Extension Update: Featured Programs Archives

The Community Assets for People Mapping Project (CAP-Map), is a collaborative effort between UNH Cooperative Extension, UNH's Complex Systems Research Center, Research Computing, and the New Hampshire Endowment for Health.

Its purpose is to help New Hampshire communities, organizations and agencies share and access information about a range of community and regional resources. The ultimate goal of the project is to help any group or organization that wants to share information about a particular resource, to do so on the web. This information would then be displayed in map form and be accessible to anyone who wants to learn more about that particular resource over the Internet.

If you would like to learn more about CAP-Map, there will be a demonstration from 10 to noon at the Holiday Inn in Concord on June 20. At the demonstration, participants will see how this GIS-based system could ultimately help them to:

• Make unmapped data mappable, even by those without GIS experience.
• Share information about resources or data their organization maintains.
• Convey complex information in a visual, easy-to-understand format.
• Explore relationships between community or statewide assets/resources and demographic data.

Last month's Nor'Easter is a striking example of how a series of worse case scenarios add up to create havoc and destruction on a statewide basis. Start with frozen and snow covered grounds that kept any rainwater from being absorbed into the soil. Add to that the previous fall storms and January thaw, which had already raised groundwater to relatively high levels. Then add the seven-plus inches of rain that pelted the landscape in a short period of time. The result was an impressive display of the power of flowing water. In fact, the US Geological Survey reported the highest flows ever recorded for five of the rivers in southern New Hampshire.

The infamous Mother's Day floods of last year, however, actually recorded a higher total rainfall level (in Durham that storm totaled just over 11 inches compared to the 7.5 inches for last month's storm). While that storm resulted in substantial damage in select areas of the state, the ground was snow and ice free, most of the trees had leafed out and spring vegetation was sprouting. The protection that vegetative cover affords against the force of water is substantial. Leaves, branches and stems absorb much of the potential energy of rainfall. Extensive root systems hold the soil in place.

Overland water flow from storm events and thaws is called "runoff." As we clear the land of natural vegetation and our communities spread outward, we increase the occurrences of runoff through the creation of impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces like roads, roofs, parking lots and compacted areas allow water to collect and flow as opposed to vegetated areas and wetlands that allow water to pond and infiltrate into the ground. The more we can limit and breakup these impervious areas and promote more vegetated areas, the less runoff and erosion will result. This can be done on individual properties as well as through innovative community planning.

To learn more about how landscaping choices can actually improve water quality by treating runoff situations, refer to UNH Cooperative Extension's newest publication: "Landscaping at the Water's Edge: An Ecological Approach to Shoreline Landscaping."

Gear ratios, differential slippage, torque, pit crews and race strategy are all part of a new and exciting 4-H Science and Technology program racing ahead to teach science and technology to youth. In March, a team of youth development professionals, local business owners, educators, youth and parents came together in the Seacoast area to form a fun and challenging science-based after-school program called the "Techno Team."

Youth from the Seabrook and Hampton areas learn science and technology concepts while building and racing radio-controlled cars. Teams of three are responsible for kit-building 1/10 scale R/C race cars, developing an array of technical skills and scientific knowledge while investing 10-12 hours of teamwork and labor in each car.

Shown in the photo, are left to right, standing, Trent Schriefer and Don Desharnais from Maximus R/C Raceway, and seated, left and right, Joey Catalano and Patrick O'Brien from Seabrook.

Many physical science properties are addressed and geometric racing strategies developed. Trent Schriefer, 4-H Science and Technology Extension Specialist, said, "Kids learn scientific principles and practices and don't even realize it." Staff from the Maximus R/C Raceway and
4-H educators provide technical support for each race team.

This 10-week pilot program, based at Seacoast Youth Services and designed in collaboration with the UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Science and Technology staff, CYFAR, 21st Century and the Maximus R/C Raceway in York, delivers science-oriented youth programs to teens at risk. "Techno Team" 4-H programs are all about teaching science and technology concepts while fostering positive youth development, community partnerships, and the "real-world" relevant engagement of youth, says Schriefer.

