Program
Restoring the West 2026 brings together invited speakers from across academia, nonprofit organizations, and public land management agencies to foster a balanced exchange of research, practical experience, and diverse perspectives. By convening researchers, land managers, and practitioners, this two-day workshop creates opportunities to strengthen connections between scientific knowledge and on-the-ground management.
The 2026 theme, Bridging Science & Practice, highlights both the successes and challenges of translating scientific research into effective, real-world restoration and land management strategies.
Restoring the West keynotes, plenaries, and poster presentations will explore lessons learned, innovative approaches, and practical applications across a range of topics, including:
- Forest restoration
- Managing fire-prone landscapes
- Best practices for reducing fire risk
- Wildfire social science
- Management of public lands
- Rangeland management
Charting a Roadmap of Wildfire Research and Policy in Utah is a special workshop comprised of presentations and small group sessions that will address these topics:
- Ecosystem resilience
- Managing wildlands before they burn
- Air quality and exposure
- Public and firefighter health
- Post-fire erosion and flooding
- Post-fire vegetation recovery and management
- Utah State University Extension programs and resources
- Human dimensions of wildfire
- Community resilience
- Predictive technology, AI, and decision support
Here is our schedule at a glance.
| THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | Event | Location |
| 08:00 A.M. | Registration Opens | ECC Registration |
| 08:00 A.M. | Exhibitor Bump-in | ECC Lobby |
| 08:45 A.M. | Conference Opening & Welcome | ECC Auditorium |
| 09:00 A.M. | Keynote: Tony Cheng, Colorado State University, Go big or go home? Working through the paradox of scale in restoration | ECC Auditorium |
| 10:00 A.M. | Matt Redd, The Nature Conservancy | ECC Auditorium |
| 10:30 A.M. | Morning Break with Beverages & Snacks | ECC Lobby |
| 11:00 A.M. | Catrin Edgeley, Utah State University, Advancing community wildfire adaptation: what works? | ECC Auditorium |
| 11:30 A.M. | Matt Thompson, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, The role of PODs in wildfire containment | ECC Auditorium |
| 12:00 P.M. | Networking Lunch | ECC 205/207 |
| 1:30 P.M. | Kyle Rodman, Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Providing actionable research for the post-fire restoration frontier | ECC Auditorium |
| 2:00 P.M. | Sarah Koenigsberg, Utah State University | ECC Auditorium |
| 2:30 P.M. | Morgan Mendenhall, Utah Forestry, Fire and State Lands, Reforestation of the Bear River Range | ECC Auditorium |
| 3:00 P.M. | Afternoon Break with Beverages | ECC Lobby |
| 3:30 P.M. | Kris Hulvey, Working Lands Conservation, Innovative grazing on public lands: Lessons from the Three Creeks Project | ECC Auditorium |
| 4:00 P.M. | Anson Call, Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Where are the fuel treatments, and what difference do they make? Using TWIG data to answer managers' questions | ECC Auditorium |
| 4:30 P.M. | Wrap-up & Discussion | ECC Auditorium |
| 5:00 P.M. | Poster Session & Heavy Hors d'Oeuvres | ECC 201/203 |
| FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | Event | Location |
| 08:00 A.M. | Registration Opens | ECC Registration |
| 08:30 A.M. | Keynote Panel: Patrick Shea, Brad Washa, and Dave Whittekiend | ECC Auditorium |
| 09:30 A.M. | Kelly Cornwall, U.S. Forest Service | ECC Auditorium |
| 10:00 A.M. | Larissa Yocom, Utah Forest Restoration Institute | ECC Auditorium |
| 10:30 A.M. | Morning Break with Beverages & Snacks | ECC Lobby |
| 11:00 A.M. | Sara Goeking, U.S. Forest Service, Tradeoffs of multi objective forest management for forest and hydrologic resilience | ECC Auditorium |
| 11:30 A.M. | Dustin Doane, U.S. Forest Service, Establishing a common operating picture | ECC Auditorium |
| 12:00 P.M. | Conference Wrap-up & Evaluation | ECC Auditorium |
| 12:30 P.M. | Boxed Lunch & Networking | ECC 205/207 |
| 1:00 P.M. | Charting a Roadmap of Wildfire Research and Policy in Utah | ECC Auditorium |
| 4:30 P.M. | Workshop Adjourns | ECC Auditorium |
| 4:30 P.M. | Exhibitor Bump-out | ECC Lobby |
| 4:30 P.M. | Poster Tear-down | ECC 201/203 |