New and Notable

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COMMUNITY FOREST WORKSHOP 
The Community Forest Collaborative and the Vermont Town Forest Project invite you to attend a
COMMUNITY FOREST WORKSHOP 
Saturday, September 30 at
Craftsbury Academy
Craftsbury Common Vermont
8:30 am – 4:30 pm

"....from their genesis, well before the mid- seventeenth century, New England towns and villages have creatively worked....forests and woodlots to public benefit."
- Robert McCullough, The Landscape of Community

This day-long workshop is designed both for communities that own and manage town forest land and for communities that are exploring the possibility of acquiring town forest land. The workshop will offer the following:

*  Discussions of different models of ownership, management and use of town forest land, benefits of owning and managing town forest land as a community asset;
* Tour of the Craftsbury Academy forest
*  Exercises that examine issues related to challenges and opportunities for communities in owning and managing town forest land;
*  Resources available to assist communities acquire, own, and manage town forest land
*  Time to exchange information and experience among participants

The workshop is open to the public. Box lunches for a field trip to the Craftsbury Academy Forest will be provided.

Workshop fee: $10.00
To register and for more information contact:  Martha West Lyman, Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment, 603-647-8081; mlyman@qlf.org

The Community Forest Collaborative is a partnership of the Trust for Public Land , Northern Forest Center and the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment. The workshop is made possible through the support of Jane's Trust, the Davis Conservation Foundation, the Sudbury Foundation, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the French Family Foundation.

Directions to Craftsbury Academy :
From East or West : Follow Rt. 15 to Hardwick.  Just past the dam west of town, take a right on Rt. 14 North.  Past Eligo Lake on the right, first turn on South Craftsbury Road .  Follow this road through Craftsbury Village and up a steep hill to Craftsbury Common.  Pass Inn on the Common and Sterling College on the left. Come to the Common.  Park at the North end of the Common - the Academy on the right side of the main street.  Enter the door in the old building with the cupola.  We'll meet in the first room on the right- tclassrooms or the gym).

From North : Follow Rt. 14 South through Albany .  Watch for a state sign to Craftsbury Common – left turn on North Craftsbury Road .  Follow this road uphill to Craftsbury Common.  Follow parking and meeting directions above.

From South : Rt. 14 from Montpelier – stay on Rt. 14 as it turns left at the blinking light in Hardwick.  Follow directions above from “Just past the dam.”

The Forest of the Future

As promised, we present you the winning entry in our essay contest. The contestants imagined life in a Northern Forest community 25 years in the future and described it in a short essay. There were many noteworthy contributions, but this entry stood out for its originality and vision. J. D. “Digger” Hasson’s essay was selected the winner by the editorial staff of Northern Woodlands in conjunction with Yellow Wood Associates and the National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region. Thanks to all who participated.  

In the year 2029, the sawlog, the firewood, the veneer, and the paper industries will have disappeared from our northern forests due to energy inefficiencies and changing economies. In their place will arise the energy-chip economy.

We will be encouraged by agriculture and energy department incentives to cultivate tree types that produce abundant supplies of oxygen while incorporating the gases now labeled pollutants into their cellulose. We will utilize each entire tree, including its stump and root ball. Our universities will genetically engineer and modify existing tree types to be pest- and drought-resistant and to be optimized for minimal water consumption. Clear harvesting will be allowed.

Energy chip harvesting will be a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week industry carried out by environmentally friendly, electrically powered, robotic chip transporters and chipvesters. They will be quiet. This equipment will receive its power from local biomass-energy conversion plants cogenerating electricity for local and national uses, steam heat for local, year-round agricultural and aquacultural uses, and biogas for export to cities and lands lacking forests. Communities with water treatment and wastewater treatment plants will also add biomass energy conversion plants. We will heat all our homes and businesses with locally produced, piped-in steam. Our highways, roadways, byways, and driveways will be kept free of ice and snow by steam-heated underground mats of piping. The present expense of chemicals and energy to remove snow and ice will be nearly eliminated. Many lives now lost to motor-vehicle, winter-related accidents will be saved. Chimneys and smokestacks will be taxed out of existence. Biomass-energy plants will capture and refine the chemicals in their flue gases for return to the forest floor as tree fertilizer.

The new whole-tree energy-chip economy will spawn the trading of chip-therms, chip-watts, and chip-pounds/hour on worldwide commodity markets.

And forest ownership will again be a wealth-building endeavor. The role of the forest owner will be elevated to that presently enjoyed by oil-patch owners as we phase out of a petroleum-based economy.

BIO: J. D. “Digger” Hasson is a graduate of the experimental program of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Vermont, with a major in geology. When he is not away constructing our nation’s infrastructure, he can be found in the Juglans cinerea and Juglans nigra groves on a sunny southern hillside in Cavendish, Vermont.

Community Forest Workshop
The Mount Washington Valley Economic Council invites you to attend a COMMUNITY FOREST WORKSHOP, on Saturday, October 30 at Meeting Hall in the Town Offices of Ossipee, New Hampshire at 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. This day-long workshop is designed both for communities that own and manage forest land and for communities that are exploring the possibility of acquiring forest land.

The workshop is open, at no cost to individuals from communities within both the Mt. Washington Valley, and throughout New England.  To register contact:  Carol Stansell, Mt. Washington Valley Economic Council, at 603-447-6622 or by email at carol@mwvec.com. For more information contact:   Marcy Lyman, Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment at 603-647-8081 or by email at mlyman@qlf.org.

Finding Middle Ground Through the Arts: Using the Arts to Articulate a Balance Between "Wood" and Woods" is a new report which chronicles the Middle Ground Collaborative and its development of an interactive exhibit to tour the state of Maine in an attempt to generate dialogue about the history and future of Maine's forest resources. This report compiles the research results from the various venues at which the exhibit was shown, in the form of data, opinions, stories and suggestions, in order to produce a collective vision of the public's connection to the forests of Maine. 

Meeting the Needs of Communities and Forests: The Development of a Biomass Energy System in Richford , Vermont summarizes the learnings and insights of a group of citizens from Richford, Vermont as they have explored the issues relating to the supply and harvesting of biomass from local lands.  The Richford Wood Initiative (RWI) has been meeting regularly since 2001 to explore ways to support the local economy, encourage sustainable management of forest resources, and develop renewable sources of energy. A combined heat and power plant fueled by locally harvested biomass would help meet address all of these goals. While aspects of the RWI project require more research and development, this report frames some of the key questions that any community must answer if it is interested in developing a similar project.  

"The report is great. I am impressed, to say the least. The information in the report - as best I can tell from the various figures in my notes - is accurate. You have done a great job of presenting not only the facts and figures but also the ideas and feel of what we are trying to do. I felt really proud to see the report - and you, too, should feel proud. Thank you again so much for an excellent publication."
    -- Colleen Pratt, Richford Wood Initiative

Choices and Challenges in Town Forest Management is a report summarizing a workshop on town forest management held in Gorham, New Hampshire in September of 2003. This workshop, sponsored by the National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region and the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment, brought together those who had planned for their town forests with those who had not, in an effort to share information and strategies. Click here to download this publication.

Changing From Industrial to Non-Industrial Ownership in the Northern Forest: A Case Study is a report serving dual purposes: it reports on the findings of a research project and also explores the process of participatory research using a case study approach. This is a story of a volatile industry looking for answers. It is also the story of how a regional advocacy and membership organization was able to conduct a participatory research project to answer members' questions, despite a lack of experience. Click here to download this publication.

Stories for the Future of Communities in the Northern Forest

At the final NCFCNFR retreat held at the Eagle Mountain House in Jackson, New Hampshire, on December 5th-6th, 2003, Advisory Council members and Technical Advisors were asked to create stories based on their vision of the relationships between communities and forests 25 years in the future.  The following are recordings of those stories.

