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The meeting will be held at the Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Institute of Forest Genetics, 2480 Carson Road, Placerville, California.
The Institute of Forest Genetics (IFG) has been a center for forest genetics research in California for decades. Situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, it is home to the Eddy Arboretum, the Critchfield Herbarium and many specimens of hybrid pines absolutely unique in the world. IFG is located one hour from the Sacramento International Airport, with several shuttle services available. Hotels in Placerville range from historic to more modern. The conference will start with an optional full-day field trip of different genetic plantings in the Sierra, provenance trials, post-fire reforestation, etc. on June 24. Additional small excursions on subsequent days include touring the grounds at IFG and the Placerville Nursery, which produces all of the seedlings for the Forest Service reforestation programs in California.
Registration for the 58th WFGA meeting is now open. Follow this link to register for the conference. Early bird registration rates before May 22, 2019 are US$290 per person, after which regular registration rates are US$365. The student registration rate is $95.00, and students may submit a request for travel assistance to jessicawwright@fs.fed.us by April 1, 2019. The optional Pre-conference tour is $100.
Registration will be capped at 55 attendees.
Are you a federal employee waiting for Meetings Management approval? You can still register now and reserve your spot. We’ll contact you about payment after you’ve been approved to attend. Follow the instructions in the on-line registration procedure for the conference.
Abstract submissions are now being accepted until April 15, 2019. Download this Word template for the book of abstracts here: 
. Provide the title, author information, and text as per instructions in the template, and email the completed Word document as an attachment to richard@westernforestry.org.
The theme of the meeting is “Forest Genetics and Climate Change: Hope for the Future” and confirmed plenary speakers include:
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| Sally Aitken University of B.C. |
Victoria Sork University of California, L.A. |
Jill Hamilton North Dakota State University |
Greg O'Neill B.C. Ministry, Vernon, B.C. |
Anna Schoettle USDA Forest Service, Colorado |
Conference agenda - Monday, June 24
8:00 - 5:00 Optional Pre-conference field trip
6:00 - 8:00 Pre-conference evening reception & registration
Conference agenda - Tuesday, June 25
8:30 - 8:45 Introduction and welcome
8:45 - 10:15 Plenary session - Applied Genomics
10:15 - 10:45 Coffee break, sponsored by Port Blakely
10:45 - 11:45 Presentation session - Genes and Genomes
12:00 - 2:15 Lunch and poster session
8:45 - 10:15 Plenary session - Climate Change Adaptation
3:30 - 4:45 Presentation session - Ecological and Conservation Genetics
6:00 - 8:00 Conference Banquet
Conference agenda - Wednesday, June 26
8:30 - 10:00 Plenary Session - Genetics in Action
10:00 - 10:30 Coffee break
10:30 - 11:30 Presentation session - Tree Breeding
1:30 - 12:30 WFGA business meeting.
12:30 - 1:15 Lunch (provided with registration)
1:15 - 4:00 Walking tours of IFG, Eddy Arboretum and the Placerville Nursery
A detailed conference program is available here: 
A pre-conference tour will travel from Placerville to the Foresthill Seed Orchard. This site is home to a large number of grafted Rust Resistant Sugar Pine trees, now beginning to produce seeds. In addition, there is a planting site for the British Columbia Assisted Migration Adaptation Trial. From the Seed Orchard, we’ll travel to the Eldorado National Forest, and see areas burned by the King Fire, and seedlings planted as part of the reforestation efforts. We’ll stop at an “operational provenance test” planted to look at seed transfer under climate change in a post-fire environment. By taking the pre-conference tour, and exploring the sites in Placerville, the full cycle of Rust-Resistant materials will be observed- from Research at IFG, testing at the Nursery, to the Seed Orchard, to seedling planting and deployment.
The Institute of Forest Genetics is in Placerville (2480 Carson Road), and is home to 90 years of Forest Genetics research. Time will be allotted during the conference to explore the site, and see early provenance tests, the oldest was planted in 1938, with optional tours of the grounds and other facilities. A self-guided tour of the arboretum is also available. In addition, tours of the Placerville Nursery will also take place. The Nursery is where the USFS grows the majority of seedlings planted onto USFS lands, and is home to the White Pine Blister Rust Resistance testing program for the Region.
Links to information about the conference venue:
Hotels in Placerville range from Historical (one features the oldest working elevator west of the Mississippi), Bed and Breakfasts, to more Modern, with the expected variable price range. Rooms can be found at US Government per diem (US$128), with cheaper (and more expensive) rooms in the area as well. Nearby camping is also available off of highway 50 at Sly Park.
Links to hotel options:
Reminder to student attendees of the 2019 Western Forest Genetics Association annual meeting and their advisors: The William B. Critchfield Award will be given to the best student presentation and runner-up, as well as the best student poster presented at the annual meeting. The award is a cash award intended to support the attendance of the student at future scientific meetings. The award was established in 1990 in memory of Bill Critchfield, geneticist at the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station. In addition to his substantial scientific contributions in taxonomy and studies in basic genetic variation, he was an ardent supporter of WFGA and understood the importance of students’ participation in the association. We look forward to the student participation in this year’s meeting.
The following organizations provide sponsorship for the 2019 Conference of the Western Forest Genetics Association:
