The Weaverville Community Forest received the "Partners in Conservation" award from U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar in Washington, D.C. on May 7. Just four projects from across the country are selected each year, and this one honored the Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office and the Trinity County Resource Conservation District (TCRCD).

The award highlights collaborative partnerships among individuals, agencies, organizations and non-profits. Colleen O’Sullivan, chair of the District board, spoke at the reception following the ceremony. She explained the story of Weaverville Community Forest stresses the concept of P. O. P. — persistence, opportunity and partnership. A small group had championed the concept of a community forest 10 years ago and remained persistent in keeping the idea alive. They traveled to BLM resource advisory committee meetings, met with the California director of BLM, Mike Pool, and simply keep talking up the idea of turning a piece of land designated for agency divestiture into something like a community forest.

Opportunity came when BLM's state director Mike Pool saw the potential and started looking for ways to get to “Yes.” Then, when Steve Anderson became Field Manager for BLM's Redding Field Office, he and his staff began to look for ways to get to “Yes.” They found the missing piece of the puzzle — the newly approved federal Stewardship Contracting Authorities for USFS and BLM passed by Congress. Enter the new California State Forester for BLM, Glenn Lahti. Glenn shepherded the concept of blending the community’s vision of a community forest with stewardship contracting through BLM.

A 10-year cooperative agreement between BLM and TCRCD was signed in September 2005 formalizing the partnership part of P. O. P. It solidified an already strong working relationship between both entities and an actively engaged community that wanted to see this project succeed.

The P. O. P. culture is seen in the every-day workings of the Weaverville Community Forest and was evidenced by the list of this award's recipients — BLM Assistant Field Manager Francis Berg; BLM Forester Walter Herzog; BLM State Forester (retired) Glenn Lahti; BLM Contract Specialist Julia Lang; Consulting Forester Kenneth Baldwin; Northwest California Resource Conservation & Development Council member Jerry Hauke; Dick Morris; RCD Project Coordinator II John Condon, RCD Project Coordinator I Alex Cousins; RCD GIS Manager Kelly Sheen, RCD District Manager Pat Frost; and RCD board members Patrick Truman and Colleen O’Sullivan.

As Frost noted after the ceremony, “We are just the symbols of our community. This award is being given to the entire community of Weaverville and everyone, who cares about managing our federal forest lands to make them healthier for future generations.”

Pictured from left to right: RCD Manager Pat Frost; BLM Redding Field Manager Steve Anderson; Acting Director of BLM Mike Pool; an unidentified official; U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; TCRCD Board Chairwoman Colleen O'Sullivan; District 4 State Senator Sam Aanestad; BLM Redding Forester Walter Herzog; and BLM State Forester for California (retired) Glenn Lahti.