BACK ONLINE Public Lands Council goes virtual for 53rd annual meeting by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur The Public Lands Council (PLC) planned the organization’s 53rd Annual Meeting for September 8-10 in the beautiful coastal town of Seaside, Ore., about a 90-minute drive northwest of Portland. The location had been chosen in part in honor of PLC Immediate Past President Bob Skinner; Skinner’s term expired in 2020, and while PLC typically honors its outgoing presidents with a home-state Annual Meeting at the conclusion of their service, Skinner had been denied that honor due to COVID-19 travel restrictions forcing 2020’s 52nd Annual Meeting to go virtual. Unfortunately, Oregon’s rise in COVID-19 cases – driven by the highly-transmissible Delta variant – and meeting restrictions imposed by the state as a result of those rising infections caused PLC’s Seaside plans to be “washed ashore,” as PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover put it in an email announcing the cancelation of the event. Instead, PLC’s 53rd Annual Meeting also became its second Virtual Annual Meeting, rescheduled for September 28 and hosted via the Zoom video conferencing platform. “While I was hoping this year would be my first in-
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person meeting, I am so pleased that despite the ongoing challenges, we are able to bring you high-quality policy gatherings in a virtual setting for the second year in a row,” wrote Glover, whose tenure at PLC began in January of 2020 just shortly before the pandemic took hold. PLC’s virtual meeting kicked off with a welcome message from PLC President Niels Hansen, a thirdgeneration cow/calf producer from Rawlins, Wyo. Virtual attendees also heard from Idaho Governor (and current Chair of the Western Governor’s Association) Brad Little. Governor Little has incredible insights into the value of livestock grazing on public lands. Not only does he govern an agriculture-rich state in which the majority of land is held by the federal government, he is also a lifelong sheep and cattle producer whose grandfather was known as “the sheep king of Idaho.” "In Idaho, public lands are integral to our livelihoods and we recognize we need to do all we can to keep these lands healthy,” Little said during the Opening General Session. “This requires active management.” Later in the morning, Glover and PLC Director of Operations Allie Nelson hosted a “PLC Engagement
