Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Select a FREMO Coordinator: FREMO Co-coordinators, Jay Raku from the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership and Wendy Sweetser from The Trustees of Reservations' Highland Communities Initiative were selected and hired in September. By working with co-coordinators, we were able to reduce travel and take advantage of their existing relationships in communities. Coordinators set-up and delivered roundtable meetings, identified and recruited municipal officials and cultivated Keystone Cooperator projects. Identify and Recruit Municipal Officials: We then began identifying and recruiting municipal officials through a combination of "roundtable meetings" of those interested in moving projects forward and municipal officials already doing exemplary municipal forest conservation work that included: town policies such as the right of first refusal, adoption of the community preservation act, zoning to protect forests, trails, and forest management were held throughout the past year. Five roundtables were hosted. Municipal Official Networking; The roundtables also offered municipal officials the chance to connect with peers and to share examples of their work. Municipal officials with exemplary projects were asked permission to post their work and contact information on a newly created FREMO page on MassWoods.net. The intent of page is to act as a dynamic clearinghouse of projects and people that municipal officials can visit for ideas and contact for more information. The FREMO page (http://masswoods.net/index.php/fremo) is scheduled to launch in November and will be marketed to municipal officials through e-mail lists and the MassWoods.net electronic newsletter. Keystone Training and Reunions: October 2009, a Keystone Reunion was held in which the FREMO project was discussed and included municipal officials. The past spring, the Keystone Project trained 16 municipal officials. These municipal officials have agreed to implement a project to move forest conservation forward in their town. Keystone Cooperators were also the prime source for exemplary municipal projects for the FREMO web page. Another fall reunion which will focus on municipal Keystone Cooperator projects is planned for year two of this project. Establishing Town Policies and Procedures to Increase Forest Conservation: Two workshops about a town's right of first refusal under the state's Ch. 61 current use program were hosted by Attorney Dick Evans, with following discussion about a communication protocol. A roundtable discussion about the right of first refusal and town procedures to take advantage of it, were also held. Creating a multi-state project: A multi-state meeting was held at Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA, from May 18th and 20th, 2010. States in attendance included: New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. We discussed project findings and how we can utilize our various extension programs to enhance the role of peer learning among municipal officials. In addition, the meeting ended with a very productive conversation regarding developing regional metrics to capture the impacts of our work. PARTICIPANTS: Paul Catanzaro: Forest Resources Specialist, UMass Amherst. Paul is the Project Director and in addition is responsible for the Keystone Training and Refreshers, the MassWoods FREMO page, and assists with roundtable discussions. Jay Rasku: Coordinator of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership. Jay is the FREMO project co-coordinator and is responsible for helping identify and recruit network members, plan and host roundtables, train network members, and cultivating Keystone Cooperator projects. Wendy Sweetser: Director of The Trustees of Reservations' Highland Communities Initiative. Wendy is the FREMO project co-coordinator and is responsible for helping identify and recruit network members, plan and host roundtables, train network members, and cultivating Keystone Cooperator projects. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this project is municipal officials in communities across Massachusetts. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: After investigating target audience comfort and desire to use a list serve, we changed to the use of a web page (http://masswoods.net/index.php/fremo) to encourage the development of a municipal official network. The web page allows us the opportunity to provide project examples and, most importantly, peer municipal officials to contact for more information. The FREMO web page on MassWoods will be added to over time and will serve as project infrastructure to maintain the project beyond the length of this grant. The original grant proposal called for the PI to present the project findings at the Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals (ANREP) bi-annual conference. The PI had a presentation proposal accepted, but was unable to attend the conference due to health issues. This decision was made jointly between the PI and the RREA contact Eric Norland. As a substitute for this activity, it was decided that it would be appropriate to host another municipal official networking event. In addition, the grant was given a one-year extension to give time to organize and carry out this final activity of the grant. In August of 2010, we held the first Open Space Committee conference, as reported in the "Municipal Official Networking and Training".