Future "Techno Team" topic areas for the Seacoast will include GPS, Aerospace and Robotics. If interested in a 4-H "Techno Team" program or collaboration, contact Trent Schriefer at trent.schriefer@unh.edu

Scott Estle and Karen Balnis will spearhead work on the Lighten Up NH! Initiative, aimed at helping New Hampshire residents reach and maintain a healthy weight.

The project includes a comprehensive website of New Hampshire-specific resources and formation of a statewide Lighten Up NH! alliance of organizations and health professionals interested in reducing obesity in the Granite State. The project is funded with a three-year grant from HNHfoundation.

An interdisciplinary team has been reviewing the many dimensions of the obesity issue to find ways to expand UNH's outreach. Each team member knew of many first-rate local and statewide initiatives aimed at some aspect of the problem, but soon realized the state lacked a program to make them visible to one another, and to connect all these people and programs in some meaningful way.

This website will collect and integrate all obesity resources specific to New Hampshire as well as connect people in interactive online communities of practice and interest. The site will organize and integrate the best online resources in ways that individuals, parents, teachers, health professionals and community leaders will find useful. As a result, community leaders might visit the site to learn about approaches other communities have tried, health professionals to connect their patients with local programs, and individuals to find information and peer support. The alliance will help concerned professionals, organizations and individuals connect with each other to share ideas, collaborate on programs, and maximize scarce resources.

Extension works in communities throughout New Hampshire in nearly every dimension of human life. With its long history of establishing successful coalitions that bring together a wide array of people and organizations working toward a common goal, forming the alliance was a natural role for Extension to play in our statewide effort to tackle obesity.

Mark Wiley, Extension Specialist for marine science education, Ann Reid, Extension Associate who directs the Great Bay Coast Watch and the UNH Marine Docents are working hard with their colleagues of the Gulf of Maine Marine Educators Association to host the 2007 National Marine Educator Association annual conference this summer.

The conference, entitled "Downeast 2007" is coming to Portland, July 23 -27. This is a chance for teachers, other educators and researchers interested in the "world of water, both fresh and salt" to come together to share inspiration, innovative ideas and programs.

"We anticipate over 400 marine educators from around the country and around the world to descend on Portland this summer." Wiley commented. "Most importantly, we hope that many New England teachers will take advantage of the conference's convenient location to attend for the day, or for the whole week."

The highlight of the conference will be keynote presentations on marine and freshwater subjects from researchers and activists such as Dr. Robert Steneck of the University of Maine, National Geographic underwater photographer Bill Curtsinger, ocean advocates Joan Benoit Samuelson and Casco Baykeeper Joe Payne, and noted author and former swordfish boat captain Linda Greenlaw.

Wiley, Reid, and the Docents role will be to keep the conference running smoothly, help direct conferees around Portland, and provide an interesting and enlightening experience for all participants. "We are really looking forward to sharing the best of the Gulf of Maine with our colleagues from away." Wiley remarked.

For more information about the conference, visit the conference web site or call Mark Wiley at (603) 749-1565.

Five New Hampshire 4-H Teams each received $1,400 grants from Cumberland Farms, administered through National 4-H Council. Grants focus on development and implementation of a youth-designed and youth-led strategy that address a community need, incorporating and fostering 4-H's essential elements with a focus on one or more of the following areas: Citizenship, Education, Environment, Healthy Lifestyles, Safety or Workforce Preparation in the out-of-school timeframe.

The 4-H Green Thumb Team will use their grant funds this summer for seeds and plants to help 300 youth and 35 volunteers participate in the 4-H Green Thumb Team program through a partnership with agencies that include the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Girls Inc., YMCA, Latin American Center, Salvation Army and the Massabesic Audubon Center. The goal is to have over 1,000 pounds of produce directed to the Salvation Army's Kids Cafe and the NH Food Bank, with volunteer and staff help from the USDA Farm Service Agency.

