MFCN Coordinator’s Report Sept 2026

By Steve Kimball

Group Meetings: in the past month the coordinator joined meetings of the Ravalli County Collaborative, Big Elk Divide Restoration Committee, Elkhorn Working Group, Custer-Gallatin Working Group, Forest Products Roundtable, Ruby Vally Strategic Alliance, Blackfoot Challenge Staff, Beaverhead-Deerlodge Working Group, and Mineral County Resource Coalition.

Workshop: The planning team has developed a draft agenda (attached) for the 11th Annual MFCN Annual Workshop on November 5-6, 2026, at the Hilton Garden Inn, Missoula. The theme is “Collaborative Pathways to Results.” There will be speakers and discussions to help navigate changes and focus collaboration on results. We’ll feature presentations by Forest Supervisors, District Rangers, BLM Field Managers, DNRC managers, and others.

Group Leaders Meeting: The next Group Leaders meeting will be September 17, 10:00-noon on zoom. Topics to include checking in on collaborative planning, agency and county engagement, litigation engagement, funding, sharing results, annual workshop preview, and woods products engagement.

Webinar: MFCN and MT DNRC will host a webinar, “Engaging in Federal Litigation 101”, October 14th, 1:00 MST. The webinar will share information to support awareness and dialogue about engagement of collaborative groups and counties in federal agency project litigation. We will discuss what to know about lawsuits challenging federal projects; why a group or county would engage; ways to engage, and resources to support filing. Registration is live on the MFCN website:

https://montanaforestcollaboration.org/app/engaging-in-federal-litigation-101-webinarregistration/

MFCN Awards: the announcement is out for the 2026 MFCN Awards. Nominations are being sought for Group of the Year, Partner of the Year, and Education-Outreach Award. These are due September 30 and will be announced at the Annual Workshop in November.

MFCN Funding: we are appealing to partners to help support the annual workshop and other MFCN work. We have received several pledges to sponsor the workshop and are in discussions with key partners about broader support.

Partnership with University of Montana Natural Resources Policy Group: MFCN is partnering with this group to provide student interns to assist with the annual workshop and with support to groups. Groups interested in assistance from a student intern can contact Steve. This group will also provide a moderator for MFCN webinars.