Extension Update: October 2003 Archives

Approximately 40 council members and staff met on Thursday, October 30 in Concord for the fall state council meeting. Jeff Schloss gave an excellent presentation regarding the Lakes Lay Monitoring Program. Nancy Franz provided a comprehensive summary of county by county Gap Analysis Trends. A statewide plan of work caucus will be held on Tuesday, January 13. As a follow up to the last meeting of the state council held on April 17, the main agenda item for yesterday’s meeting was a continuing discussion of the budget situation and the deficit of $784,220. Understandably there is a high level of concern throughout the state regarding positions that are not being filled and the program void this creates. Program Leaders in every program area are developing plans to address the programming voids to the best extent possible given current resource constraints. As a proactive measure in addressing the current situation and with a look to the future, the council has established an ad hoc group to focus on external relations and funding strategies. The five member group is comprised of the following state council members: Harmony Anderson, Liz Conrad, Anne Krantz, Dick Mallion, and Erick Leadbeater. Participants at the meeting reiterated the critical need for all members of each county legislative delegation to be well informed regarding Cooperative Extension programming, its impacts and necessary funding.

The University of New Hampshire Dean’s Council recently reviewed and approved Cooperative Extension’s Extension Educator promotion procedures, specifically approving the procedures for the new classification of Extension Faculty for those Extension Specialists who have an appointment within an academic department. You can access the procedures on our web site at http://www.ceinfo.unh.edu/cragin/admin/Secure/EEPP03.pdf

I have had the pleasure of serving on the “Committee on Engagement through Research and Scholarship” since last fall in preparation for the decennial accreditation by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). The NEASC team visited UNH last week on October 20-21. All indications are that UNH will receive a very positive and helpful report. Information on the accreditation process , including the self-study reports, is available at: http://www.unh.edu/neasc/index.htm.

County staff may find information sent through “county envelopes” from Taylor Hall contains stale or outdated material. Sending this mail on a weekly basis to the counties from Taylor Hall costs about $2,000 annually. Much of the information provided in these envelopes is now online so this service may be discontinued. The Campus Journal, which contains everything staff need to know regarding dates and events on campus, can now be accessed by clicking on http://unhinfo.unh.edu/news/campusjournal/index.html. Additionally this link to UNH Human Resources includes the most recent HR information, including benefits. http://www.unh.edu/hr/index.html

Grafton County legislators, commissioners and USNH Trustees participated in the second “County Conversation” held on October 16 at the Grafton County Nursing Home. The “Conversation” provided an opportunity for UNH President Ann Weaver Hart to learn more about how UNH can partner more effectively with New Hampshire’s individual counties and to discover what emerging trends and issues are specifically facing Grafton County. Earlier in the day, President Hart and Jennifer Murray, UNH’s Vice President for Communications, traveled to the Grafton County office to learn more about UNH Cooperative Extension’s programming in the county. My thanks to the staff and county advisory council of Grafton County for their hard work on this event. They did an excellent job of showing how they positively impact the residents of the county.

Over 100 citizens and town officials took part in the Londonderry Community Profile (Rockingham County) October 18 and created the following action teams: Gathering Places (parks/performing arts theatre,) Refine & Expand Current Open Space Plan (with incentives to preserve agricultural land,) Non-motorized Transportation and Access (sidewalks, trails, bike paths,) and Expand Current Website & Community Calendar.

Thank you to Phil Auger, the county steering committee liaison and large group facilitator, and Thom Linehan, small group discussion leader trainer. Thanks also to Rollie Barnaby, Claudia Boozer-Blasco, Lynn Garland, Nancy Lambert, Terri Schoppmeyer, Gregg Caprosi and Minda Henderson (UNH Graduate Students) for serving as small group facilitators/scribes. A follow-up meeting, facilitated by UNH Cooperative Extension, takes place November 17.