Urban, underserved youth in Manchester and Nashua with limited access to outdoor education and nature experiences will be able to attend one of two days at Bear Hill 4-H Camp or Massabesic Audubon Center. Partnering with 4-H in this effort are the Appalachian Mountain Club, Massabesic Audubon Center and afterschool providers in Manchester and Nashua. This program, 4-H in Greater Manchester Explores the Outdoors, will be used as a springboard toward a full 4-H project. A follow-up project will take place using urban ecosystems and GIS investigations through 4-H club formation or as campers at Bear Hill 4-H Camp.

The NH 4-H Teen Council, who plans and runs the State Teen Conference, uses Bear Hill 4-H Camp for retreats and is aware it needs help to keep it a safe and affordable environment. This grant, State 4-H Teen Council Supports Bear Hill 4-H Camp, provides funding for the 2007 State Teen Conference group of at least 160 teens (ages 14-18) and 25 adults for about two hours of work for various projects at camp. Projects include painting buildings, cleaning and maintaining trails, cleaning and organizing buildings and supplies, and repairing/replacing screens.

4-H Get Up and Go responds to the need to combat childhood obesity by fostering healthy lifestyle choices through the 4-H Get Up and Go for WalkNH. It includes 1,500 youth, supported by a team of 50 teen/college and community mentors from all 10 New Hampshire counties. Dr. Susan Lynch, New Hampshire's First Lady, developed WalkNH - a walking program for schools coordinated by the NH Foundation for Healthy Communities. Youth are challenged to either walk 190 miles, the length of New Hampshire, or 70 miles, its width. This grant provides the out of school component for the initiative.

Souhegan High School 4-H Recyclers will involve Amherst and Mont Vernon in a community-wide recycling program in May, educating students about environmental benefits of recycling and their parents to its cost benefit. The kick-off activity, EarthCapades, a waste reduction production, will be presented to students from kindergarten through eighth grade, co-sponsored by Souhegan High School 4-H Recycling Team, Peabody Mill Environmental Center, Amherst PTA, Amherst Recycling and Waste Reduction Task Force, Boutelle Grant and this grant.

In 2006, the NH Fish and Game Department and its partners, including UNH Cooperative Extension, completed the NH Wildlife Action Plan - the most comprehensive assessment to date of wildlife and wildlife habitats that occur within our state. Its purpose is to identify the wildlife species and their habitats in the "greatest need of conservation."

The overall role of the plan is to serve as a blueprint to guide the Fish and Game Department in efforts to restore and maintain populations of threatened and endangered wildlife species, and just as importantly, to keep common species from becoming endangered. Additionally, the plan was designed as a tool for use by communities and private landowners to help identify, conserve and manage critical wildlife and their habitats throughout the state.

This year, Extension will play a key role in its implementation. Supported through a grant from NH Fish and Game, Frank Mitchell, Amanda Stone and Matt Tarr will host educational workshops for communities and landowners. These workshops will teach communities how to use maps, developed as part of the plan, to guide local efforts for identifying and conserving critical wildlife habitat.

Landowners and consulting natural resource professionals will learn how to identify critical wildlife habitats in their field, and how to maintain and enhance those habitats for the wildlife that use them. Below is a list of dates and locations for upcoming Wildlife Action Plan workshops offered by UNH Cooperative Extension:
Westmoreland: March 31 - Westmorland Town Hall
Gonic: May 5 - Waste Management of NH
Lancaster: June 2 - North Country Resource Center

There also will be an in-service training March 8 in the Merrimack County Cooperative Extension office for Extension staff and Natural Resource Conservation Service staff to learn how they can use the plan to guide communities and landowners in conserving and managing critical wildlife habitats in our state.

Contact Matt Tarr (matt.tarr@unh.edu) for more information about the workshops listed above or for more information about the New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan.

Have you ever tried fattoush, the bread salad from the Eastern Mediterranean made with tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions, parsley, bread and dressing? What about chapatis, Indian flatbreads similar to pita bread?

