Extension Update: May 2008 Archives

Co-investigators Ken La Valley, Extension Specialist, Commercial Fisheries, and Rich Langan, director of the Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center, just received news of a grant award from the NOAA Marine Aquaculture Program.

The research team will receive $212,000 over two years. This project will conduct outreach to individuals and groups in the New England fishing industry to generate interest in offshore mussel farming, and to provide technical assistance for start-ups in all aspects of offshore farming, from site selection and permitting to operations and marketing.

The investigators anticipate this project will greatly improve the possibility for expansion of offshore mussel farming in the United States and contribute to the economic and social welfare of coastal communities.

Please join me in congratulating the following staff for their years of service to UNH Cooperative Extension and to our two Presidential Awards of Excellence winners, Frank Mitchell and Pam Doherty, shown in the photo.

They were formally recognized Friday during the UNH 2008 Staff Recognition Program, hosted by UNH President Mark Huddleston and the UNH Council Chairs. This year, 212 Operating Staff, PAT and Extension Educator staff were recognized for their years of service and outstanding contributions to the University. Their combined years of service equal 4,045 years.

Recognized for 10 years of service:
Robin Peters, Educational Program Coordinator, Nutrition Connections
Tina Savage, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources
Michael Toepfer, Local Area Network Manager

15 Years
Julie Peterson, Extension Associate Professor/Specialist, Water Resources

20 Years
Roland Barnaby, Extension Educator,
Karyn Blass, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Resources
Faye Cragin, WWW & Media Specialist
Nancy Evans, Extension Program Associate, 4-H Youth Development
Nada Haddad, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources
Jonathan Nute, Extension Educator, Forestry & Wildlife
Nancy Oakley, Administrative Assistant, 4-H Youth Development
Judi Strauss, Computer Network/Systems Manager

25 Years
Claudia Boozer-Blasco, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Resources
Tom Buob, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources
Lori Levac, Administrative Assistant, Sea Grant
Deborah Maes, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Resources
Northam Parr, Extension Educator, Forestry & Wildlife

30 Years
Phil Auger, Extension Educator, Land & Water Conservation
Deborah Cheever, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development
Paula Gregory, Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development
Julia Steed-Mawson, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development

Presidential Awards of Excellence
Frank Mitchell, Extension Specialist, Land & Water Conservation, is the 2008 Extension Educator Presidential Award of Excellence recipient and Pam Doherty, Administrative Assistant at our Family, Home and Garden Education Center, is one of two 2008 Operating Staff Presidential Award of Excellence recipients.

The Hopkinton Library was the site Monday for the third Merrimack County Conversation, Woods to Wood: The Economic Impact of the Forest Industry in Merrimack County and the State of New Hampshire.

As part of the County Conversation, we also toured HHP, Inc., in Henniker earlier in the day, a state-of-the-art hardwood sawmill. HHP, Inc. is the state’s largest hardwood sawmill. It is an integrated forest products company that employs several UNH graduates and includes:

• a hardwood lumber mill producing both kiln-dried and green lumber,
• a pallet manufacturing facility producing custom and standard-size pallets, offering pallet
• sterilization to meet international shipping standards and
• a roundwood chip plant producing paper-quality hardwood and softwoods chips.

HHP, Inc. has received assistance from UNH Cooperative Extension, but more importantly, frequently serves as a host for many Extension-sponsored workshops. Ross D'Elia, president of HHP and a UNH graduate, was on hand to greet us and talk about how the business has grown over the past 20 years.

At the library, State Rep. Christine Hamm provided participants with a tour of the library prior to the County Conversation, which began with Merrimack County Advisory Council Chair Andy Duncan welcoming the group. Those attending included county advisory council members, public officials, representatives from UNH and partnering organizations, and volunteers.

Extension Educator Tim Fleury and Extension Specialist Sarah Smith opened the program, setting the stage by talking about the value of the forest industry to New Hampshire (it contributes over $1 billion in value of shipments to New Hampshire’s economy.) They were followed by Don Quigley, Forest Technology professor, Thompson School of Applied Science, who talked about “what the University is doing for you,” and its value, while Phil Bryce, director, NH Division of Forests and Lands, talked about current use and the economic importance of forestry.

Darrel Covell, Forestry & Wildlife Program Leader, moderated the panel, fielding a lively question and answer session on New Hampshire’s forests, current use and the future of forest land in the state.

To showcase the deep history and connection to New Hampshire’s forests and trees, Sarah invited State Rep. Elizabeth Blanchard to the podium. Rep. Blanchard read a poem her mother had written about a maple cutting board her father made from a tree in their front yard. Her parents ran one of the two Turkey Pond sawmills in Concord that sawed up millions of board feet of timber from the 1938 hurricane. Holding up the maple cutting board, she noted how she had swung from one of the lower branches of the same tree as a child and how the maple board was cut to become a “useful part of a memory.”

Congratulations to all involved in planning and conducting this successful event.

(In the top right photo, UNH President Mark Huddleston is shown with John Pike, Dean of UNH Cooperative Extension, while the bottom left photo shows the audience at the Hopkington Library.)