A grant from the Samuel P. Pardoe Foundation provided the Geospatial Technologies Training and Resource Center with a 42” plotter (i.e. a giant printer). Located at the Family, Home and Garden Education Center, it is available to any staff members for use (though it may require some experimentation to determine the best file types, file transfer methods, and so on.) While intended mostly for map production, the plotter creates posters, banners and other large prints up to 42 inches wide, and any length. For more information, contact Anne Deely at 629-9494 x150, or anne.deely@unh.edu

Congratulations to the five county teams submitting community collaboration applications for the 2004-2009 CYFAR New Communities Project. After careful review, the Proposal Review Team selected two applications. If accepted at the federal level, our two new CYFAR sites on May 1, 2004 will be:

Project LEAD (Leadership Education and Diversion)
Rockingham County: Lower Seacoast Area, School Administrative Unit (SAU) 21, Seabrook, Hampton, North Hampton, Hampton Falls
Project LEAD will bring positive youth development and life-skills education opportunities, including leadership training and community service-learning, to young people and families at the Seacoast Diversion Program who wouldn’t otherwise access asset-building activities.

Extension Program Team
Rick Alleva - Lead staff member
Lynn Garland - Planning, curriculum development
Karen Blass - Planning, media literacy, parent education
Claudia Boozer-Blasco - Planning, parent education
Terri Schoppmeyer - Planning, nutrition/fitness education

Hillsboro Area After School CYFAR Project
Hillsborough County: Hillsboro-Deering School District
This after-school program will serve the Hillsboro-Deering School District student population (30 elementary, 30 middle, 30 high school) and their families by enriching educational, physical and social activities fostering self esteem, positive self-image and confidence.

Extension Project Team
Dan Reidy - Lead staff member
Penny Turner - Youth leader development and training
Sharon Cowen - Family and resource management education
Heidi Bennett - Food preparation and nutrition education
Jon Nute - Forest and natural resource education
George Hamilton - Farmers market development
Julia Steed Mawson - Environmental and outdoor education
Margaret Hagen - Plant, bird and butterfly programs

The Review Team unanimously commended each county on their efforts to address genuine community needs and encourage staff to continue partnerships to strengthen programs for children and families.

Family, Youth and Community staff meet November 17 at the Hartman Union Building at Plymouth State University. The meeting begins at 9:00 am. Morning refreshment are available beginning at 8:30. Please allow sufficient time to park and take the shuttle bus from the parking lot. The morning session features Jan Nisbet, Director, Institute on Disability, and other IOD staff. The afternoon speaker, Evelyn Beaulieau, Director, Center for Adult Learning and Literacy, University of Maine, will address the topic of adult learning theory and the current emerging adult literacy research. Evelyn also will talk about the national adult learning standards including financial literacy. The afternoon program concludes at 4:00 pm.

There is still time to sign up for the November 20 inservice, "Revenue Generation - Secrets of Success for Cooperative Extension Professionals." The inservice takes place in Boscawen from 9:00-3:30. There is a small registration charge and lunch is included. Materials on grant writing will be available. The program features staff from the Office of Sponsored Research, the UNH Foundation, and a panel of Extension professionals who use grants effectively. Contact Charlene Baxter to register and add your name to the on-line inservice registration list.

All staff with an interest in financial literacy should reserve May 14 for the first NH Conference on Women and Money. Co-sponsors include the Treasurer of the State of New Hampshire and the NH Commission on the Status of Women. UNH Cooperative Extension is involved in planning this conference. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Farm business succession is critical to the future of farming. A smooth transition to the next generation of farmers is essential but challenging, given the financial risks of high start-up costs, tight profit margins, and escalating values of farm assets, as well as increasing development pressures facing agriculture in the region. Recent changes in estate tax law further complicate farm transfer issues and the impact of estate taxes on farm operations.

Many New England farm families grapple with these succession issues while trying to sustain a viable farm business for the incoming generation and adequate retirement for the exiting generation. How we serve these clients attempting to make the transition from one generation to the next will shape agriculture for decades to come.

In 2002 and 2003, UNH Cooperative Extension teamed with the University of Vermont Extension, Land Link Vermont, Connecticut Department of Agriculture, New England Small Farm Institute and Maine Farm Link to offer one-day workshops called Transferring the Farm. These workshops took place throughout New England, with funding from the Northeast Center for Risk Management Education.

The workshops blended traditional information delivery methods (one speaker, formal presentation) with innovative approaches such as small group discussion and farmer testimonials. In addition, workshop packets provided participants with take-home resources to use in planning farm estates and other uses. Topics presented gave participants an introductory yet comprehensive look at farm business succession concepts. The success of the workshops resulted in additional funding support with cooperative efforts planned through 2004. Up to five additional one-day seminars will take place this coming spring.

