Resuming a past tradition, the IUFRO Forest Sector Modeling Working Party WP 6.09 (originally part of the IIASA Forest Sector Project) is planning a conference in Seattle, Washington, USA, November 17-20, 2008.  The meeting will offer new and old researchers interested in forest sector modeling (FSM) the opportunity to catch up with developments from around the world. Sponsors include IUFRO, CINTRAFOR at the University of Washington, EFI (European Forest Institute), IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis), the U.S. Forest Service, and Oregon State University. Activities will begin with a reception on November 17, presentations on the 18^th and 19^th, and conclude with a tour on November 20.

The conference will mix plenary, concurrent sessions, focused panel discussions, and input from key FSM users in forestry, forest industry, and policy planning. Plenary sessions will feature invited speakers, notable in forest sector modeling, with reviews of state-of-the-art FSM applications in major forest sector regions. The organizing committee is soliciting speakers for the concurrent sessions to present the latest modeling developments and policy applications. Of particular interest are speakers who might address: short-term versus long-term modeling issues, use of econometric results as input to FSM’s, opportunities for integrating models across sectors, integrating forest sector and biological system models, treatment of uncertainty in FSM’s, incorporating wood-based bio-energy models in FSM’s, and application of FSM’s in policy analysis including GHG mitigation.