The Forest Overstory Podcast

Navigating forest regulations can be difficult sometimes, but thanks to programs like the Small Forest Landowner Office in the Washington Department of Natural Resources, there are people here to help! We sit down with Hollis and Brent from the DNR to discuss some of the do's and dont's, common pitfalls, and frequently asked questions around forest regulations in Washington State.

Wildfire is a regular part of the landscape in Washington State, but that doesn't make it less disruptive to communities and the forests they manage. In this episode, Collin Haffey, who manages the Washington Department of Natural Resource's Postfire Recovery Program, discusses the unique challenges facing forest owners and managers effected by wildfire and what resources are available to help. Mentioned in the podcast: WA DNR Landowner Assistance Portal: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/LandownerAssistancePortal WA DNR Find Your Forester Tool: https://foresthealthtracker.dnr.wa.gov/FindYourForester/Index After the Fire Washington: https://afterthefirewa.org/ Northwest Fire Science Consortium: https://nwfirescience.org/ Transcript (PDF): https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/cahnrs/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/ep32_CollinHaffey.pdf

The role agriculture and other land uses play in pollinator lifecycles are fairly well understood, but what about forests? Many species of pollinators utilize forestland for food or nesting habitat but some forests better serve that function than others. We invite Rachel Zitomer to discuss her doctoral work at Oregon State University where she studied how pollinators interact with intensively managed conifer forests. We also discuss what forest owners can do to enhance beneficial habitat on their land.

Swiss needle cast (SNC) is a native disease that affects Douglas-fir trees, particularly those growing in the coast region. SNC can cause a headache for anyone trying to grow Doug-fir in this region and the Swiss Needle Cast Coalition aims to support landowners and managers understand, plan for, and mitigate the effects. In this episode, we're joined by Brett Morrissette, Bernard Bormann, and Adam Carson from the coalition to discuss their work.

Forest cultivated shiitake is a traditional practice that is centuries old. These systems can be a great way for farmers and forest owners to utilize woodlots to grow mushrooms for personal use or commercial sale. Justin O'Dea from WSU Extension has been studying how to adapt these systems to the Pacific Northwest climate and forests. In this episode, we discuss the key findings of his research and how they can help forest owners grow shiitakes successfully. Resources discussed in the episode: PNW Forest-Cultivated Mushroom Growers Network (https://www.pnwforestmushroomgrowers.net/) SW WA Extension Agriculture Program Instagram - @wsuextensionagswwa Transcript link: https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/cahnrs/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/ep29_JustinODea_transcript.pdf

Many of us are familiar with managing forests for birds and mammals, but what about forestry for the frogs? In this episode of the Forest Overstory Podcast, we invite Lauren Grand of Oregon State University's Extension Forestry Program to discuss how forest management can influence amphibian habitat and what small forest owners can do to encourage a multitude of amphibious species on their properties.

In this episode of the Forest Overstory, we invite Skye Pelliccia of the King County Noxious Weed Control Program. Dealing with noxious weeds is a big part of forest management in Washington and Skye gives us a rundown on some of the common offenders, diverse strategies for removing them, and common misconceptions about the use of herbicides in this effort.

Forests provide immense benefits to society, but does everyone have equal access to those benefits? The field of environmental justice and equity is gaining increasing traction, including at the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Ashley Blazina is Environmental Justice Planner for the Department and joins the podcast to discuss some of the efforts the agency is making to ensure the benefits of their forestry work can reach underserved communities.

Community science is a powerful tool and one that our guest, Joey Hulbert, is utilizing it in his Forest Health Watch Program. Over the last several years, Dr. Hulbert has empowered "citizen scientists" to help track a number of forest health concerns in Washington State, including western redcedar dieback. In this episode, we dig into the roots of the program, it's progress, and what the future holds with our co-host, Dr. Molly Darr, joining as co-director. To contribute to the western redcedar dieback program, go to: https://foresthealth.org/map To recommend future forest health monitoring projects, go to: https://foresthealth.org/projects/

For more than a century in the Pacific Northwest bigleaf maple has had a reputation as a "weed tree". Our guest and former conservation district forester, Al Craney, joins us to discuss why that's not a fair assessment. In this episode we discuss the benefits maple provides and the critical role it plays in our forests and riparian areas. For more information on bigleaf maple syrup, try these sites: https://forestry.wsu.edu/blmsyrup/ https://www.oregontreetappers.net/

