• Fire/Physical Processes
• Climate and Landscape Change over Time
• Forest Ecosystems
• Aquatic Systems/Watersheds
• Biodiversity
• Policy and Institutions

Three keynote speakers addressed current topics of broad interest. We have specifically chosen to structure the meeting to have only invited speakers and plenary sessions. The poster sessions were intended to complement the plenary talks with contributed presentations on specific research activities ongoing in the Sierra Nevada. Field trips were planned for the day prior to the meetings to provide first hand views of selected issues.

The program, in preparation, is tentatively:

Day prior to Symposium: 4-8 hour Field Trips at selected locations within 100 miles of Lake Tahoe Old Growth Forest Ecology in the Sierra Nevada Natural History Hike to Snow Canyon Research Natural Area Mokelumne Wilderness, Eldorado National Forest UC Berkeley Sagehen Creek Field Station Sagehen Creek Basin, Tahoe National Forest Fire Management and Fuels Reduction Work at Lake Tahoe Tuesday October 8 7:00 AM Continental Breakfast 8:30 AM Welcome Pete Stine, US Forest Service PSW Research Station, Davis, CA, and Rick Standiford, University of California Wildland Resources Center, Berkeley, CA. 8:40 AM Keynote Speaker: Navigating Through the Wicked Messiness of Natural Resource Problems: Roles for Science, Coping Strategies, and Decision Analysis in the Sierra Nevada. Hal Salwasser, Oregon State University, School of Forestry, Corvallis, OR 9:25 AM PLENARY SESSION I: Fire/Physical Processes Session Chairs: Scott Stephens, UC Berkeley, Dept. of Env. Science, Policy and Mgt., Berkeley, CA, and Carl Skinner, US Forest Service PSW Research Station, Redding, CA. 9:30 AM Fire history and climate interactions. Tom Swetnam, Univ. of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, Tucson, AZ 10:00 AM Fire and landscape patterns and processes. Jan van Wagtendonk, USGS Yosemite Field Station, El Portal, CA 10:30 AM Ecological effects of diverse fuel treatments used to reduce fire hazard. Jim McIver, US Forest Service PNW Research Station, La Grande, OR 11:00 AM Effectiveness of thinning and prescribed fire on reducing fire severity. Phil Omi, Colorado State University, Western Forest Fire Research Center, Ft. Collins, CO 11:30 AM Comparison of smoke production from wildfires and prescribed fires. Roger Ottmar, US Forest Service PNW Research Station, Seattle, WA 12:00 PM Policy and Institutions Response - William Stewart, Calif. Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection, Sacramento, CA 12:30 PM LUNCH 1:30 PM Introduction to Sierra Nevada Research Database. Jim Quinn, UC Davis, Information Center for the Environment, Davis, CA 1:35 PM PLENARY SESSION II: Climate and Landscape Change over Time (Click here for synopsis) Session Chairs: Connie Millar, US Forest Service PSW Research Station, Albany, CA, and Scott Stine, Cal State Hayward, Hayward, CA 1:40 PM The climate system - Recent research on cycles short to long. Malcom Hughes, Univ. of Arizona Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, Tucson, AZ 2:10 PM Response of Sierra Nevada vegetation to climate change. Scott Anderson, Northern Arizona University, Ctr. For Environmental Science and Education, Flagstaff, AZ 2:40 PM BREAK 3:05 PM Geomorphology and climate change. Scott Stine, Cal State University, Hayward, Dept. of Geography, Hayward, CA 3:35 PM A climatologist's perspective on achieving a sustainable future in the West. Henry Diaz, NOAA, Climate Diagnostic Center, Boulder, CO 4:05 PM Responses of Sierra Nevada resources to future climate changes. Mike Dettinger, USGS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 4:35 PM Policy and Institutions Response - Climate change and local to national policy. Dave Schimel, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, Boulder, CO 5:05 PM ANNOUNCEMENTS 5:50 PM - 7:30 PM No-host Reception/Poster Session Wednesday October 9 7:00 AM Continental Breakfast 8:00 AM Keynote Speaker: The State's Role in Science and Conservation in the Sierra Nevada. Mary Nichols, Secretary, California Resources Agency, Sacramento, CA 8:30 AM PLENARY