Bozeman Magazine

Montana State University Wonderlust, in partnership with the Belgrade Community Library, will host a presentation by Peter Kolb on “Montana’s Forest Fires: Why We Just Burn Our Forests.” This event is presented online via Zoom. Peter F. Kolb, forestry specialist at Montana State University Extension and an associate professor of forest ecology and management at the University of Montana, will discuss the unique ecology of forests in the Northern Rockies with specific reference to Montana forest ecosystems. The interaction of Montana mountain geography with Western U.S. weather patterns, and the history of both Indigenous cultures and European American settlers, makes them some of the most complex forest ecosystems in the world. Wildfires have played important role in the development of Montana forests. This program will put the many different perspectives on modern forest conservation and management into context with natural history, future projected climatic variability and the needs of Montana wildlife and human populations. Peter F. Kolb has been a forestry specialist at Montana State University Extension since 1997 and is an associate professor of forest ecology and management in the Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He has conducted research on a variety of forest restoration practices, post wildfire recovery and the role of salvage and sanitation logging, forest debris treatments and impacts on site ecological processes, climate impacts on forest processes and disturbance, windbreak establishment and maintenance techniques, and private family forest ownership trends. In 2008, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Institute for Forests and Forest Management at the University of Weihenstephan in Bavaria, Germany. This presentation is free and open to the public, but you must register in advance. To register, please visit the MSU Wonderlust website at www.montana.edu/wonderlust/. Upon registration confirmation, participants will receive an email with the Zoom link and instructions to join the program. Wonderlust Lifelong Learning is a program of Academic Technology and Outreach (ATO) at Montana State University. ATO works across MSU to support and advance our land-grant mission through unique and innovative opportunities for outreach and engagement.