Extension Update: November 2006 Archives

Land conservation is growing in New Hampshire. Private land trusts, towns and cities, and state agencies have expanded the pace of land conservation in recent years. A number of smaller land trusts also have grown in the past decade and some municipalities now have staff with land conservation duties. Land conservation is also getting more attention in municipal planning and land use regulation.

A new course at UNH will help prepare graduates for work in the growing land conservation field. The Natural Resources Department is offering the course, Land Conservation Principles and Practices, in the Spring, 2007 semester in partnership with UNH Cooperative Extension (the course begins January 17).

Extension Professor/Specialist Frank Mitchell, and UNH Professors Mimi Becker and Robert Eckert, developed the course to better prepare UNH graduates for possible work in this expanding field. They will serve as the principal instructors for the Land Conservation Principles and Practices course.

The course will afford upper level undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to gain a practical understanding of a broad range of topics relevant to today's land conservation work. It will provide a window into the workings of New Hampshire land conservation groups, the essential role private landowners play, and the recent surge in land conservation work by volunteers at the town and city level.

To learn more, there is additional course information on the UNH Natural Department's web site.

With the recent change in Barbara Wright's position, she will no longer provide ergonomics assistance for Extension staff. There are, however, several resources available to staff, including:

The UNHCE ergonomics blog has a wealth of resources and links and is searchable. The blog has information on ergonomic basics, office layouts, good positioning, stretches, chairs, and ergonomically-correct devices (such as keyboards and mice.)

OSHA has information and eTools to help with correct positioning.

MEMIC (our worker's compensation insurer) has published an extensive brochure on the fundamentals of ergonomics.

The Healthy Lifestyles Team is offering a session April 3. The morning is devoted to ergonomics, with a certified ergonomist and professors from UNH's Occupational Therapy department. Related topics (stretches, exercises, kinesiology) will be featured in the afternoon. To sign up for this inservice, use the on-line inservice registration form

If people need further assistance, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety is a resource for all UNH staff, including county staff funded by UNH. Alexis Sablock (email: Alexis.Sablock@unh.edu), Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator, is the contact person for that office.

There is a small loaner pool of ergonomic devices, which Barbara will continue to lend to staff to try in their offices for up to two weeks at a time. Check these listings for available equipment and for keyboard information.

In partnership with a diverse group of individuals, Extension educators in Carroll and Coos counties are reaching out to communities in response to juvenile justice concerns.

The Juvenile Justice Projects are one-year planning processes designed to build broad citizen support and understanding, foster unity and strengthen collaborative community-based responses to juvenile justice issues. Planning grants of $86,407 for Carroll County and $58,770 for Coos County are funded by the NH Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice in response to a 2005 report by Justiceworks, Status of Juvenile Justice in New Hampshire.

The report reviews available data from 2003, and concludes that at the time there were proportionately higher numbers of teens in Carroll County entering the court system for alcohol and drug related violations, while a higher number of child delinquents (under age 13) were court-involved in Coos County.

A variety of strategies, including forums, interviews, study circles and peer youth education and outreach, will help citizens understand juvenile justice, examine current delinquency trends and causes, define services and gaps, and identify solutions based on proven practices. Findings will guide the development of county-wide strategic plans.

In both counties, the processes are led by UNH Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the county district and family courts, prevention coalitions, community agencies and services, and concerned citizens. Extension staff leading the effort include Larry Barker and Sue Buteau in Coos County, Ann Hamilton and Dotty Burrows in Carroll County, and state staff Paula Gregory and Michele Gagne.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Professor Congda Yu, vice president of Zhejiang Ocean University of China, last week, at the invitation of Extension Specialist Pingguo He, a former colleague of Yu's.

Professor Yu, along with Mr. Zhihai Chen of the same university, in Boston to attend a scientific conference, was interested in learning more about how the Cooperative Extension system works. Pingguo also took him on a tour of other UNH departments during his visit.

Zhejiang Ocean University is located on the Island of Zhoushan, about 100 miles southeast of Shanghai. It is a comprehensive university with more than 11,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The university is composed of 13 colleges offering 28 undergraduate programs, four institutes and centers. The number of the teaching and administrative staff totals more than 1,000, including more than 240 full professors and associate professors.

Shown in the photo with me are, on the left, Mr. Zhihai Chen, head of laboratories for marine fisheries, Zhejiang Ocean University, and right, Prof. Congda Yu, vice president of Zhejiang Ocean University.

John Porter received recognition during the awards ceremony at the recent annual meeting of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents in Cincinnati.

Porter, a regional finalist in the communications category, was recognized for computer-generated graphics in a "Dairy Goat Housing" CD he prepared for a New Hampshire dairy goat seminar.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions, emerging in the past decade to challenge smoking as the most significant public health problem in the United States today.

UNH Cooperative Extension's response to this critical issue is the Lighten Up NH! initiative. Working since 2003, this interdisciplinary team has created an initiative that will bring agencies and organizations from all corners of the state together to work on obesity prevention.

An additional component of this initiative is the development of a web site for professionals and consumers to access for help with nutrition and physical activity. This initiative was funded for three years by the HNHfoundation for $214,879.

The Lighten Up NH! team includes Val Long, Julia Peterson, Colette Janson-Sand, Joanne Knowlton, Terri Schoppmeyer, Debbie Luppold, Martha Judson, Patricia Halpin, Helen Costello, Brenda Carey, Debbie Cheever, Sue Cagle, Peg Boyles and Charlene Baxter.

Sullivan County owns over 1,500 acres of land on the Sullivan County Farm in Unity. The land is primarily forestland with some fields. Most of it is classified as middle aged, 60 to 100 years old, with not a lot of old or young forests since much of the property was used for agricultural purposes from the 1800's to mid 1900's.

With the help of the Natural Resource Conservation Service, NH Fish and Game Department and UNH Cooperative Extension, Sullivan County received cost-share funds to create some young forest/brushy habitat on the Sullivan County Farm. Young sapling/brushy forested areas compliment areas of mature forest as they help sustain native wildlife.

To start the project, a three-acre field abandoned 15 years ago was reclaimed using a forestry mower. The forestry mower ground the 10-20 foot tall softwoods, gray birch, poplar and sumac into chips. A private contractor from Cornish was hired to mow the area with $4,500 from the NRCS Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program and NH Fish and Game Department Small Grants Program, covering the cost of the project.

The goal of completing wildlife habitat projects on county lands is twofold:
* Manage wildlife habitat on county lands to benefit as many native wildlife species as possible, and
* Serve as an educational area to demonstrate wildlife habitat management techniques for the residents of Sullivan County.

The young forest/brushy habitat will provide food and cover for many native wildlife species including grouse, deer and moose. After the mowing, turkeys were observed grazing insects in the freshly cut brush and monarch butterflies were laying eggs on new sprouts of milkweed.

To learn more about this project, contact Sullivan County Extension Educator Chuck Hersey.

Two UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Educators received recognition at the recent NAE4-HA annual meeting in Milwaukee.

Becky Levesque received the Distinguished Service Award. She was recognized for increased 4-H membership in Belknap County through marketing, collaborations and personal contacts. Her innovative work includes using video conferencing for leader training and a 4-H Leader Mentor program. Through her efforts more teens are serving on committees, participating in conferences, and service learning projects.

Dotty Burrows was awarded the Meritorious Service Award for her 23 years as an educator in New Hampshire. She served as advisor to the New Hampshire State Teen Council. In Carroll County, she implemented a Quilt In program, where over 200 youth have experienced making their own quilts, and making quilts for hospitalized children over the past 15 years. Dotty works with teens in her county on workforce readiness and job acquisition skills.