Amador County – The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced that it has canceled a portion of its “Sierra Cascades Dialog” program that was scheduled for Saturda
y in Sutter Creek.
The dialog in Sutter Creek, called “Improving Social and Economic Conditions in Rural Forest Communities,” would have been the “third in a series of Dialogs over the coming years to discuss a range of critical issues that affect the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades and people who live, work and recreate there,” according to USDA information on the meeting. The Sutter Creek Dialog was canceled, and will be moved to Sacramento and held on Oct. 13.
The Dialogs focus on the future of national forests, “providing an opportunity for learning, aligned actions, and understanding different perspectives.” Previous Dialogs were “Ecological Restoration” last November, and “Values, Attitudes & Beliefs: Shaping the Assessment for Forest Planning,” in February.
Future Dialog topics include “An All Lands Approach to Fire Protection and Ecological Restoration” and “Utilization of Wood Waste for Multiple Benefits.” Others include “Monitoring & Adaptive Management” and “Changing Climate.”
Michael T. Chapel, the Regional Forester’s Representative USDA Forest Service in Sacramento announced the postponement in an email to participants in the Sierra-Cascades Dialogs. Chapel said the “registration for this event is far lower than our previous meetings,” and “after visiting with representatives from a variety of interests, we have decided to postpone our discussion about improving social and economic conditions in rural communities.”
Chapel said people “may know that we planned this meeting to respond to requests from some of you to move our discussions into the Sierra-Cascades region. Others recommended that we meet on a Saturday to accommodate those who cannot meet during the week.”
He said the “arrangements do not work for the majority of you,” so they “will move the meetings back to McClellan.” Since the summers are busy, they plan to postpone the discussion until the next scheduled Dialog, Oct. 13.
Those who had registered for the June 4 event will be getting a refund sent to them from Sacramento State.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
