as their conservation manager.

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And I really, there, dove into the world

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of Silvicultural and Forestry.

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And it was there that I
really saw the opportunity

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to start thinking about forest management

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through the lens of birds.

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And I really dove into Audubon Vermont's

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Foresters for the Birds Program

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and all the amazing guides and work

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that Steve Hagenbuch has done in his time

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to incorporate thinking about bird habitat

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in the context of silviculture.

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And then beyond Merck
Forest, I'm fortunate now

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to be with Audubon Vermont,

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where I am advancing our flight plan.

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We are full of bird puns here at Audubon.

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Audubon Vermont is a state chapter

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of the Greater National Audubon Society.

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Our mission is to protect birds

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in the places they need
today and tomorrow.

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And in our flight plan, we have identified

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four major focal areas.

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We have habitat conservation and working

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to maintain connectivity
across our forested landscape.

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We have climate where we're thinking

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about carbon sequestration
and storage in our forests,

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and generally, how our forests are

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natural climate solutions
to climate change.

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We're also thinking
about renewable energy.

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We also are thinking about policy

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and how we can influence these things

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through government and
working in our communities.

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And then lastly, it's
about community building

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and educating and working
with our communities

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to advance this from the bottom up.

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Here in Vermont, I lead the
Healthy Forest Program work,

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or at least a component of it.

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I work with private landowners

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through our Woods Wildlife
and Warblers Program.

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I essentially go out with landowners

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on their properties and
talk about bird habitat.

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I mix in all kinds of other
habitat components, as well,

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but we talk about how they
can manage their forests

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for birds and overall
ecosystem health and function.

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And so a lot of technical
assistance work there

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for our part, excuse me,
our private landowners.

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I also am in developing and leading our

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Forestry Training and Endorsement Program

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whereby we are working with our foresters

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to continue to advance the
Bird Friendly Forest Program

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00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,510
our Forest Is For the Birds Program.

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And it's in this way that we're
hoping to continue to work

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with private landowners through
the consulting foresters

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that they engage with

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in devising their land management plans.

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I work with youth to engage
them in this work, as well.

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Our training and preparing our young folks

262
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for coming into the career

263
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and working in this field
is extremely important.

264
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And beyond that, I think about monitoring

265
00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,060
and demonstrating these practices

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and maintaining our strong networks

267
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of partners across the state of Vermont.

268
00:12:07,260 --> 00:12:11,700
And lastly, to make a really
strong case for why birds,

269
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well, I mean, birds are amazing indicators

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of ecosystem health.

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In Vermont, we have
roughly about 80 species

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that associate with some
type of forest habitat.

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40 of those species really depend

274
00:12:27,030 --> 00:12:31,080
upon our forest intact
core, interior forests.

275
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And they all have different
unique habitat needs.

276
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And so when you go out into the forest,

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you can tell a lot about
what habitat exists

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and the health of that forest,

279
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just by the bird community
that exists there.

280
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And so in terms of being
able to assess, monitor,

281
00:12:47,220 --> 00:12:51,060
and prescribe kind of what
conditions exist in the forest,

282
00:12:51,060 --> 00:12:53,340
what we need to do to
improve those conditions

283
00:12:53,340 --> 00:12:55,560
birds are an incredible means

284
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to measure that and think about that.

285
00:12:57,570 --> 00:13:00,450
And then also, birds are very charismatic

286
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and, you know, they're compelling
as a species for people,

287
00:13:04,650 --> 00:13:05,850
and they really are a hook

288
00:13:05,850 --> 00:13:09,480
that gets a lot of landowners
engaged in thinking

289
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,270
about how to steward their
woods once they start

290
00:13:12,270 --> 00:13:15,870
to think about the needs
of birds in those forests.

291
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It's also, you know, birding is

292
00:13:17,370 --> 00:13:20,130
a multi-billion dollar
industry here in the US

293
00:13:20,130 --> 00:13:25,023
so there's a tremendous
economic component to birds.

294
00:13:26,130 --> 00:13:28,350
And then also there's a lot of co-benefits

295
00:13:28,350 --> 00:13:32,430
to thinking about bird habitat
and bird needs, really.

296
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I'm gonna talk a bit later
about ecological forestry.