Vite Vitale, Professional Forester (Albion, Maine)

Don Cyr, Cultural and Historical Preservationist (Lille-sur-St. Jean, Maine)

Spencer Phillips, Natural Resource Economist (West Charleston, Vermont)

Tom Thomson, Landowner (Oxford, New Hampshire)

Richard Silliboy, MicMac Tribe Member (Houlton, Maine)

Anne Ruzow Holland, Community Planner (Keeseville, New York)

Robert Turner, Forester/Consultant (Bristol, Vermont)

NEW!! Funding Sources for Community-Based Forestry Work in the Northern Forest is a resource list of foundations and other funding sources that may fund community forestry projects in the Northern Forest. If your community or organization is interested in partnering with the National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region on a grant proposal to any of these sources, please contact Shanna Ratner at (802) 524-6141 or by email at shanna@yellowwood.org.

NEW!! Engaging Residents in Planning for Municipal Forests: A Case Study of Lincoln, Vermont demonstrates how a small, rural town can engage its residents in planning for town-owned forests. This case study of  Lincoln, Vermont illustrates the steps that can be taken to involve local residents in an effort to determine appropriate priorities for use of town forests. 

    "Excellent case study in Lincoln! I loved it! I hope most conservation
    commissions order a copy from you or see it on-line."
    -- Virginia Rasch, Executive Director, Association of Vermont            
        Conservation Commissions

NEW!! Practicing Community Forestry in the Northern Forest describes preliminary learning from a project designed to test new ways of providing services to rural forested communities in the United States.

NEW!! Forest Ownership & Forest Management in the Northern Forest:  A Selectively Annotated Bibliography is a well-researched, selective bibliography on Forest Ownership and Forest Management in the Northern Forest. The material encompasses a focused number of topics, including: statistics, ownership by state, changes in forest ownership and their effect on land management, public policy and programs to influence forest ownership and management, and the causes and effects of land use decisions.   

NEW!! School-based Forest Education in the Northern Forest - This popular publication has just been updated again. Now in its fourth edition, this summary of school-based forest education projects features several new projects. 

Low-value Wood Resolution - The NCFC Northern Forest Region Advisory Council has adopted a resolution asking federal lawmakers to take action in support of critical low-value wood markets. The resolution proposes six specific actions. Signed copies of the resolution were sent to all U.S. senators and congressional representatives of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine at the beginning of March, 2003. We encourage other groups and organizations concerned with the wood markets of the Northeast to adopt this resolution as well. 

NEW!! Online Database Brochure Download a brochure to share with your friends and colleagues describing the Demo Forest, Forest Legislation and Forest Research databases.

Forest Criteria and Indicators around the World and in the United States

Become A Member of NCFCNFR's Advisory Council

Tell Us Your Stories About Community Forestry for NCFCNFR's Case Study Series

Facts About North America's Abundant, Growing Forests

The Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests ("Montreal Process") was formed in Geneva in June 1994 to advance the development of internationally agreed criteria and indicators at the national level. Participants included Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States. Subsequently, Argentina and Uruguay have subscribed to the agreement that includes criteria and indicators plus a statement of endorsement. The agreement is known as the "Santiago Declaration."

The European countries were not included in the Montreal Process because they have their own process called the "Helsinki Process." The BEAR project is an outgrowth of the "Helsinki Process." It is aimed at developing a system of indicators of forest biodiversity. Visit the BEAR homepage: http://www.algonet.se/~bear for more information.

Canada’s National Forest Strategy includes a commitment to defining sustainable forest management through a Canadian approach to criteria and indicators. The Canadian approach includes both ecological and socio-economic criteria and indicators. Visit http://nrcan.gc.ca/cfs/proj/ppiab/ci/framian_e.html for a detailed description of criteria and indicators.

The United States Forest Service has created the Roundtable on Sustainable Forests, an inclusive partnership of public and private organizations and individuals, promoting the national goal of sustainable forests through implementation of set of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. The Roundtable has recently released a Draft National Report on Sustainable Forests. The Draft National Report is built around seven criteria identified in The Montreal Process. The seven criteria are:

• Conservation of biological diversity
• Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystem
• Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality
• Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
• Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
• Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socio-economic benefits to meet the needs of societies
• Legal, institutional, and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management

Visit www.fs.fed.us/sustained/index/html to review and comment on the Draft National Report or call Shawn Walker at the Meridian Institute at 202-354-6450.