Kelsey Ketcheson, Gary Bell, and Anne Favolise all work for the Washington Department of Natural Resources Service Forestry Program. This program provides forest management resources to forest owners, including financial assistance and site visits. The three foresters join us today to discuss how this program is rolling out in on the Olympic Peninsula and the forest health issues that region faces. You can learn more about the Service Forestry Program and other resources to support landowners from the DNR using the DNR Landowner Portal: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/LandownerAssistancePortal

The Columbia River Gorge is a unique area in Washington where forestry transitions from the western high moisture forests to the dry arid environment of eastern Washington. This poses unique challenges to forest management and community preparedness. Ole Helgerson, a retired Extension Forester with Washington State University, spent his career addressing these challenges in the Gorge and joins us on the podcast to discuss.

Wildfire isn't just an eastern Washington thing. In this episode, we discuss how communities in western Washington can prepare for a future with increased risk of wildfire. Jenny Coe, the Community Wildfire Resilience Coordinator with the Department of Natural Resources, joins to describe support the state can offer to help "west siders" get wildfire ready. Links mentioned in the episode: • Jack Cohen Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL_syp1ZScM • DNR’s Community Resilience page: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/programs-and-services/wildfire/wildfire-preparedness • DNR’s Community Resilience Resource Library: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/community-wildfire-resilience-resource-library • DNR’s Landowner Assistance Portal - https://www.dnr.wa.gov/LandownerAssistancePortal

Jeff Debell is a forest geneticist working with the WA Department of Natural Resources, tasked with exploring strategies for growing trees in a changing climate. With increasingly hot and dry summers, reforestation has already become more challenging than usual. The health of future forests may be improved by or depend on innovative reforestation practices we implement today. One key practice is population migration, the practice of moving genetic populations within a given species in order to adapt to projected climate conditions (ex: planting Doug-fir from Oregon in Washington). In this episode, we discuss some critical research Jeff is conducting on this population migration and how small forest owners can support it.

Common mycorrhizal networks, commonly referred to as the "wood wide web", have gained considerable attention in popular media in recent years. Multiple books, news articles, and even television shows have alluded to this concept and made bold claims about their impacts on forests, particularly forest seedlings. In this episode, our guests Dr. Justine Karst of the University of Alberta, Dr. Melanie Jones of the University of British Columbia, and Dr. Jason Hoeksema of the University of Mississippi discuss their analysis of the existing research on this topic to determine what we know and, perhaps more importantly, what we don't know.

Jenny Glass is a Diagnostic Plant Pathologist and Director of the Plant & Insect Diagnostic Laboratory at the WSU Extension Research Center in Puyallup. In this episode we discuss the services the lab provides, Jenny's background, and forest health concerns she sees in the lab and some that are coming down the pipe.

Karen Ripley is the Forest Health Monitoring and Invasive Insects Program Manager for the western region with the US Forest Service, which makes her the perfect guest to discuss the arrival of emerald ash borer (EAB) in the Pacific Northwest. EAB is an invasive boring beetle and effective tree-killer that threatens our native Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia) and other ornamental ashes in the Fraxinus genus. In this episode we discuss the history of EAB, what to expect, and how landowners and foresters can respond.

In this episode we feature Dr. Molly Darr, the newest addition the WSU Extension Forestry Team and Extension Forester for Kitsap, Whatcom, Jefferson, and Clallam Counties. Molly discusses her previous work with the Women Owning Woodlands program, an effort that supports learning opportunities in forestry for female landowners, and what her plans are to keep the program going in Washington. To reach Molly, email her at [email protected] https://www.womenowningwoodlands.net/

Jim Brown is the Nursery Manager for the Plant Materials Center in Bow, Washington, a nursery that provides thousands of tree and shrub seedlings to landowners throughout the state. Jim discusses the functions of the nursery, current demand for seedlings, how they grow trees, and how seedling selection can improve climate change resilience.

We're joined by Arno Bergstrom, a former WSU Extension Forester, to discuss how forestry assistance has changed over the years, how the award-winning WSU Forest Stewardship Coached Planning course got started, and his continued innovation in forestry while working for Kitsap County.