297
00:13:36,060 --> 00:13:38,940
And truly, when you
manage forests for birds

298
00:13:38,940 --> 00:13:40,650
and bird diversity, you manage

299
00:13:40,650 --> 00:13:43,110
for carbon sequestration and storage,

300
00:13:43,110 --> 00:13:47,940
climate resiliency, and
greater biodiversity.

301
00:13:47,940 --> 00:13:50,610
So it's truly an honor and privilege

302
00:13:50,610 --> 00:13:54,150
to be here on this panel
and I'm excited for this.

303
00:13:54,150 --> 00:13:54,983
Thank you.

304
00:13:54,983 --> 00:13:55,944
Thanks, Tim.

305
00:13:55,944 --> 00:14:00,089
(panelists and attendees clapping)

306
00:14:00,089 --> 00:14:01,503
Michelle.

307
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:04,500
Hi everyone.

308
00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:05,730
I'm so glad to be here.

309
00:14:05,730 --> 00:14:09,210
I'm Michelle Kondo and I am
a Research Social Scientist

310
00:14:09,210 --> 00:14:11,280
with the US Forest Service.

311
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,713
And I'm stationed in Philadelphia.

312
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,970
I think many are not
familiar with the fact

313
00:14:17,970 --> 00:14:21,150
that we have urban field stations

314
00:14:21,150 --> 00:14:25,830
and in the northern research
station in my unit is,

315
00:14:25,830 --> 00:14:27,633
has an urban focus.

316
00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:31,653
We're the only ones,
really, in the country,

317
00:14:33,060 --> 00:14:35,703
so we're a bit unique in that way.

318
00:14:36,630 --> 00:14:41,370
But I do work thinking
about, and doing research

319
00:14:41,370 --> 00:14:45,840
on the benefits of forests, urban forests

320
00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,500
and forests in general for public health.

321
00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:53,450
And so, you know, I'm
not gonna go over all

322
00:14:53,450 --> 00:14:54,420
of the evidence here.

323
00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:59,130
I just wanna give you a
little bit of information

324
00:14:59,130 --> 00:15:02,430
about, you know, what I do in the area

325
00:15:02,430 --> 00:15:04,383
in which I'm doing my research.

326
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:09,360
There is a growing body of research

327
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:14,360
on the effects of living
in greener places,

328
00:15:14,610 --> 00:15:17,250
of traveling through, of
going to and visiting,

329
00:15:17,250 --> 00:15:19,680
of having better access to nature.

330
00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,120
And I think, likely, I'm
in this crowd, we know.

331
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,423
We already, it's like,
duh, we already know this.

332
00:15:28,350 --> 00:15:33,350
But, you know, in sort of
valuing nature for what it is

333
00:15:34,407 --> 00:15:36,330
and the services that it provides

334
00:15:36,330 --> 00:15:38,040
as a public health amenity

335
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,100
and something that we, our medical systems

336
00:15:41,100 --> 00:15:44,430
and medical insurance
and healthcare systems

337
00:15:44,430 --> 00:15:47,430
and plans can and should be investing in,

338
00:15:47,430 --> 00:15:50,853
we have to have that, those
numbers and that evidence.

339
00:15:52,410 --> 00:15:56,430
So there is really a
growing amount of research

340
00:15:56,430 --> 00:15:58,503
being published these days.

341
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,870
My slide here isn't showing
up, but I just wanted

342
00:16:03,870 --> 00:16:06,870
to hear say that I do research

343
00:16:06,870 --> 00:16:10,950
on what I call nature-based
interventions for health.

344
00:16:10,950 --> 00:16:13,350
And I take a couple of
different approaches.

345
00:16:13,350 --> 00:16:16,860
I take a place-based approach.

346
00:16:16,860 --> 00:16:19,320
So I'm always interested in doing

347
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:20,820
intervention-based research,

348
00:16:20,820 --> 00:16:23,070
so like randomized controlled trials

349
00:16:23,070 --> 00:16:26,340
and kind of the level of
evidence that is needed

350
00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:31,340
to influence public health
and medical, healthcare

351
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,440
and health plan investments.

