Staff Spotlight: Trent Seager
Trent runs our science program and is focused specifically on ecological forest management, with a deep understanding of forest collaboratives and working with Tribal partners to reach their natural resource goals.
“For forestry, the paradigm is that we are either going to aggressively cut the overstory and old trees to create jobs, or we are going to restore wildlife habitat and honor Tribal and Treaty rights. We don’t often realize when we’re stuck in those preset notions that there are pathways forward and solutions. In forestry, we can manage in super creative ways that mimic wildfire, end up with more biomass and logs than a traditional timber sale, and honor Tribal Rights, all while improving wildlife habitat, reducing wildfire risk, and helping the forest capture more water and withstand drought.”
How did your childhood influence your decision to work in sustainability?
I grew up on a multigenerational family farm in Indiana. I was the 7th of nine generations to live on the farm. I grew up looking out at nature all the time and being totally engaged, but also steeped in that rural, farming, agricultural setting. In college, I studied wildlife and forest ecology. My ability to relate to rural agricultural communities comes from growing up in that culture. It is part of my background and history, and then my science and academia track helped me understand wildlife and forest ecology.
How did your educational and career path lead you to Sustainable Northwest?
After I earned my undergraduate degree, I lived on communal farms and worked in sustainable agriculture for several years. After that, I toggled back and forth between working in county public health and in U.S. Forest Service wildlife research. My public health work doing outreach on the streets and in the jails taught me better communication skills and how to work with diverse populations. Working with the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies on wildlife monitoring, I realized it was less field work and more habitat mapping using new technology. So much had changed since my undergrad jobs.
I was on a Northern Goshawk project, and some high-tech consultants were doing occupancy modeling. As a field biologist, it was amazing to see that. I decided to go back to graduate school, and I worked on quaking aspen as a habitat type. During grad school, Norm Johnson and Jerry Franklin introduced me to forest collaboratives in the PNW, and it turned on a light and opened a door for me. All through my master’s degree and doctorate, I worked with forest collaboratives throughout Oregon. That connected me with SNW, and during grad school I did two years of contract work with SNW. After I got my PhD, I started working with the Klamath Tribes as much of my doctoral research was on their Reserved Treaty Rights area. Working with the Forest Service, collaboratives, and Tribes while on contract with SNW really opened doors. The next year, SNW offered me a job.
What do you like most about your position at Sustainable Northwest?
I like that we're super creative in finding solutions. Rather than worrying about the problem or the existing barriers, we find a pathway. There’s a lot of support from the organization to find those creative pathways to solutions. I think our partners appreciate that because we don’t get locked into old paradigms or fixed thinking. SNW encourages everyone to pause and think about creative solutions where no one fully wins. Tradeoffs have to be made, but we can work within an ecological framework, and still all get about 80% of what we wanted.
For forestry, the paradigm is that we are either going to aggressively cut the overstory and old trees to create jobs, or we are going to restore wildlife habitat and honor Tribal and Treaty Rights. But with forestry, we can manage in super creative ways that mimic wildfire, end up with more biomass and logs than a traditional timber sale, and honor Tribal Rights, all the while improving wildlife habitat, reducing wildfire risk, and helping the forest capture more water and withstand drought. Everyone can get much of what they want out of forest restoration if we can step outside the paradigm of fighting against each other and focusing on what we don’t want.
Passions outside of work: Falconry, my versatile hunting dogs, birding, and being a locavore.
Something you think is overrated: Social media
Favorite thing to do on a day off: Gardening and beach runs with my dogs
Favorite place in the PNW: Lake Abert and the Klamath Marsh Refuge
Book recommendation: Ecological Forest Management by Franklin, Johnson and Johnson
Cats or dogs?: Versatile Hunting Dogs
