Ashley Short’s vision for the Gifford Pinchot includes a region teeming with different species, with great recreational opportunities, and that allows for some resource extraction.
As the Policy Manager for Cascade Forest Conservancy, she brings a practical lens to her work on the Pinchot Partners Board.
“I take my responsibility seriously, to bring the conservation perspective to the conversation, and to ensure that what we’re recommending is based in science,” she said.
After earning a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from Virginia Tech in 2011 and a J.D. from The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in 2014, she worked with several environmental nonprofits, including the urban-based Tualatin Riverkeepers. When a position opened up at Cascade Forest Conservancy, she jumped at the chance to do more regionally focused work in a larger landscape, with more complex issues. She was also interested in working in the forest specifically, having grown up in Kentucky where she developed a love for the woods on her grandparents’ farm.
One of the most complex parts of her job is working with both collaboratives on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
“Navigating relationships, especially in the collaboratives, can be —I don’t know if this is the word — delicate, and challenging. The challenge is to develop meaningful relationships and still maintain our mission.”
The mission of Cascade Forest Conservancy, a founding organization of both Pinchot Partners and the South Gifford Pinchot collaboratives, is to protect and sustain the forests, streams, wildlife, and communities in the heart of the Cascades through conservation, education, and advocacy.
In the collaboratives, we may share values, but each member may have different priorities. If there are disagreements, it’s about the details, not the vision, she said. “We all want the forest to be there, with the characteristics that we all appreciate, well into the future.”
In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading, and spending quality time with her husband and two large rescue dogs
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