352
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,300
So place-based types of
interventions can be tree planting

353
00:16:39,300 --> 00:16:41,970
and, or in cities like Philadelphia

354
00:16:41,970 --> 00:16:44,400
where we have all this vacant space,

355
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,440
we've done a randomized controlled trial

356
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,413
of vacant lot cleaning and greening.

357
00:16:50,670 --> 00:16:55,670
I've done other studies
of tree planting programs,

358
00:16:56,310 --> 00:17:00,480
park-based improvements,
and I'm always looking

359
00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,200
to partner with folks who monitor,

360
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,360
who have monitoring records.

361
00:17:06,360 --> 00:17:08,040
You know, we can look back in time

362
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,220
and measure the social
and public health benefits

363
00:17:11,220 --> 00:17:16,220
that might be associated with
forest improvements over time.

364
00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:22,680
My text is not showing up.

365
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:23,513
Oh, no.

366
00:17:23,513 --> 00:17:24,346
Go one more.

367
00:17:24,346 --> 00:17:28,050
So this is, I also do
person-based, you know,

368
00:17:28,050 --> 00:17:29,550
nature-based interventions

369
00:17:29,550 --> 00:17:32,490
that involve people and individuals.

370
00:17:32,490 --> 00:17:35,910
So nature prescriptions,
perhaps some of you have heard

371
00:17:35,910 --> 00:17:40,910
of park prescriptions,
the Park RX, Nature RX.

372
00:17:41,550 --> 00:17:46,080
These are partnerships
between medical providers,

373
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,410
healthcare institutions, hospitals,

374
00:17:49,410 --> 00:17:52,830
and land managers, forest managers,

375
00:17:52,830 --> 00:17:56,400
parks and recreation managers

376
00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:01,400
to try to value and use
nature and nature exposure

377
00:18:01,650 --> 00:18:04,440
as a therapeutic, a preventative,

378
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,460
and a therapeutic treatment.

379
00:18:08,460 --> 00:18:10,950
And so I have a program right now

380
00:18:10,950 --> 00:18:15,900
that I have helped to build
a called Prescribe Outside

381
00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:19,110
and it's a partnership

382
00:18:19,110 --> 00:18:22,233
with the Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia or CHOP.

383
00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:25,530
And, let's see, we have an arboretum,

384
00:18:25,530 --> 00:18:28,590
Aubrey Arboretum in
Philadelphia, Let's Go Outdoors,

385
00:18:28,590 --> 00:18:30,210
a recreation specialist.

386
00:18:30,210 --> 00:18:35,210
And so often the focus in
cities and urban areas is

387
00:18:35,730 --> 00:18:40,730
bringing, you know,
improving nature access,

388
00:18:40,740 --> 00:18:43,320
bringing nature work to where people are.

389
00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,140
So we're not always gonna
be able to bring people out

390
00:18:46,140 --> 00:18:47,370
to our national forests.

391
00:18:47,370 --> 00:18:49,800
I think the closest in Philadelphia

392
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,620
to Philadelphia is
somewhere in West Virginia,

393
00:18:52,620 --> 00:18:54,243
our closest national forest.

394
00:18:55,260 --> 00:18:59,310
So I'm working with, we have
an Urban Connections Program

395
00:18:59,310 --> 00:19:03,990
out of our state and
private forestry division

396
00:19:03,990 --> 00:19:06,990
that is working on and interested

397
00:19:06,990 --> 00:19:08,550
in supporting, you know, bringing nature

398
00:19:08,550 --> 00:19:10,350
to where people are helping act,

399
00:19:10,350 --> 00:19:14,340
people access local nature with the goal

400
00:19:14,340 --> 00:19:18,270
of eventually, you know, getting
them out into the forests.

401
00:19:18,270 --> 00:19:23,270
But we have, so I'm
working with this program

402
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,750
and I want to, let's see,

403
00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:31,830
we also, in my agency are working on,

404
00:19:31,830 --> 00:19:36,830
you know, building toolkits
for national forest managers

405
00:19:37,050 --> 00:19:42,050
and other forest managers for, you know,

406
00:19:42,630 --> 00:19:45,090
supporting building partnerships

407
00:19:45,090 --> 00:19:48,180
with, you know, for public health

408
00:19:48,180 --> 00:19:52,173
to bring people to forests
for public health benefits.

