Northern Forest Watershed Services Project
October 23, 2009
“The largest portion of forests in the US is owned by families, not the Forest Service or the big companies. In a time of climate change, development pressure, pests, and fire concerns, these woodlands need sustainable management and that means private landowners need healthy markets. Beyond timber, developing new markets can help provide income to private landowners for the ecosystem services—clean water, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, etc.—that their forests or natural areas provide for the public.” American Forest Foundation, Conservation Incentives website
Northern Forest Watershed Services Project
The WRP was one of five partners to receive a USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant to support a $1 million effort to conserve ecosystem services provided by forests in two critical watersheds in the Northern Forest region: the Upper Connecticut River watershed in Vermont and New Hampshire, and the Crooked River watershed in Maine. The WRP will partner with the American Forest Foundation (Washington, DC) and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (Hanover, NH) to coordinate work in the Upper Connecticut River watershed project area.
The problem
Clean reliable water is becoming increasingly scarce in many parts of the country as climate change and development pressures affect water quantity, quality, timing, and distribution. The watershed values of forests have historically been undervalued with limited appreciation, monetarily or otherwise, especially from downstream users. There is, however, a growing awareness of the need to protect working forests as the costs of degraded ecosystems becomes more apparent. Municipalities and water suppliers increasingly recognize source protection as a potential component of a multi-tier approach to providing safe drinking water.
A solution
Innovative watershed services markets can provide effective incentives for sustainable forest management and have emerged as alternative financing mechanisms to ensure water quality and the protection of other important watershed services. When added to traditional forest revenues, these incentives can offer private forest landowners the means to stay on the land, managing their forests sustainably.
The Project
During the next three years, the project partners will engage communities with education and outreach activities to demonstrate a new market-based framework in which they will “broker” the sale of ecosystem services by private landowners to buyers such as private citizens, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and others. By combining ecosystem science with innovative payment techniques to private landowners, project partners hope to create a replicable model for preserving essential ecosystem services provided by our forested watersheds.
For more information
Contact us for more information about the Northern Forest Watershed Services Project.
News
Posted: May 21, 2010 by wrp_admin
Spring grant awards
Spring grant awards
May 21, 2010
The WRP has received three project grants this spring to continue our good work!
Wellborn Ecology Fund
The Wellborn Ecology Fund granted $29,000 to help the WRP initiate a school-based river monitoring program for 9 towns in Vermont’s White River watershed. This grant will fund the first phase (Phase I, May 2010 through December 2010) of a 3-year program focused on river monitoring projects that promote student service learning and watershed health. The aim of Monitoring the White River will be to create a vibrant program for our schools and offer an effective educational model to the broader region.
Vermont Watershed Grant
The Vermont Watershed Grant program granted $13,000 to the WRP to help coordinate our 2010 Watershed Stewardship Program (Program). Since 1996, the WRP has recruited over 500 annual volunteers to participate in hands-on watershed restoration activities, including planting trees, monitoring water quality, managing non-native invasive species, and cleaning up the river. By raising awareness about watershed resources, mobilizing community volunteers, and facilitating local stewardship, the Program is crucial in helping the WRP achieve its mission to bring people and local communities together to improve the long-term health of the White River and its watershed.
Grant In Aid
The Grant In Aid program is providing $3,000 in funding to help the WRP raise awareness about preventing the spread of rusty crayfish, a non-native invasive species. In 2005, the WRP and Vermont Institute of Natural Science conducted a survey of rusty crayfish in the White River watershed. Of the 94 crayfish collected, 80 of them were rusty crayfish or rusty-resident hybrids. The vast majority of the rusties and rusty hybrids were found in the mainstem of the river, indicating that a serious invasion was occurring there. The WRP will use Grant In Aid funds in 2010 to conduct various education and monitoring activities with community volunteers to help prevent the spread of rusty crayfish in the watershed.
For more information about participating in these projects, contact us!
Posted: March 23, 2010 by wrp_admin
VT House passes didymo bill
VT House passes didymo bill
March 23, 2010
Due to the spread of didymo and other aquatic invasive species, several states, including Vermont, have already enacted or are proposing legislation to ban felt-soled wading shoes.
H.488
Vermont Representative David Deen has introduced a bill in the Vermont Legislature banning the manufacture and sale of felt soled waders, which was amended to ban the use of felt soles in the waters of Vermont. The bill has passed the House and is now in the Vermont Senate. For more information about House bill 488, visit this link, type in “H.488” and select “Display Status.”
For more information about didymo, visit our Didymo Resources website.
Posted: October 23, 2009 by wrp_admin
Northern Forest Watershed Services Project
Northern Forest Watershed Services Project
October 23, 2009
“The largest portion of forests in the US is owned by families, not the Forest Service or the big companies. In a time of climate change, development pressure, pests, and fire concerns, these woodlands need sustainable management and that means private landowners need healthy markets. Beyond timber, developing new markets can help provide income to private landowners for the ecosystem services—clean water, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, etc.—that their forests or natural areas provide for the public.” American Forest Foundation, Conservation Incentives website
Northern Forest Watershed Services Project
The WRP was one of five partners to receive a USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant to support a $1 million effort to conserve ecosystem services provided by forests in two critical watersheds in the Northern Forest region: the Upper Connecticut River watershed in Vermont and New Hampshire, and the Crooked River watershed in Maine. The WRP will partner with the American Forest Foundation (Washington, DC) and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (Hanover, NH) to coordinate work in the Upper Connecticut River watershed project area.
The problem
Clean reliable water is becoming increasingly scarce in many parts of the country as climate change and development pressures affect water quantity, quality, timing, and distribution. The watershed values of forests have historically been undervalued with limited appreciation, monetarily or otherwise, especially from downstream users. There is, however, a growing awareness of the need to protect working forests as the costs of degraded ecosystems becomes more apparent. Municipalities and water suppliers increasingly recognize source protection as a potential component of a multi-tier approach to providing safe drinking water.
A solution
Innovative watershed services markets can provide effective incentives for sustainable forest management and have emerged as alternative financing mechanisms to ensure water quality and the protection of other important watershed services. When added to traditional forest revenues, these incentives can offer private forest landowners the means to stay on the land, managing their forests sustainably.
The Project
During the next three years, the project partners will engage communities with education and outreach activities to demonstrate a new market-based framework in which they will “broker” the sale of ecosystem services by private landowners to buyers such as private citizens, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and others. By combining ecosystem science with innovative payment techniques to private landowners, project partners hope to create a replicable model for preserving essential ecosystem services provided by our forested watersheds.
For more information
Contact us for more information about the Northern Forest Watershed Services Project.