The USDA Forest Service of the Northeastern Area is in the process of developing a Guidebook for Forest Sustainability Indicators designed to feed into the Montreal Process criteria (see above). As part of this effort, they have compiled a catalog of international, national, state, regional, and miscellaneous sustainability criteria and indicator efforts related to forests. Visit www.na.fs.fed.us/sustainability/ci_links.htm to view the catalog, and www.na.fs.fed.us/sustainability/na _ guidebook.htm for updates on the guidebook, or call 603-868-7698. More information on The Montreal Process is also available at this site.

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has identified eight desired future conditions for Vermont’s forests related to forest ecosystem health, land ownership and conservation, forest stewardship, forest-based economy/sustained economic prosperity, recreation, planning and policy, education and outreach, and research. The Vermont Forest Resources Plan 1999-2008 includes an assessment and discussion of indicators related to each of the desired future conditions. Visit www.state.vt.us/anr/fpr/index.htm or call 802-241-3678 for more information.

The process of designing and using forest indicators is still young. Many questions remain unanswered regarding the appropriate and useful relationship between national, state, and local level indicators and about the use of indicators in increasing our understanding and capacity to make better decisions about the forest resource.

The National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region is seeking nominations for membership to our Advisory Council, particularly nominations from New Hampshire. Council members provide a link between the Center and rural communities throughout the region. They guide Center research priorities and assist in designing research products useful to communities. The council plays a key role in selecting communities to partner with the Center in participatory, community-based research.

Council members often find they need to know more about a particular topic in order to determine whether research should be conducted or how the research should be framed. Discussions within the council are structured in a way that helps us to identify what we need to know to unravel key problems and issues. The Center arranges workshops, guest speakers, and written resources in response to information needs identified by council members.

Anyone wishing to participate on the advisory council or nominate others to do so should contact the National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region at 800-727-5404 or visit our website www.ncfcnfr.net. Prospective council members should have a passion for forest-related issues and community well-being, and a willingness to work and learn together as part of a diverse group. They reside in a rural community in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, or New York, and are willing to commit approximately 5-6 days per year of their time.

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The National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region is looking for material to include in our series of case studies in community forestry. The purpose of the series is to highlight existing efforts in our region that illustrate grassroots efforts to engage with and benefit from the local forest resource. The case study series is not intended to highlight projects in which the National Community Forestry Center has been active, but rather to give voice to the work of others. By highlighting existing efforts, we hope to make people in our region more aware of community forestry in its many forms, and encourage support for and possible replication of community forestry projects.

We have produced two case study reports to date: Community Forestry Made Real: Case Studies in Landowner Cooperation, and Case Study of the East Branch of Fish Creek Working Group. Hundreds of copies of each have been requested and distributed throughout the region. They are available for free from the Center.

The case study in Landowner Cooperation benefited Vermont Coverts by providing the organization with documentation for their fund provider, as well as material to use in training new Coverts cooperators. The case study of the East Branch of Fish Creek helped spread the word about the Fish Creek experience, inform legislators, and expand the base of support for the group’s efforts.

We would like to issue a minimum of two case studies a year. Possible topics we have considered include: case studies in youth involvement in community forestry; case studies in positive community/wood business relationships; case studies in community-based landowner education; and case studies in the use of town forests. We are open to suggestions for additional topics.

If you, or anyone you know, is (or has been) involved with a project that could be a subject for a case study in community forestry, please let us know. We are interested in case study materials that we might develop, completed case studies you may have on the shelf, and works in progress. If you or your organization would like to prepare a case study for inclusion in our series, please contact us to discuss possibilities. For high quality studies, we can offer a financial contribution toward production and printing, as well as a distribution system to get your case study into the hands of people who want to know what you’re up to.

Call 1-800-727-5404 now to reserve your spot in the case study series or email yellowwood@yellowwood.org

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Visit www.forestinformation.com. Forestinformation.com is dedicated to becoming the Web's premier site for sharing facts about North America's abundant, growing forests. They combine the research of Canadian U.S. and United Nations forestry resources in an effort to educate people on the value forests provide, as well as efforts across North America to sustainably manage these forests for future generations.

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