Session 4 – June 13, 2025

Summer Intensive Online Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Course

Agenda

Review and Intro

2:00 – 2:10 p.m.

Forest Health

2:10 – 3:10 p.m.
Kevin Zobrist (WSU Extension)

Break

3:10 – 3:20 p.m.

Forest Health (continued)

3:20 – 4:25 p.m.

Wrap-Up

4:25 – 4:30 p.m.

Speaker Contact Info:

Kevin Zobrist – WSU Extension: kevin.zobrist@wsu.edu

Learn More and Work on Your Plan

Recommended Activities

  1. Take a walk through your property, observing each stand from a forest health perspective. Make note of the following types of things (and your assessment of their severity):
    1. Dense, crowded areas where trees are likely under stress
    2. Areas of blow-down or a significant number of fallen trees—note things like how many trees are down and what species, whether the trees all fell in the same direction or randomly, where the tree failed (stem or roots snapped, uprooted, etc.)
    3. Areas of damaged tops (from wind, snow, or ice)
    4. Evidence of drought damage
    5. Other signs of forest health issues (insect evidence, disease evidence, animal damage, dwarf mistletoe, etc.)
  2. Start drafting the overview, insects and diseases, and environmental factors subsections of forest health/wildfire/invasive species section (Resource Category 1) of your plan. Use the Forest Health Examples as a guide. Try to identify any priority issues and steps to take to address them. You will likely need to wait for your site visit to confirm any diagnosis and finalize this session. Note: the invasive species and fire risk portions of this section will be addressed later in the course.

Recommended publications for further learning

  1. Assessing Tree Health
  2. Common Tree Diseases of British Columbia
  3. Field Guide to the Common Diseases and Insect Pests of Oregon and Washington Conifers (PDF)
  4. Recognizing Sapsucker Damage to Your Trees
  5. Seasonal Foliage Discoloration and Loss in Pacific Northwest Evergreen Conifer Trees

Connect Online

Check out these additional resources that are available to you online:

  1. Browse the animal damage, forest diseases, and forest insects sections of the WSU Extension Forestry resources webpage. Pick a specific insect and/or disease to read about in more detail.