On March 15 through 17, 2004 a broad range of scientists, professionals, and interested citizens will gather to discuss a wealth of factors affecting California’s coastal forests.

Policies and strategies that guide use and management of lands in the coastal ecoregion are dependent on objective scientific information. In recent years attention to this region has increased.

Correspondingly, there has been much new information collected. Efforts such as the Caspar Creek Watershed Conference and the Scientific Basis for the Prediction of Cumulative Watershed Effects publication illustrate both the great interest and effort that is devoted to collecting and using scientific information to support resource and land management in this region.

Each year the array of decisions that affect lands and natural resources in the Redwood region carry more weight; evidence the recent interest in Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), watershed assessment, and fish and wildlife recovery efforts. How do we, therefore, promote the development and communication of scientific findings to inform management and policy decisions?

No single meeting or institution is capable of providing thorough coverage of current scientific findings and insights. It is the intent of the Symposium organizing committee to provide a sampling of current scientific work, to enable access to more detail and other sources of information, and to put these findings into a context where such information can be synthesized and interpreted for applications in land and resource management.

This symposium is intended to promote the dissemination of scientific evidence to managers, policy makers, other scientists, and interested public, and to inform policy decisions. Thus, the presentations will range from the discussion of recently gathered scientific knowledge to the integration of that knowledge into planning and management processes and tools. The Symposium supports the many other efforts intended to achieve these and similar goals and acknowledge the need to coordinate all such efforts.

For More Information: Contact Joni Rippee, University of California Center for Forestry at 510.642.0095 or rippee@nature.berkeley.edu. Also, visit the conference web site at http://nature.berkeley.edu/forestry/redwood.html.

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