The county gap analysis sessions for our plan of work process have been wonderfully productive. Thank you to everyone who made these sessions a success. The next task in the process includes interpreting the data gathered from each county. Sign up now to attend a data interpretation party from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Merrimack County office on October 28th (Halloween theme), November 14th (Thanksgiving theme) or December 19th (Solstice theme) by contacting Nancy Franz. Some of our UNH campus partners have been invited to join us to determine what the data says and enjoy doing it!

Cooperative Extension educators and specialists have full access to online journals and other resources as well as interlibrary loans at UNH’s Dimond Library. If journal articles aren’t available online, library staff will copy journal articles and send them to staff. Books need to be picked up on campus or acquired through interlibrary loan at your local library. The library staff will help you out through Debbie Watson, one of the reference librarians at 862-1544.

Just where is Londonderry? In the last Biweekly Update, Londonderry moved to Hillsborough County. Gail Ramsey, our own “Secretary of Agriculture,” graciously pointed out Londonderry is, of course, in Rockingham County. Thanks, Gail, for catching the error!

Family, Youth and Community Development staff meet at Plymouth State University on November 17 for their annual gathering. The meeting begins at 9:00 AM and concludes at 4:00 PM . Morning refreshments will be available at 8:30 AM . An agenda and details about parking and lunch will be sent directly to staff. The meeting features Jan Nisbet, Director, Institute on Disability at UNH, several members of her staff and Dr. Evelyn Beaulieau, Director, University of Maine Center for Adult Learning and Literacy. Evelyn will provide a comprehensive presentation on recent research in adult learning. Nancy Franz will also join us for a preliminary discussion on what we are learning from the county needs assessment sessions. Staff should plan to attend for the entire day - this is an important event for the Family, Youth and Community Development program areas.

Obesity continues to be an important issue for Family and Youth Development to pursue. Several obesity projects aimed at both youth and adults have been in the planning stages for several months. For Example, in September, Valerie Long, Martha Judson (a former school nurse) and Colette Janson-Sand held an educational session for school nurses to introduce them to "Changing the Scene". This program, designed as part of the USDA Team Nutrition initiative provides information and tools necessary to begin implementation of good nutrition and activity practices within schools. The initiative brings together school personnel, parents and the community to make changes to create a school environment conducive to fitness and wellness among youth. This program will be offered again for a new group of school nurses in November. The first cadre of nurses will return to review progress, help problem solve and provide further assistance for projects.

Adults have not been forgotten in this issue, especially since news reports show the average weight of adult Americans continues to increase. A group of Family and Youth Development educators have been meeting to brainstorm an initiative to tackle this problem. The title of this initiative is "Lighten up New Hampshire: Healthy Weight Makes a Healthy State". We will continue to meet to determine the specifics of the project. At present the group plans to develop a web based strategy to provide information as well as collect data. They also are considering the development of an alliance of agencies and organizations with an interest and commitment in both nutrition and physical activity. All Cooperative Extension staff and units interested in other aspects of the project (such as in evaluating communities for walkability) are invited to participate. The group welcomes ideas from everyone within UNHCE as they continue to develop the framework for this important initiative. For more information contact Colette Janson-Sand.

Here’s a suggested online resource from Holly Young and Peg Boyles. If you haven’t yet checked out http://www.visualthesaurus.com/desktop/index.jsp, it is well worth a look! Visual Thesaurus is a word book for people more comfortable with pictures (and spatial relationships) than with words. That said, Visual Thesaurus also is a treat for those of us who delight in studying shades of meaning and the relationships among words.

To take the program for a test drive, click on ONLINE EDITION at the top of the page and then in the upper left corner of the screen, type in a word. (For example, if you type the word TOP, nouns and verbs synonyms for TOP appear. Then you can click on any of those to further refine the search.)

On another writing note, most of us at one time or another have felt misunderstood, patronized or downright insulted by a piece of writing. Just as likely, most of us—however unwittingly—have probably written words that insulted or showed profound misunderstanding of some of our readers.

Cultural, gender, ethnic, racial or other forms of bias can creep into a piece of writing when the writer fails to root out his or her unexamined assumptions. Merely supporting facts with research-based evidence may not go far enough. For example, a reader may perceive a fact sheet as biased if the writer doesn’t demonstrate awareness of the moral implications underlying the facts, or fails to note that research into the same issue used the same facts but reached a different conclusion.

Poor word choice, the tone of the prose style, or the writer’s attitude toward his/her intended readers can also reveal bias. Bias emerges in subtle forms the writer may not detect, but sensitive readers grasp immediately.