Impacts
Identify and Recruit Municipal Officials: -Municipal Official Roundtable meetings reached 70 municipal officials. Educating municipal officials: -Educated 16 officials representing municipal boards: conservation commission, assessors, open space, land stewardship committee, agricultural commission, selectboard, and planning board -these 16 municipal officials own 1,573 acres of land and are involved with making decisions on 4,830 acres of land, including municipal. Cultivated Keystone Cooperator Projects: -Assisted a cooperator in hosting events on town forest to highlight forest management options for town boards and landowners -Provided sample land conservation articles for an initiative to educate Northfield residents about land conservation -Provided land conservation project management support to conserve a 1-mile corridor of woodland involving multiple landowners -Discussed public education and outreach methods with Brookfield Conservation Commission to pass an enhanced Wetlands Protection Act Bylaw. -Provided education and outreach training for a cooperator, for Royalston's successful effort to adopt the Community Preservation Act Establishing Town Policies and Procedures to Increase Forest Conservation: -Provided Chapter 61 Right of First Refusal (ROFR) procedure examples to municipal officials in 51 central and eastern Massachusetts towns -Assisting the 17 towns in developing and adopting a right of first refusal policy for 17 towns. -Worked with town of Wendell to formally adopted a ROFR policy. -Assisted the town of Williamsburg utilize their ROFR policy to protect a 12-acre wooded parcel near the center of town -Provided education and outreach training for the Hardwick Board of Assessors for a Community Preservation Act (CPA) education effort. Municipal Official Networking and Training: -First ever, statewide Open Space Conference; an opportunity for open space committee members to network and share information about forest conservation. The conference was attended by 58 participants representing 30 MA towns -Trail roundtable resulted in working group being formed with members from each town -Worked with the Warwick Open Space Committee to do outreach in their priority conservation area resulting in one landowner deciding to conserve land -Helped Fitchburg Water Department participate in a Forest Legacy grant to protect 100 acres of critical drinking water supply land. -Worked with Winchendon to submit a Forest Legacy grant to protect 1,200 acres of prime forestland -Worked with Petersham Conservation Commission to protect 10 acres of wetlands -Training Phillipston Open Space Committee in outreach and project management to protect a 1- mile corridor of land -Provided land conservation project management support for Hubbardston, to conserve a 100 acre parcel abutting town owned conservation land. -Worked with Orange Conservation Commission chair, on land conservation strategies for a landowner with 200 acres -Assisted Templeton Open Space Committee chair, with project management support to protect a piece of land Training the Ashburnham Conservation Commission on stewardship responsibilities for conservation easement monitoring
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Identify and Recruit Municipal Officials: -Continued work with municipal officials identified in Year 1 roundtables and other activities -Held additional roundtable entitled "Tapping the Potential of Town Land" focusing on examples of cities and towns conducting forest and wildlife management on town property, as well as municipal examples of acquiring land as a "town forest" -Held two Conservation Commission trainings to discuss stewardship responsibilities when municipality agrees to hold a conservation easements -Maintained and added content to the FREMO web page (http://www.masswoods.net/index.php/fremo) to engage municipal officials and give them project ideas, resources and the contact information of municipal officials who have done projects which support forest conservation. Activities listed were marketed through the MassWoods monthly electronic newsletter with links back to FREMO page. Municipal Official Networking and Training: -Held roundtable for Community Preservation Committees to facilitate strategies for forest conservation using this local funding source -Posted 13 municipal official forest conservation project examples and supporting resources on FREMO web page. -Supporting municipal officials with specific projects to increase forest conservation and sound management -Organized a winter 2010 1 day conference for town conservation commissions and open space committees to learn from each other regarding forestland conservation strategies Keystone Training: -Recruited 13 municipal officials for Keystone Training. Municipal boards represented included: conservation commission, town forest committee, finance committee, agriculture committee, and planning board. -Officials receive 3.5 days of intensive training in forest ecology and management, wildlife management, and land conservation. -Held Keystone Reunion in which we highlighted the management of town own land. Asked several towns to share experience with town forest management. -Success stories of Keystone Cooperators who implement forest conservation projects in their community were developed. These stories were included in the MassWoods electronic newsletter with links to the FREMO page. Establishing Town Policies and Procedures to Increase Forest Conservation: -Continued to provide assistance to communities interested in adopting a Chapter 61 Right of First Refusal (ROFR) procedure which helps guide municipal decisions to conserve land through ROFR opportunities. -Held Board of Assessors roundtable with 30 attendees to discuss and promote the Chapter 61 ROFR procedure -Organized conference call training with 25 town board attendees on Chapter 61 ROFR options, featuring ROFR expert Attorney Richard Evans. -Provided Chapter 61 ROFR procedure templates to 24 towns who expressed interest, and of those towns held 15 meetings to provide additional information on the ROF. Creating a Multi-State Project: -Organized multi-state FREMO Conference to discuss the results and findings of our FREMO project and the role of our Keystone program in stimulating forest conservation work by municipal officials. -The meeting was held in May of 2010 at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA. PARTICIPANTS: Paul Catanzaro - Forest Resources Specialist, UMass Amherst. Paul is the Project Director and in addition is responsible for the Keystone Training and Refreshers, the MassWoods FREMO page, and assists with roundtable discussions. Jay Rasku - Coordinator of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership. Jay is the FREMO project co-coordinator and is responsible for helping identify and recruit network members, plan and host roundtables, train network members, and cultivating Keystone Cooperator projects. Jay can be reached at info@nqpartnership.org or (978) 248-2118. Wendy Sweetser - Director of The Trustees of Reservations' Highland Communities Initiative. Wendy is the FREMO project co-coordinator and is responsible for helping identify and recruit network members, plan and host roundtables, train network members, and cultivating Keystone Cooperator projects. Wendy can be reached at wsweetser@ttor.org or (413) 268-8219. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this project is municipal officials in communities across Massachusetts. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: This project was originally intended to be two years in length. All of the requirements of the grant have been met except one, delivering the findings of this work at a conference. I did have a presentation accepted at the 2010 ANREP conference, but had to cancel the trip due to personal reasons. I have been in communication with Eric Norland, Project Leader, to determine what conference or meeting it would be best to share these results. UMass Amherst has extended this grant one-year in order to accomplish this last deliverable.