In classrooms and after-school settings, kids throughout New Hampshire are participating in a UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections program called Cultural Cuisine, where they prepare and try international foods and learn about the culture of the people from each country.

Antonia Demas developed the Cultural Cuisine program in New York as part of her Cornell University dissertation to introduce kids to new food. She wanted them to experience food with all their senses in hopes of motivating them to prepare food and eat more variety.

We've seen it work first-hand in New Hampshire in more than 50 classrooms over the past five years. Each class session focuses on a different country. Kids learn about the language, arts, foods, history, and location of the country. Then every child has a meaningful job as the class prepares a representative dish from that country. Overall about 98 percent of the kids try the recipe.

The comments say it all:
"I loved it. The mustard gave it a big zing. I went back for seconds." (Lentil salad from the Eastern Mediterranean)

"It was good, except the mango and parsley." (Mango Salsa from South America)

"It was fun. I liked cooking."

Listen to an interview with John Pike in Episode 1 of Profiles in Extension, a new podcast series that will feature periodic interviews with UNH Cooperative Extension staff. You can listen to the interviews directly from the site, download them to your MP3 player, or subscribe via iTunes.

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.

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.

More than 195 school food service managers, school nurses and UNH Cooperative Extension staff attended the August 16 Building Blocks for an Effective School Team conference at the Grappone Center in Concord.

Co-sponsored by the UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections program and the NH Dept. of Education Bureau of Nutrition Programs and Services, this conference was the kick-off for implementation of school wellness policies in New Hampshire.

Schools play a critical role in promoting student health, preventing childhood obesity, and combating problems associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity. To formalize and encourage this role, Congress passed a law mandating that each local educational agency participating in a program authorized by the National School Lunch Act must establish a local school wellness policy by School Year 2006.

The legislation places the responsibility of developing a wellness policy at the local level, to address the individual needs of each district. School districts must set goals for nutrition education, physical activity, campus food provision, and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness. Additionally, districts must involve a broad group of individuals in policy development and have a plan for measuring policy implementation.

The Building Blocks plenary sessions and workshops were designed to help school personnel implement their school wellness policies. Featured speakers included Tracy Fox, National Food Service Management Institute, Dr. Joanne Burke, UNH Department of Agriculture and Nutritional Sciences, Dr. Colette Janson-Sand, UNH Department of Agriculture and Nutritional Sciences and Claudia Boozer-Blasco, UNH Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County.

This conference provided school personnel with a UNH/UNH Cooperative Extension/NH Department of Education link for resources to better help them implement these very important policies.

New Hampshire's Natural Resource Outreach Coalition (NROC) has been working with New Hampshire's coastal communities since the late 1990s to promote better land use decisions. NROC provides education, technical assistance and facilitation to community groups to help them better protect their natural resources while accommodating growth.

The NROC team is made up of representatives of various agencies and organizations who work on coastal environmental issues. UNH Cooperative Extension is currently the lead organization, with Amanda Stone as NROC coordinator. NROC works with up to three communities each year for at least a year in duration.

NROC helps communities improve their capacity to address issues by increasing their human, financial or technical resources. NROC has a strong record of improving community capacity. Over 50 percent of the communities NROC has worked with report:
* improvements in communication,
* formation of new committees,
* re-energized boards and committees, and
* an improved capacity to connect with other communities or organizations that can help them with their natural resource protection and growth management.

NROC also helps communities with outreach campaigns. Through these campaigns, community members learn more about various natural resource and growth issues which in some cases, result in passage of key regulations or warrant articles at town meetings. NROC offers communities small grants to fund activities related to natural resource protection. NROC helps communities apply for other grants as well for projects that exceed NROC implementation fund amounts.

Other communities improve background knowledge for future decision-making. These information-gathering activities help provide local data on which rational land use plans and decisions can be based. About half the NROC communities conduct community-wide surveys as part of their information-gathering efforts.