If you’d like a piece of writing reviewed for bias (or any other purpose), take advantage of the coaching service for Cooperative Extension writers—call or email Holly (862-1564) or Peg (225-5505).

Obesity continues to be an important issue for Family and Youth Development to pursue. Several obesity projects aimed at both youth and adults have been in the planning stages for several months. For Example, in September, Valerie Long, Martha Judson (a former school nurse) and Colette Janson-Sand held an educational session for school nurses to introduce them to "Changing the Scene". This program, designed as part of the USDA Team Nutrition initiative provides information and tools necessary to begin implementation of good nutrition and activity practices within schools. The initiative brings together school personnel, parents and the community to make changes to create a school environment conducive to fitness and wellness among youth. This program will be offered again for a new group of school nurses in November. The first cadre of nurses will return to review progress, help problem solve and provide further assistance for projects.

Adults have not been forgotten in this issue, especially since news reports show the average weight of adult Americans continues to increase. A group of Family and Youth Development educators have been meeting to brainstorm an initiative to tackle this problem. The title of this initiative is "Lighten up New Hampshire: Healthy Weight Makes a Healthy State". We will continue to meet to determine the specifics of the project. At present the group plans to develop a web based strategy to provide information as well as collect data. They also are considering the development of an alliance of agencies and organizations with an interest and commitment in both nutrition and physical activity. All Cooperative Extension staff and units interested in other aspects of the project (such as in evaluating communities for walkability) are invited to participate. The group welcomes ideas from everyone within UNHCE as they continue to develop the framework for this important initiative. For more information contact Colette Janson-Sand.

Congratulations to Suzann Knight, this year’s recipient of the Maynard and Audrey Heckel Extension Educator Fellowship Award for her Family Lifeskills program. Suzann receives a $1,000 award to “support/enhance the continued work of the chosen fellow within UNH Cooperative Extension” as designated by the Heckels. During the May 18, 2004, State Extension Conference, Suzann will highlight the program for fellow staff.

The Extension Educator Council, following a review of nominated programs, selected Suzann. Congratulations are extended to the following nominees for the award this year, Catherine Violette for the NH Safe Food Alliance program, Nada Haddad for the NH Coalition for Sustaining Agriculture project and Charlotte Cross for the Teen Assessment Project.

Close to 60 donors, friends and staff gathered Wednesday night to celebrate another successful year of 4-H Youth Development programming at the 45th annual meeting of the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire. Topping the night’s activities, held at Canterbury Woods Golf Course, was the announcement made by Wendy Brock that the Centennial Campaign not only reached its $100,000 goal, it surpassed it, coming in at $107,920.

Recognized for their years of volunteer service were outgoing Foundation board members Martha Crete and Cindy Putnam. John Saturley, a former Foundation board member and long-time supporter of 4-H, received a special award for his volunteer efforts at the 4-H Camp at Bear Brook State Park this past summer.

Highlighting the night’s activities were the testimonies of 4-H’ers Ian Gove, Hillsborough County, Janet Wisler and Devin Bates (also a 4-H Foundation board member) of Merrimack County, Becky Davis and Morgan and Cacia King, Rockingham County. Each spoke to the positive effect 4-H has had on their lives, while Morgan and Cacia sang a song about the fun of 4-H Camp this past summer.

A new slate of officers was introduced, including Robin Weeks, chair, Tom Frangione, vice chair, and Starr Tardif, secretary.

Effective immediately, Deborah Carr will serve as UNH Cooperative Extension’s Human Resources contact. Deb has a master's degree in management and over 20 years of experience in human resources. You can reach Deborah at 862-0507. This change resulted from the recent departures of Associate Vice President David Butler and Human Resources Partner Holly Wellstead. Sharon Demers has assumed the role of interim associate vice president.

As Extension moves forward with the redesign and reorganization of our website, it's important to delineate individual roles, responsibilities and procedures. Please review the newly published UNH Cooperative Extension’s Website Protocol at http://ceinfo.unh.edu/Intranet/UNHCEPP/UNHCEWP.pdf for an understanding of the policies and procedures now in place.

UNH President Ann Weaver Hart recently approved a new policy on Ownership and Management of Research Data. Faculty, research staff and students have clearly articulated rights to and responsibilities for research data including protection afforded to the members of the UNH community.

