Nature Conservancy urges investment in workforce, cross‑boundary planning
The Nature Conservancy told the committee that technology is improving but workforce shortages and the need for landscape‑scale partnerships remain barriers to scaling conservation and resilience work; the group cited TREX training and a 350‑acre multi‑owner prescribed burn as examples.
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Kyle Smith, director of forest conservation and management for The Nature Conservancy in Washington, told lawmakers that three trends will shape the future of land management: rapidly advancing technology, the need to build a durable natural‑resource economy, and management at landscape (not property) scale. He emphasized that technology alone is not enough and that the state faces a pronounced shortage of equipment operators, logging contractors, foresters and other skilled practitioners needed to convert data into on‑the‑ground outcomes.
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