Impacts
Identify and Recruit Municipal Officials -Forest Management Roundtable and field visit -10 Municipalities attended. -Assessors Roundtable - 30 met to discuss Chapter 61 tax program. -Planning Board Roundtable - 12 learned about the Chapter 61 tax. -State Grant Strategies Workshop -8 towns learned about conservation grant opportunities Municipal Official Networking and Training -The FREMO web page had 268 visits to it during FY 10. -Supporting Municipal Officials: Conservation Commission training on Conservation Easement stewardship, 15 towns in attendance. Worked with Town of Phillipston Conservation Commission and Open Space Committee to successfully apply for a state grant to conserve a 70 acre forested tract. Worked with Town of Winchendon Conservation Commission on successful Forest Legacy grant to conserve 346 acres. Worked with Town of Winchendon Conservation Commission to apply for a Forest Legacy grant to protect 1169 acres. Worked with Town of Phillipston to identify conservation priority areas, 8 landowners participating in a Forest Legacy application. Worked with Town of Northfield Conservation Commission to create a 151 acres as a new "Town Forest". Worked with Town of Erving Conservation Commission to conserve a 120 acre parcel. Worked with the towns of Westhampton and Williamsburg on state conservation grant applications. Helped the City of Gardner organize an informational meeting of landowners in the city's water supply area. A landowner of 267 acres has agreed to participate in a Forest Legacy program. Worked with the Goshen Open Space Committee to host an informational conservation options program, attended by 35 landowners. One landowner has begun protecting his 85 wooded acres as a result. Worked with the Shelburne Open Space Committee to organize two landowner programs, attended by 65 landowners. Worked with trail committees in Williamsburg, Goshen, Conway, Ashfield, and Cummington to facilitate cross-town trail connections. Keystone Training -Municipal officials trained during this year's Keystone are responsible for the management decisions on 8,814 acres of municipal owned land. -Each participant has agreed to carry out a project in support of forest conservation and to share the project with other municipal officials over the next year. Establishing Town Policies and Procedures to Increase Forest Conservation -Chapter 61 ROFR assistance: Helped Towns of West Brookfield and Granville adopt a Chapter 61 Right of First Refusal Procedure. Contacted 89 town Conservation Commissions to promote the Chapter 61 ROFR Procedure. Organized a conference call workshop for 28 town board members and planners who are currently drafting the Chapter 61 ROFR procedure and working on First Refusal options. Create a Multi-State Meeting -Attended by extension foresters from CT, NH, NY, MD, MN, HI, and MA. -Participants each shared information about their programs and efforts to engage municipal officials. -Participants have been working together to define common metrics to measure.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Outputs from this project have been categorized by activity as listed in the original grant proposal. Select a FREMO Coordinator - FREMO Co-coordinators, Jay Raku from the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership and Wendy Sweetser from The Trustees of Reservations' Highland Communities Initiative were selected and hired in September. The advantage of working with co-coordinators is that we were able to take reduce travel and take advantage of their existing relationships with communities in their regions. Coordinators set-up and delivered roundtable meetings, identified and recruited municipal officials, and cultivated Keystone Cooperator projects. Identify and Recruit Municipal Officials - We then began identifying and recruiting municipal officials through a combination of "roundtable meetings" of those interested in moving projects forward and municipal officials already doing exemplary municipal forest conservation work. We defined "forest conservation" broadly, therefore roundtable meetings included: town policies including the right of first refusal and adoption of the community preservation act, zoning to protect forests, trails, and forest management were held throughout the past year. Five roundtables were hosted. Municipal Official Networking - The roundtables also offered the opportunity for municipal officials the chance to connect with peers and to share examples of their work. The municipal officials identified as having exemplary projects were asked permission to post their work and contact information on a newly created FREMO page on MassWoods.net. The intent of the MassWoods FREMO page is to act as a dynamic clearing house of projects and people that municipal officials can visit for ideas and contact for more information. The FREMO page is scheduled to launch in November and will be marketed to municipal officials through e-mail lists and the MassWoods.net electronic newsletter. To see the FREMO page, visit: http://masswoods.net/index.php/fremo. Keystone Training and Reunions - Last October, a Keystone Reunion was held in which the FREMO project was discussed and included municipal officials. The past spring, the Keystone Project trained 16 municipal officials. These municipal officials have agreed to implement a project to move forest conservation forward in their town. Keystone Cooperators were also the prime source for exemplary municipal projects for the FREMO web page. Another fall reunion which will focus on municipal