Agroforestry has made its way into Snohomish Conservation District (WA), with landowner interest flourishing and new programs specific to forest farming in the works.
The conservation district has been implementing about a half a dozen agroforestry practices around the north Puget Sound for the past five years, but the rising interest in forest farming is taking the lead and shaping the district’s vision of the region’s future.
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“A lot of our landowners are becoming more interested in building diversity into their forest lands and finding revenue streams that include more than just timber, so forest farming is growing,” said Carrie Brausieck, Natural Resource Planner and Agroforester.
As a result of the growing interest in agroforestry within the state, Brausieck has started an agroforestry program for the district and has formed a partnership with Washington State University (WSU) Extension Forester Patrick Shults. He is researching understory log mushroom growing, and Bigleaf maple syrup tapping. Through the partnership, Brausieck and Shults, along with several Puget Sound conservation districts, are collaborating on the implementation of harvestable riparian forest buffers.
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The Appalachia Beginning Forest Farmer Coalition (ABFFC) is connecting forest farmers (both new and experienced) with one another across the East Coast, as well as supporting agencies and programs to enhance and grow the agroforestry practice.
The coalition provides members with a network of resources including in-depth, multiday training and technical resources for propagating and managing forest farming efforts through video series, events and various publications.
“We’re connecting dots, aligning different stakeholders with different expertise and sharing that expertise with people who want to learn more and people who have been doing it for a while,” said John F. Munsell, ABFFC project director, professor and Forest Management Extension Specialist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.
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Maine’s Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District helped coordinate a tree planting event on Arbor Day with elementary students from Lisbon Community School.
“We planned a full schedule so all students would have time to be outside, learn about their local forest ecosystem, and participate in planting a native tree,” said Emma Lorusso, Androscoggin Valley SWCD Project Director, who helped coordinate the event. The day’s activities were shaped, in part, by NACD’s Stewardship and Educational resources on forest curricula appropriate for this mixed age group. NACD’s Northeast Region Representative Annica McGuirk also helped coordinate the event.
A local landscaper in Lisbon donated enough white pines for each grade to participate in planting a tree they will observe grow throughout their years at the school. Lisbon Parks and Recreation Department helped select the hardiest saplings and stayed for the day to help prepare planting sites.
Approximately 500 students participated in the event. The students met with conservation leaders to discuss the importance of Arbor Day before taking a walk in the woods. During the walk, students practiced their observation skills, learned about the importance of forest management, and got to view a prescribed burn site for invasive plant management. During the tree planting, students learned how to be good conservation stewards and how the local SWCD serves as a resource and partner for the community.
Students were sent home with stickers provided by #forestproud and invasive forest insect temporary tattoos from Androscoggin Valley SWCD.
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Texas
SWCD sponsors FFA forestry competition
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The Panola Soil and Water Conservation District recently sponsored the annual Woodland Clinic with Harrison County at the Double A Hunting Ranch.
Area FFA Chapters competed through a course consisting of hardwood identification, wood products, timber forage wildlife relationships, rate of growth, tree measurement, volume, thinning, tree culling, compass and passing, pine identification and regeneration, site management and site index.
After the contest, the teams and workers were treated to a catfish lunch provided by the soil and water conservation districts and local business sponsors.
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Washington
Pine Creek CD to improve water quality, plant riparian buffers
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The Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) recently awarded nearly $640,000 to fund 15 environmental restoration projects across the state. Each of the 15 projects selected will receive up to $50,000.
The Pine Creek Conservation District in northeastern Whitman County will receive $50,000 to improve water quality. The district will use the funding to restore ecological function and enhance wildlife habitat in an 8-acre portion of the watershed that has been degraded by decades of intensive land use. According to the DOE, these objectives would be achieved by establishing a robust riparian forest buffer which is known to reduce erosion and water temperature, and filter contaminants.
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