The Spring Mountains ECHO

FOREST AND FIRE WORKSHOP:
INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE

By Pat Fitzgibbons

On Saturday, May 10, 1997, a workshop was presented by the Nevada Division of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Nevada Reno at the Mt. Charleston Library in Kyle Canyon. The workshop went from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. covered such subjects as the Mount Charleston Ecosystem, including climate and soils, trees and other plants, and fire in the forest: history, effects and management. Also, forest help issues (What's bugging our trees?) tree diseases, insect pests, tree care-the right way, recognizing unhealthy and hazardous trees, fire issues (Is my home safe from forest fires?) and where can I get advice and help?

Participants in this most interesting workshop were John Christopherson, Forest Help Specialist for the Nevada Division of Forestry, Les Fadness, Fire Management Officer, John Jones, Resources Management Officer, Sarah Mayben, Ecologist of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Steve Scybold, Research Assistant Professor in Biochemistry at the University Nevada Reno, and Susan Stead, Urban Forestry Coordinator for the Nevada Division of Forestry.

A great deal of extremely instructive and interesting literature was passed out for free. Questions were answered on all these subjects in detail, and attendees, such as myself, learned more in any one day than I have learned in years. The workshop was free to public, and was especially informative for persons with residences and cabins in the Spring Mountains. The workshop will be presented next year and, hopefully, with more publicity, there will be better attendance. The valuable information disseminated is most impressive and interesting. In addition, the exhibits available, such as mounted specimens of sixteen types of bark beetles, ten types of boring insects, and types of diseased plants and trees and other specimens, were most educational. Most visitors brought their own lunch and dined on picnic tables made available outside the library. We are certainly looking forward to next year's Forest Workshop.