409
00:19:53,850 --> 00:19:58,440
I also want to say that I
am involved in estimating.

410
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,440
I do work to estimate the
public health value of forests.

411
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,090
So ecosystems, you know, public health is

412
00:20:06,090 --> 00:20:08,280
an ecosystem service of forests.

413
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,400
And it can be of existing forests,

414
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,980
it can be also of planned forests.

415
00:20:13,980 --> 00:20:18,030
So, for example, Philadelphia
is one of many cities,

416
00:20:18,030 --> 00:20:21,510
especially in a region such as this

417
00:20:21,510 --> 00:20:25,200
that has a tree canopy goal of 30%,

418
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,063
sort of that sort of magic number here

419
00:20:28,063 --> 00:20:30,060
that we're trying to reach.

420
00:20:30,060 --> 00:20:34,890
And so Philadelphia set,
I think, back in 2015,

421
00:20:34,890 --> 00:20:38,880
set this standard, you
know, wanting to meet 30%

422
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,230
throughout the city.

423
00:20:40,230 --> 00:20:41,640
What would that look like?

424
00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,543
I mean, it's very ambitious, right?

425
00:20:47,250 --> 00:20:51,120
And so unfortunately, lots of my images

426
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:52,203
are not showing up.

427
00:20:53,580 --> 00:20:57,750
So I have helped to
estimate using existing

428
00:20:57,750 --> 00:21:01,830
epidemiological research showing

429
00:21:01,830 --> 00:21:06,780
at different various levels of greenness

430
00:21:06,780 --> 00:21:10,230
in residential spaces, your
risk of premature mortality.

431
00:21:10,230 --> 00:21:12,810
So applying that to using

432
00:21:12,810 --> 00:21:15,180
this health impact assessment approach

433
00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:19,560
to a 30% canopy goal, what
if we were to meet that goal.

434
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,183
What impact would it have?

435
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:27,080
And we estimated of preventing
nearly 400 premature deaths.

436
00:21:29,430 --> 00:21:32,673
So this is like, a policy goal for 2025.

437
00:21:33,870 --> 00:21:36,030
And, you know, we had other estimates

438
00:21:36,030 --> 00:21:39,660
for more less ambitious goals.

439
00:21:39,660 --> 00:21:41,613
Some would call them more realistic,

440
00:21:43,770 --> 00:21:47,110
So I'm also involved and
there's a natural capital

441
00:21:48,210 --> 00:21:53,210
a project estimating the worth of

442
00:21:53,460 --> 00:21:58,460
in terms of public health
value of our existing forests.

443
00:22:01,380 --> 00:22:04,560
So there are other
studies that are beginning

444
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:09,560
to focus on, you know, what
are the other dimensions

445
00:22:10,740 --> 00:22:15,740
or ways or values of public, of forests.

446
00:22:15,750 --> 00:22:19,260
So we're starting to see analyses

447
00:22:19,260 --> 00:22:23,310
of using healthcare records and costs.

448
00:22:23,310 --> 00:22:28,310
So we now have studies using, for example,

449
00:22:29,370 --> 00:22:32,580
Medicare records across the country.

450
00:22:32,580 --> 00:22:37,580
This is an analysis of
patients from Kaiser Permanente

451
00:22:38,460 --> 00:22:41,910
in Northern California
showing that holding

452
00:22:41,910 --> 00:22:44,940
all other things equal, demographics,

453
00:22:44,940 --> 00:22:46,380
socio demographics, income,

454
00:22:46,380 --> 00:22:51,380
and on all of this, that living in areas

455
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,283
that are more green, you know, comes

456
00:22:56,610 --> 00:23:00,333
with lower costs, healthcare costs.

457
00:23:01,830 --> 00:23:04,620
So providing that evidence there

458
00:23:04,620 --> 00:23:08,430
that hopefully will help to change policy,

459
00:23:08,430 --> 00:23:12,390
to provide more support for
getting people outdoors.

460
00:23:12,390 --> 00:23:13,223
Awesome.

461
00:23:14,370 --> 00:23:15,510
Thank you, Michelle.

462
00:23:15,510 --> 00:23:17,411
It's terrific, terrific.

463
00:23:17,411 --> 00:23:20,494
(attendees clapping)