8:30AM INTRODUCTION

8:45 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: The Characteristics and Values of Old Growth Forests.

Dr. William Martin, Director, Division of Natural Areas, Eastern Kentucky University

9:15 Dynamics of Disturbance in Landscape-scale Old Growth Remnants.

Lee Frelich, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota

9:40 Fire History in Mid-Atlantic Old Growth Oak Forests.

Dr. Durland Shumway, Assistant Professor, Frostburg State University

10:05 Program for a 500-Year Forest.

Ted Harris, President, The 500-Year Forest Foundation

10:30 MORNING BREAK

11:00 Birds, Old Growth and Forest Integrity: Biodiversity Benefits from the Ancient Forest.

Dr. Chris Haney, Ecology and Economics Research Laboratory- The Wilderness Society

11:25 GIS and GPS Technology in Forest Research and Management.

Dr. David Perault, Assistant Professor, Lynchburg College
Dr. Linda Fink, Associate Professor, Sweet Briar College

Noon LUNCH

1:30 Can Salamander Populations be Maintained in Managed Forests?

Dr. Carola Haas, Associate Professor, Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech

1:55 Forest Dynamics in the Montpelier Forest.

Dr. Hank Shugart, Corcoran Professor, University of Virginia

2:25 Old Growth Research in the Montpelier Forest.

Dan Druckenbrod, Graduate Assistant, University of Virginia

2:50 Inventory and Classification on Forest Vegetation in Virginia: A Prerequisite to Conservation.

Philip Coulling, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

3:15 AFTERNOON BREAK

3:45 Observations of a Late Succesional Forest Fungal Community- Implications for Forest Managers (and Mushroom Enthusiasts!).

Dr. Rick Van de Poll, Department of Environmental Studies, Antioch Graduate School

4:10 The Appalachian Forest, A Search for Roots and Renewal.

Chris Bolgiano, Author

4:35 THE 500-YEAR FOREST ADDRESS: Ancient Woodland in Britain.

Michael Townsend, Chief Executive, The Woodland Trust

7-9PM SOCIAL GATHERING at the Boathouse

8:30 Announcements

8:35 The Harvard Forest Story.

Dr. John O’Keefe, Director, Fisher Museum, Harvard University, Harvard Forest

9:00 Tree Spacing and Soil Structure- Keys to Creating the Ancient Forest.

Karl Smith, Lead Restorationist, Nurturing Restorationists, Inc.

9:25 How Can Low-grading and Thinning be Used to Produce a More Viable and Healthy Forest?

Karl Davies, Consulting Forester

9:50 MORNING BREAK

10:20 The American Chestnut Foundation: A Plan for the Restoration of the American Chestnut.

Dr. James Craddock, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee

10:45 Long-term Resource Management Issues in the Shenandoah National Park.

Tom Blount, Supervisory Ecologist, Shenandoah National Park
Wendy B. Cass, Botanist, Shenandoah National Park

11:10 Legal Instruments in Creating a 500-Year Forest

David Ledbetter, Environmental Attorney, Hunton & Williams

11:35 Design Your Own Watershed: Top-down Meets Bottom-up in the Applegate Valley.

Dean Apostol, Landscape Architect and Resource Planner

Noon LUNCH

1:30 The Clinch Valley Forest Bank.

Daniel White, Communications Coordinator, The Nature Conservancy-Virginia Chapter

L. Running Medicine Wolfe Pagans, Transpersonal Counselor, The Sacred Tree

2:45 Saving a Rare and Historic Mountain Habitat- The Story of Mount Everett.

Eleanor Tillinghast, Environmentally Aware Citizen, Mount Washington, MA

3:10 AFTERNOON BREAK

3:40 Designing the Ancient Forests: What They Should Look Like and Why?

David Robertson, Forestry Ph D. student, Virginia Tech

4:05 Paths in the Forest.

Walter Smith, Appalachian Trail Conference

4:30 Big Trees of Our Eastern Forests: Past, Present, and Future.

Robert Leverett, 500 Year Forest Foundation, Chairperson Special Advisory Committee

4:55 Beyond Ourselves- 500 Year Forests.

Stan Warner, State Silviculturist, Commonwealth of Virginia

DINNER

7:00 Measuring Champion Trees. Location to be announced.

Will Blozan, Consulting Arborist

• The Virginia Department of Forestry's Urban and Community Forestry Program, for a matching grant to fund this conference.

• Sweet Briar, for the use of college facilities

• Archie Waldron, Sweet Briar logistics

• Anne Richards, Media services

• Kevin Phelps and Nancy Herr, Dining and catering services

• Dan Druckenbrod, Linda Fink, Stan Warner, Field trip leaders

• Publicity: Dot Ferguson; Carolyn Eubank and Betty McKinney (Lynchburg College); Pamela Dumas Serfes (Randolph-Macon Woman's College); Monica Dean, Greg Moody, Dave Blount (Sweet Briar College)