Photo Credit - American Forests
On March 22nd, American Forests hosted the screening of the video, Hope and Restoration, at the National Press Club in Washington DC followed by a panel discussion. The purpose was to showcase the video on restoring whitebark pin, now a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act, which was entered into the Washington DC Environmental Film Festival. Invited guests at the event were from Washington DC federal agencies and non-profit organizations.
The event was also used to greatly raise awareness of the whitebark pine plight. The moderator was JAD DALEY, President of American Forest, and featured speakers from the US Forest Service leadership, Rick Cooksey, Director, Forest Health Protection, and Tracy Stone-Manning, Director of Bureau of Land Management.
Following the Hope and Restoration video, panelists participated in a Q&A on whitebark pine. Participants on the panel included Doug Smith (noted Yellowstone senior wildlife biologist, now retired-wolf reintroduction, ShiNaasha Pete, (whitebark restoration, Salish_Kootenai Reservation), Walter Wehtje (Director of Ricketts Conservation Foundation), Conrad Anker (North Face climbing team leader-well known in the outdoor community), and Dr. Diana Tomback, representing the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation and CU Denver, CU Denver Department of Integrative Biology. Below is a link from YouTube to a video of the event including the debut of Hope and Restoration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tYPbHFewoM&t=4700s