The Ford Foundation CFRF Program held its fourth annual workshop this year at the Ghost Ranch Conference Center near Abiquiu, New Mexico, from October 5 to 8.  CFRF fellows gathered with their community partners, academic advisors, the CFRF steering committee and other invited participants to talk about their ongoing or new field work studies, share ideas and receive feedback on methods, approaches and experiences in community forestry throughout the U.S.  The workshop began with an overview of community forestry issues in the United States.  This was followed by presentations by new and continuing fellows together with their community partners on their participatory research projects in communities throughout the U.S.  A session on participatory research brought the workshop to a close on Sunday morning. 

One day of the workshop was devoted to a field visit to the town of Truchas, New Mexico, where local people have been working with the United States Forest Service on collaborative management of national forest lands.  Like all mountain villages in northern New Mexico, Truchas has experienced restricted access to national forest resources both historically and as a result of recent conflicts over preservation of endangered species habitat and the suitability of extractive uses of public lands.  The collaborative effort with the Forest Service thus represents an effort to work through the conflict to try to formulate management that maintains or enhances forest ecosystems while simultaneously satisfying needs and desires of the local community.