Welcome to the UCD 2025-26 Winter Workshop Series

We are pleased to bring you the 7th season of our Winter Workshop Series! Please join us each month in December, January, and February, as we connect, share, and learn about various topics related to our area’s natural resources.

Note that our workshops will be in-person only this year but we will be recording our presentations. Please register for the events below to give us an idea of numbers. Registration is not required! All UCD Winter Workshop events are free of charge and open to all.

Questions? Please give us a call at 509-637-7001, or email corrie@ucdwa.org.

DECEMBER- Forest Insights Double Feature: Insects & Diseases of the PNW & Fire History of Burdoin Mountain

Date/Time: Held in person only on December 3rd, 2025 at 6pm

Location: The White Salmon Valley Library

Speakers: Jim White, retired silviculturist with the US Forest Service and former director of Underwood Conservation District, with Brance Morefield, Botanist/Invasive plant coordinator at the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (CRGNSA) US Forest Service.

Part 1: Washington’s forests face many native and long-established insects and diseases—often fungi, but also bacteria and viruses—that can slow growth, damage wood, or kill trees. While these disturbance agents help shape forest biodiversity and nutrient cycles, outbreaks can impact carbon storage, harm water quality and habitat, and limit recreation and economic opportunities. These pests and pathogens affect all parts of a tree and usually have specific hosts and environmental conditions that influence how they spread. Learn more about the challenges that our forests are facing today.

Part 2: Fire History and Ecology of Burdoin Mt., A conversation with Brance Morefield who has been with the US Forest service working in Oregon and Washington (Region 6) since 2001 and has worked on every R6  National Forest collecting Forest Inventory data. In 2023 he came to the CRGNSA where he is part of a small team of specialists planning and implementing restoration on USFS lands in the Gorge. He will touch on forest management, fire history, social history and restoration surrounding the Burdoin fire of 2025.

JANUARY- Community Resiliency: Creating Diverse Pollinator Habitat at Home in Your Community

Date/Time: Held in person on January 14th, 2026 at 6pm

Location: Stevenson Community Library

Speaker: Aaron Anderson, Pesticide Program Specialist Towns and Cities Lead at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Learn more at xerces.org.

Pollinators face growing threats from habitat loss and pesticide exposure in our towns and cities, where plants, soil, and waterways often carry chemical residues that can harm bees, butterflies, and other insects. While flowers are a great start, creating truly supportive spaces means going beyond blooms to provide safe, diverse habitats that sustain pollinators through every stage of their life cycle. Using native plants is a critical part of this approach, as they offer the best nutrition and habitat for local pollinators. Join Aaron Anderson from the Xerces Society to explore recent research on pesticide residues in urban areas and learn practical ways to transform backyards, parks, and community spaces into thriving, pesticide-free pollinator havens with native plants. This is part of Underwood Conservation District's Winter Workshop Series and co-hosted by Stevenson Grange #121.

FEBRUARY- Understanding Fire in the Forest: Why We Need Fire and How You can Help

Date/Time: Held in person on February 11th, 2026 at 6pm

Location: White Salmon Valley Library

Speaker: Lindsay Cornelius with the East Cascades Oak Partnership Manager with Columbia Land Trust

Since time immemorial, our forests east of the Cascade Mountains experienced fire, in most cases very frequently, until fire suppression began in earnest in the early 1900’s. We’re now living at a confluence of consequence between fire suppression and climate change where fires are increasing in size and intensity, and wildfire season is expanding. Learn from Speaker Lindsay Cornelius, East Cascades Oak Partnership Manager, what Columbia Land Trust is doing to reverse these trends and invite good fire back into our forests and our lives – and how you can help.

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You can find recordings of all of our past Winter Workshop presentations, including presentation materials, on the Archived Webinars page.