A number of communities also recognized a need to either initiate or update their Natural Resources Inventory (NRI), a first step to natural resource-based planning. NROC, often in collaboration with University of New Hampshire students, help communities complete their NRIs. A couple of communities initiated or revived volunteer water quality monitoring as a result, and one community used a small grant to support a scientific synthesis and analysis of their existing water quality data.

Some communities work with NROC to ensure the way they wish to grow is both articulated and publicly documented. Planning documents proved the vision, goals and priorities of the community. About half the NROC communities initiate conservation planning with NROC assistance. About one-third of NROC communities will update their master plan or develop a new chapter such as a water resources chapter. About one-third of NROC communities also develop open space plans.

Some communities focus their work with NROC on changing their policies and regulations - giving teeth to their plans. About one-third of NROC communities actually review and change zoning regulations.

Most communities work towards implementing some natural resource protection strategies. Over 50 percent of NROC communities will implement permanent land protection with NROC assistance. This protection usually comes in the form of conservation easements purchased by the community in conjunction with a local land trust. Millions of dollars have been bonded in NROC communities to make this permanent protection possible.

UNH Cooperative Extension is an approved financial management education provider for bankrupt debtors.

Anyone who has filed for bankruptcy needs to complete a financial education program for discharge of their bankruptcy case. The United States Trustee Program granted approval of the Starting Over: New Choices - New Direction program, written by Suzann Enzian Knight and Kathe Fredette, in early 2006. UNH Cooperative Extension educators are trained in the program, which focuses on:

* Developing a spending and savings plan
* Developing money management skills
* Using credit wisely
* Accessing consumer information

Most debtors are in poor financial shape at the time they file for bankruptcy. A study conducted in 2001 found that nearly 90 percent of all Chapter 7 debtors had a negative net worth at the time of bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy provides an opportunity to make a fresh start with finances. There are a number of causes for filing bankruptcy, most often:
* A loss or lack of adequate income from job loss, divorce, business failure, alimony or child-support problems,
* Uninsured medical expenses from an illness or injury,
* Overspending or credit card use to pay ever-increasing expenses,
* Birth of a child with special needs,
* Caring for a sick parent or relative, or any combination of causes.

Extension educators who teach Family Resource Management schedule the program monthly. To learn more, contact Suzann Enzian Knight or Kathe Fredette.

"The term permaculture was coined in the late 1970s by two Australian biologists, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. It is a contraction of “permanent agriculture” and “permanent culture.” Permaculture is a set of ethics, principles and techniques for designing sustainable human communities that have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems." - Bog Frog

June, 2006 saw some unusual activity at Woodman Farm and elsewhere on the UNH campus. No, it wasn’t just the rain, although Woodman Farm received about seven inches in a one-week period. The UNH horticultural farm served as the main location for a two-week, permaculture design certification course, one of the first offered on a land grant university campus. Twenty-three participants from three states gathered on site with the trainers: Julia and Charles Yelton of Humastacia Permaculture Gardens in Whitefield, Maine. The Yeltons, who have taught and practiced permaculture design for 14 years, developed their expertise in Australia, most recently living in Crystal Waters, an ecovillage in Queensland, AU.

The course, which covered topics ranging from sustainable energy design to pond construction to sheet-mulching, employed a hands-on, practical approach. Despite the nearly nonstop rain, course participants built a hot frame at the Student Organic Gardening Club plot, designed and constructed an herb spiral at the UNH Child Development Center, layered wind-rows for composting, and finished with a team site design for one of two locations in the Durham area.

Two UNH Cooperative Extension staff joined other students in the class. In addition to the Yeltons’ instruction, participants learned about plant guilds and reading soil profiles from Dave Jacke, a guest lecturer from Keene. They also were able to discuss sustainability principles with Jim Merkel, author of Radical Simplicity and now director of sustainability at Dartmouth College. Ag Resources staff Dot Perkins and Juli Brussell found the opportunity to work with fellow students and the trainers to be the best part of the class.