SESSION III: Forest Ecosystems Session Chairs: Bob Heald, UC Berkeley Center for Forestry, Georgetown, CA, and John Battles, UC Berkeley Center for Forestry, Berkeley, CA 8:35 AM Biosphere and atmosphere interactions in Sierran forests. Allen Goldstein, UC Berkeley, Dept. of Env. Science, Policy and Mgt., Berkeley, CA 9:05 AM Landscape level process in the Sierra Nevada. Dean Urban, Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment And Earth Sciences, Durham, NC 9:35 AM Biogeochemical cycling (including the role of fire in N cycling) in the Sierra Nevada. Dale Johnson, University of Nevada, Reno, Environmental and Resource Science, Reno, NV 10:05 AM BREAK 10:30 AM Sierra Nevada Grassland and Meadow Ecosystems. Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC Berkeley, Dept. of Env. Science, Policy and Mgt., Berkeley, CA 11:00 AM Forest stand structure and development: implications for forest management. Kevin O'Hara, UC Berkeley, Dept. of Env. Science, Policy and Mgt., Berkeley, CA 11:30 AM Policy and Institutions Response - Larry Ruth, UC Wildland Resource Center, Berkeley, CA, and Mark Nechodom, US Forest Service Research Station, Davis, CA 12:00 PM LUNCH Luncheon Speaker: Regional Planning with Global Talent. Andrea Mead Lawrence, Former County Supervisor, Mono County and Project Director, Sierra Nevada Regional Initiative, Mammoth Lakes, CA 1:30 PM PLENARY SESSION IV: Aquatic Systems/Watersheds (Click here for synopsis) Session Chair: Fraser Shilling, UC Davis. Rick Kattelman, Watershed Management Council. 1:35 PM Nonnative species introductions and the reversibility of amphibian declines in the Sierra Nevada. Roland Knapp, University of California, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, Mammoth Lakes, CA 2:05 PM Using aquatic invertebrate biological assessments to support water resource decisions in the Sierra Nevada: Establishing instream reference conditions and measuring ecological responses to management actions. David B. Herbst, University of California Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, Mammoth Lakes, CA 2:35 PM Nutrient and sediment transport in streams of the Lake Tahoe Basin: A 30-year retrospective. Robert Coats, Hydroikos Assoc., San Rafael, CA 3:05 PM BREAK 3:30 PM Measuring and modeling cumulative watershed effects in the Central Sierra Nevada. Lee MacDonald, Colorado State University, Earth Resources Dept., Ft. Collins, CO 4:00 PM Turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones in the analysis of cumulative watershed impacts. Leslie Reid, US Forest Service PSW Research Station, Arcata, CA 4:30 PM Policy and Institutions Response - Art Baggett, Chair, Water Resources Control Board, Sacramento, CA 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM No-host Reception/Poster Session Thursday October 10 8:30 AM PLENARY SESSION V: Biodiversity (Click here for synopsis) Session Chairs: Craig Moritz, UC Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, CA, and Dave Graber, National Park Service, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park 8:35 AM Invasive plants. Carla D'Antonio, UC Berkeley Integrative Biology, Berkeley, CA 9:05 AM Meso-carnivores, status and conservation issues. Bill Zielinski, US Forest Service PSW Research Station, Arcata, CA 9:35 AM Historical biogeography and conservation of vertebrate diversity in the Sierra Nevada. Leslie Rissler, UC Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, CA 10:05 AM BREAK 10:30 AM Conservation assessments and priorities for the Sierra Nevada. Frank Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Bren School for Environmental Science and Mgt., Santa Barbara, CA 11:00 AM New directions in conservation planning. Bob Pressey, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Australia 11:30 AM Policy and Institutions Response - Dennis Murphy, University of Nevada, Reno, Biological Resources Research Center, Reno, NV 12:00 PM LUNCH Closing Speaker: Mark Rey, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment, USDA, Washington, D.C. 1:30 PM Synthesizing/Concluding Remarks 2:00 PM ADJOURN

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