Keystone Cooperator projects is planned for year two of this project. Establishing Town Policies and Procedures to Increase Forest Conservation - Two workshops about a town's right of first refusal under the state's Ch. 61 current use program was hosted by Attorney Dick Evans, with following discussion about a communication protocol. A roundtable discussions about the right of first refusal and town procedures to take advantage of it were also held. Creating a multi-state project - A meeting location, Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA, has been reserved from May 18th and 20th, 2010 for the multi-state meeting. PARTICIPANTS: Paul Catanzaro - Forest Resources Specialist, UMass Amherst. Paul is the Project Director and in addition is responsible for the Keystone Training and Refreshers, the MassWoods FREMO page, and assists with roundtable discussions. Jay Rasku - Coordinator of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership. Jay is the FREMO project co-coordinator and is responsible for helping identify and recruit network members, plan and host roundtables, train network members, and cultivating Keystone Cooperator projects. Jay can be reached at info@nqpartnership.org or (978) 248-2118. Wendy Sweetser - Director of The Trustees of Reservations' Highland Communities Initiative. Wendy is the FREMO project co-coordinator and is responsible for helping identify and recruit network members, plan and host roundtables, train network members, and cultivating Keystone Cooperator projects. Wendy can be reached at wsweetser@ttor.org or (413) 268-8219. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this project is municipal officials in communities across Massachusetts. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The only project modification at this time is the change from the use of a list serve to the use of a web page (http://masswoods.net/index.php/fremo) to encourage the development of a municipal official network. The web page allows us the opportunity to provide project examples and, most importantly, peer municipal officials to contact for more information. The FREMO web page on MassWoods will be added to over time and will serve as project infrastructure to maintain the project beyond the length of this grant.
Impacts
Identify and Recruit Municipal Officials Municipal Official Roundtable meetings reached 70 municipal officials. Keystone Training and Reunions Educating municipal officials Educated 16 municipal officials representing the municipal boards: (conservation commission, assessors, open space, land stewardship committee, agricultural commission, selectboard, and planning board). These 16 municipal officials own 1,573 acres of land and are involved with making decisions on 4,830 acres of land, including municipal. Cultivated Keystone Cooperator Projects Assisted a cooperator in hosting events to highlight forest management options for town boards and landowners; Provided sample land conservation articles to educate Northfield residents about land conservation; Supplied information and contacts to support a Town Deer Committee; Linked cooperator with land trust professionals, helped write an outreach letter to the landowners and set up two meetings with the family that is now interested in protecting their land; Provided land conservation project management support to conserve a 1-mile corridor of woodland involving multiple landowners; Discussed public education and outreach methods with Brookfield Conservation Commission to pass an enhanced Wetlands Protection Act Bylaw; Provided education and outreach training for Royalston's successful effort to adopt the Community Preservation Act. Establishing Town Policies and Procedures to Increase Forest Conservation Provided Chapter 61 Right of First Refusal procedure examples to municipal officials in 51 central and eastern Massachusetts towns; Assisting the 17 towns in developing and adopting a right of first refusal policy; Worked with the town of Wendell to formally adopted a ROFR policy; Assistance the town of Williamsburg to utilize their ROFR policy to protect a 12-acre wooded parcel near the center of town; Provided education and outreach training for the Hardwick Board of Assessors for Community Preservation Act (CPA) education. Municipal Official Networking and Training Trail roundtable resulted in formation of a working group with members from each town; Worked with the Warwick Open Space Committee to do outreach resulting in one landowner deciding to conserve their land; Helped Fitchburg Water Department participate in a Forest Legacy grant to protect 100 acres of critical drinking water supply land; Worked with Winchendon to submit a Forest Legacy grant to protect 1,200 acres of prime forestland; Worked with Petersham Conservation Commission chair to protect 10 acres of key wetlands; Training the Phillipston Open Space Committee in outreach and project management to protect a 1- mile corridor of land from the center of town; Provided land conservation project management support for Hubbardston, to conserve a 100 acre parcel abutting town owned conservation land; Worked with Orange Conservation Commission chair on land conservation strategies for a landowner with 200 acres; Assisted Templeton Open Space Committee chair, with project management support to protect a piece of land; Trained the Ashburnham Conservation Commission on stewardship responsibilities for conservation easement monitoring.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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