 What does it mean to understand the landscape? In looking at a single pasture or field, we might easily overlook the greater watershed or basin surrounding the site. Yet what we do on a piece of land, how we manage that piece, is affected by the larger landscape that surrounds it. In turn, the practices we implement also affect that landscape. As well-trained land management advisors, we need to look holistically at each site we encounter. This includes looking at the physical, social, temporal, and biological context of the land. How do geography, soil, and hydrology affect this area? What is happening upstream or across the hill? How are these events contributing to the local conditions in front of us? How are ecological processes and functions connected throughout the area? At what time frame or scales do they occur? What are the cultural and historical factors that have shaped the land and its management to this point? How can we sustain important landscape functions in order to maintain and enhance the health of the land in the future? You are about to participate in a training course that should help you see the landscape in ways you may not have considered before. 17 video-based modules, along with the course workbook, present the material in an effective and flexible format. You will hear from professionals who are experts in their field. They have built their presentations around the landscape perspective. Most of the plant material growing in the river is this fine film of algae growing on the surface of the rock. This little scum that you see covering every wetted surface in the river is photosynthetic plant material growing every day providing critical food resources for the food web in the stream ecosystem. Here we see large numbers of snails and aquatic insects that are scraping and feeding on this plant material. These insects and snails provide a food resource for higher trophic levels within the food web such as the fish. And in the entirety of California during the Spanish era, there were only 30 land grants given by the King of Spain to worthy soldiers. Can you imagine in the entirety of California there were only 30? But what that allowed for was plenty of space for the longhorn cattle to roam around independently and take care of themselves. It was a very different place than what was to come. So what our quest is to think about those landscape changes, understand them within your context, in my context as natural resources professionals and then think what we can do to help the people who live on the land who impact the land to manage their natural resources better. Interspersed among these presentations are case studies from around the country. These studies illustrate how landscape management principles are applied on the ground and across administrative boundaries. And as you can see here we have well-drained, very silty soils as I mentioned for the uplands and it has kind of a reddish-pinkish cast to it. They highlight individuals and groups working in partnership to accomplish a variety of land management objectives. The Willamette River ties together forested uplands, fertile agricultural lowlands and fast-growing urban areas including Eugene and Portland. It provides habitat for salmon and steelhead as they migrate to and from the North Pacific Ocean. It is a major tributary in the Columbia Basin which drains much of the Pacific Northwest. For best comprehension of the landscape context we suggest that you view the modules in numerical order. The modules include soil quality, cultural ecology, the Connecticut River case study, soil landscape relationships, hydrologic processes, the Upper Midwest case study, trophic structure in ecosystems, nutrient cycling, biotic communities, the Lower Mississippi case study, spatial characteristics of landscapes, disturbance ecology, conservation of biodiversity, the Mal-Pie borderlands case study, designing alternative futures, linking humans to land management and the Willamette Valley case study. Many disciplines are needed to adequately understand ecosystem processes and our influence on them. This course will span those disciplines and provide planners with the landscape perspective. Ecosystem based conservation planning requires this view if it is to more effectively address natural resource concerns. We invite you to challenge yourself with the course material. Seek new understanding of how familiar concepts relate to new ideas presented here. Engage your colleagues in discussion and debate on how these concepts relate to your local area. Try to see the land in a new way at every opportunity to hear what it has to tell you that you have not heard before and enjoy the course.