Please become familiar with this policy. The policy recommends the development of written agreements with all members of your research group. These agreements can take any form you wish. A template will be available on the website of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Public Service, http://www.unh.edu/orps/index.html, along with the policy. Additional resources on this topic are available through the UNH Offices of Intellectual Property Management www.unh.edu/oipm and Sponsored Research http://www.unh.edu/osr/

Over 60 people participated in the Sandown Community Profile (Rockingham County) Sept. 19 and 20. The following action teams were created:

* Town Center Development
* Newsletter/Print/TV–Community Communication
* Community Service Association/Ambassadors
* Growth Management

Thanks go to Phil Auger, the county steering committee liaison, Nancy Adams and Nancy Lambert, small group discussion leader trainers. Also, thanks to Rick Alleva, Claudia Boozer-Blasco and Karen Blass for facilitating and/or recording Friday night as well as Nancy Franz and Terri Cirillo for observing and giving feedback on the process. Charlie French served as the large group facilitator. The follow-up meeting to bring all action groups together, coordinated by UNH Cooperative Extension, took place October 1st with county staff, USDA, Rockingham Economic Development Corporation, Rockingham Planning Commission and Digit Taylor as invited resource partners to support the groups.

Upcoming Profiles take place in Londonderry ( Rockingham County) October18, and Weare and New Boston (both from Hillsborough County) in late winter/early spring, 2004.

A memorandum of agreement has been signed between UNH Cooperative Extension, the College of Liberal Arts and its Department of Education to support our Associate Director, Nancy Franz, as an affiliate with the Department of Education. In this role, she will serve on graduate student committees, attend department meetings, contribute to department research, guest lecture and work with graduate assistants and interns. Congratulations, Nancy, on expanding Cooperative Extension’s scholarly engagement with our campus partners.

The Galaxy II conference for Extension staff across the nation took place last week in Salt Lake City. Six of our staff represented New Hampshire. Debbie Cheever, Nancy Evans and Marilyn Sullivan participated in a 4-H after-school super seminar. Chris Bozak presented a poster session on the 4-H working steer project. She also was awarded a 4-H Distinguished Service award. Lynn Garland also won the meritorious service award, but was unable to attend. Nancy Bradford-Sisson won a Family and Consumer Science Distinguished Service award. Finally, Nancy Franz presented her research on Extension staff partnerships. I look forward to hearing about their conference experience. Congratulations to our award winners.

Students at UNH wish to recognize the efforts of those who help foster rich and strong communities in the state by presenting the first-ever UNH Community Leader of the Year award. The award presentation takes place at a black tie banquet and ball December 4 in UNH's new Holloway Commons. Organized and run entirely by students in the university's Community Development Program, the event will include a silent auction, dinner, award ceremony and dancing, with all proceeds going to a scholarship fund.

Three awards will be presented, including Community Leader of the Year, Community-Supporting Organization of the Year, and Student Community Leader of the Year. Please nominate individuals and organizations you feel strengthen New Hampshire communities. Complete nomination details are available at www.dred.unh.edu/award.htm or by calling 862-4811.

Nominations may be mailed, emailed or faxed to Professor Kelly Giraud, coordinator of UNH's Community Development Program by November 1. Tickets for the event are $50 if purchased before Nov. 15 ($75 after). Nomination details, silent auction donations and ticket information can be found at www.dred.unh.edu/award.htm or by contacting: Prof. Kelly Giraud, Coordinator, Community Development Program, 312 James Hall, email: kelly.giraud@unh.edu

New Hampshire Public Television is one of four public television stations awarded a “4x4 Community Partnership Grant” from the National Center for Outreach, a public television organization designed to encourage participation and effect change at the community level.

Collaborating with NHPTV are UNH Cooperative Extension, the NH Library Association and Volunteer NH! The partners developed the Partnership for a Safe New Hampshire, a project centered around the topic of emergency preparedness to raise awareness and foster participation on a community level. Working with personnel from the NH Department of Safety’s Bureau of Emergency Management (BEM), the Partnership for a Safe New Hampshire addresses a critical need by conducting informational sessions and facilitated discussions at eight community venues throughout the state in October and November. Speakers for these sessions include representatives of the Bureau of Emergency Management, UNH Cooperative Extension and/or Volunteer NH! (Citizen Corp). Local emergency management and town officials are encouraged to attend. Sessions focus on community-specific issues regarding the need for emergency preparedness plans at the local level.

