As a Conservation Connect Fellow, I have had the privilege of working across National Forests in the Southwest to promote forest and community resiliency through the Wood For Life partnership. The Northern Arizona Wood For Life (WFL) Partnership was started in 2020 to connect wood from forest restoration projects to Tribal communities that rely on wood to heat their homes. With the closure of the Navajo Generating Station, many homes in Navajo and Hopi communities are facing a home heating crisis. The efforts of WFL are to disperse small-diameter wood from fuel reduction projects to these communities in need for home heating and other Tribal use. Through this process, Indigenous youth are employed to steward the land and gain resource management training.

Forest thinning efforts in the Southwest are imperative for reducing ladder fuels and the risk of high-severity fire in the region, especially in the wildland urban interface (WUI). Additionally, forest thinning as a restoration tool aims to return stand densities to reference conditions under a frequent, low-severity fire regime. The removal of this small-diameter fuel from restoration projects poses its own challenge: how to remove it from the forest, and where to dispose of it. The equipment of the timber industry is made for large-diameter wood, and often cannot process these smaller diameters that are removed for forest health. Further, leaving piled wood on project sites for more than a few months is discouraged because of the risk of fire and insect infestations. Providing this small-diameter wood as Tribal fuelwood is a solution for sustainable forests and communities. Together, this partnership is creating a supply chain that meets the needs of Tribal fuelwood programs and enhances our ability to conduct forest restoration projects in the Southwest.

The growth of this program opened the door of opportunity for me to work on our first pilot WFL project in New Mexico, named Rock Creek. This project takes place on the Santa Fe National Forest and serves three Navajo Chapters: Ojo Encino, Torreon, and Counselor. I received training on and applied project management skills including building relationships with Tribal leaders, navigating the contracting process, and coordinating with and supporting our Forest Service partners. The first unit of Rock Creek is expected to begin deliveries to the Tri-Chapter communities this spring and provide seasoned fuelwood for the upcoming winter.

In addition to the Rock Creek project, I have supported the Southwest team in project coordination on WFL projects in Arizona as well as funding opportunities across the region. I have gained skills in meeting facilitation with diverse stakeholders, grant writing, and contracting. I have created partnership resources on how to obtain fuelwood, a new partnership website, and an interactive map for determining proximity of Tribal entities to National Forests.

The Conservation Connect Fellowship has provided me with skills and experiences to pursue a career in collaborative land management. Through learning the internal structure of the USDA Forest Service and NFF agreements, I am eager to pursue a career focused on partnerships and creating fire resilient landscapes.

Heidi Goodrich is a 2022 Conservation Connect Fellow pursuing a Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy from Northern Arizona University. Her research interests focus on the effects of high-severity fire on the understory structure of Ponderosa Pine forests. She hopes to one day work for a land management agency that engages in partnerships with their stakeholders and works to create fire resilient landscapes.

Cover photo by Joe Kurle.

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