Schedule of Events, (all begin at 7 pm):

* Oct. 7, Whipple Free Library, New Boston
* Oct. 8, Town and Country Motor Inn, Gorham
* Oct. 14, Portsmouth City Hall
* Oct. 22, Kennett High School
* Oct. 23, Manchester City Library
* Oct. 28, Littleton Community House Annex
* Nov. 5, Keene Public Library
* Nov. 17, Elliott Alumni Center

UNH Cooperative Extension is the recipient of the following new grants:

Darrel Covell, $43,340 from the NH Fish and Game Department, for the Extension Wildlife Conservation Program

Stefan Seiter (overseen by Seth Wilner), $63,260 from the University of Maine, for the Farmer Research Education Program

Frank Mitchell, $52,560 from the NH Office of State Planning, for the Natural Resources Outreach Coalition program delivery

Anne Deely, $128,323 from the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), for the technology transfer project, “Spatial Analysis of Raster Data: Watershed Analyses and the Land Cover Data Set”

David Foote, $1,500 from the New England Cooperative Extension Consortium for Two-Way Interactive Video Technology Utilization-Planning

Suzann Knight, $995,406 from the NH Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Family Assistance, for the Family Lifeskills Program

Wendy Brock, $34,400 from the Rural Youth Development Grant Program for the project, “Engaging Youth Serving Community”

Jeff Schloss, $19,829 from the Samuel P. Pardoe Foundation for the NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program web project

Anne Deely, $18,810 from the Samuel P. Pardoe Foundation for GIS Analysis for Land and Resource Planning

Frank Mitchell, $9,000 from the NH Center for Land Conservation Assistance to provide services to land trusts, municipal conservation groups, other conservation groups, professionals involved in land conservation and landowners as part of the Center for Land Conservation Assistance’s activities

Jeff Schloss, $27,055 from the US Dept. of Transportation, US Geological Survey, for Land Use on Water Quality

Sharon Meeker, $10,000 from the Office of State Planning for support of the Great Bay Coast Watch Support for Shellfish Program Activities

Brian Doyle, $70,108 from NOAA for Fisheries Enhancement

Rollie Barnaby, $404,909 from NOAA for Fisheries Enhancement

Charlie French, $1,500 from the New England Extension Consortium for the “Web-Based Community Capacity Index” project

Tom Buob, $34,000 from the NH Department of Environmental Services for the Riparian Buffer project

Tom Buob, $40,000 from the NH Department of Environmental Services for the “Development of Nutrient Plans” project

Julia Peterson, $1,500 from the New England Extension Consortium for the “Educational Initiatives for Private Well Owners in New England” project

Catherine Violette, $9,980 from the New England Extension Consortium for On-line Support for New England Food Entrepreneurs project

What good can a group of youngsters armed with spray paint in downtown neighborhoods be up to? Lots! Over the last two years, close to 400 youngsters learned about the number one source of water pollution in the nation and did something about it. These youth, with over 220 adult volunteer helpers, painted the message “Don’t Dump Drains to River” next to 1,330 storm grates in coastal New Hampshire towns.

The storm grates lead to a system of underground pipes that carry storm water away from our streets and neighborhoods and into local water bodies to prevent flooding. They also carry potential contaminants like automotive fluids, sediment, pet waste and pesticides from our streets, lawns and gardens into these local water bodies. The Environmental Protection Agency considers polluted runoff or nonpoint source pollution the primary source of water pollution in the country.

Storm drain stenciling as a community stewardship activity provides youngsters and adults a reason to learn about polluted runoff and to inform others about it. A common misconception exists that storm water entering the grates flows to a wastewater treatment plant. In the vast majority of instances, it doesn’t. Local media, further spreading the message about where storm water goes and how it carries pollutants, often cover storm drain stenciling projects.

In the past couple years, 12 different storm drain-stenciling projects were supported by a grant from the NH Estuaries Project to UNH Cooperative Extension’s Sea Grant program. The grant covered staff time, printing, travel and supply expenses. Groups of volunteers from within the community provide the labor. Local Departments of Public Works provide maps of the storm drain system, safety cones, paint and personnel to make the project possible. As towns in the region attempt to comply with new EPA regulations about reducing storm water pollution, youngsters armed with spray paint in downtown neighborhoods can be a welcome sight!