“This experience was a great chance to integrate principles of sustainable design with the need to teach homeowners and others about practical topics like water catchment and soil-building techniques,” said Dot Perkins. “I’m incorporating a lot of this information into a short course for the Master Gardeners.” Perkins is also working with Lauren Chase-Rowell, a fellow permaculturist, on an outdoor classroom at the Hooksett Memorial School. Chase-Rowell, a professional landscapist, was hired to develop the outdoor classroom for the school’s new courtyard. This outdoor room will feature native plant species and be relatively maintenance-free, an important consideration for teachers.

Permaculture principles and practices can be applied across a wide variety of landscapes and scales, from small backyards to farms to whole communities. It is one more tool UNH Cooperative Extension might be able to offer New Hampshire citizens.

UNH Cooperative Extension’s Strengthening New Hampshire Communities Program is collaborating with state, regional and national partners to develop and implement a community certification course for community development practitioners in New Hampshire.

The program, called the Community Development Institute (CDI), will serve to build the capacity of community development professionals, planners, policy-makers, organizations and community leaders to initiate, manage and sustain successful community and economic development efforts. The faculty contracted to teach the course would include professional practitioners, Extension educators, town officials and university faculty.

CDI is a nationally recognized community and economic development training program that consists of three one-week long seminars over a three-year period. Professional certification can be obtained if participants complete levels I-III and pass a national certification exam. Although the program is run at the national level, the curriculum will have a distinct New Hampshire flair.

To capture the key topics facing New Hampshire communities, Charlie French, Michele Gagne, Deb Maes and Dan Reidy are working with UNH’s Dept. of Resource Economics and Development to develop the course curriculum. Other key partners include Plymouth State University’s Center for Rural Partnerships, the Northeastern Economic Developers Association, the Rockingham Planning Commission, and the National Community Development Council.

If all goes well, the first of three levels of the course will be taught in the summer of 2007. In subsequent years, two levels of the course will be taught each year to provide flexibility for those interested in taking the course. More information on the course will be provided to Extension staff in the next few months.

The New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan is an unprecedented effort to identify and conserve habitats for the state’s most vulnerable wildlife populations. The plan, created under the direction of the NH Fish and Game Department, requires the involvement of many different groups and individuals. Land trusts, municipal conservation commissions and other conservation groups will play an important role in turning the plan into action. They also will benefit from the plan in several ways.

Members of New Hampshire groups concerned with wildlife conservation will appreciate the plan’s goals. A top challenge in wildlife conservation today is how to maintain or expand populations of species of concern – those species most vulnerable to habitat loss or degradation from land fragmentation and other effects of rapid development. The plan focuses on these species and the habitats they need to survive.

In the coming year, NH Fish and Game and UNH Cooperative Extension will host a series of workshops and visits to explain the Wildlife Action Plan. During these workshops and visits, participants will learn about the plan’s underlying conservation biology principles, actions they can take to conserve critical habitats, and how they can inform landowners about Wildlife Action Plan opportunities.

The Landowner Incentive Program, linked to the Wildlife Action Plan, makes funds available to landowners who agree to manage or conserve their lands in a manner consistent with its goals and recommendations. The Landowner Incentive Program is a good way for conservationists to interest landowners in considering their land use practices in support of the Wildlife Action Plan, as well as the goals of local and regional conservation groups. To learn more, contact Frank Mitchell at frank.mitchell@unh.edu or Darrel Covell at darrel.covell@unh.edu

Collaboration and coalition building are essential for positive youth development programming. Ideally, this includes partnerships among community organizations, individual youth and parents, and the university community.

In Rockingham County, UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development program is busy working with a number of youth coalition efforts to promote cooperation and resource development to benefit all partners. They include the Raymond Coalition for Youth, the Lower Seacoast Youth Coalition , and the Sanborn/Timberlane Safe and Drug Free Community Coalition.

These youth coalitions’ goals are to enhance and expand activities, services and supports for children, youth and families, involving both public and private organizations, as well as youth, parents and professionals in respective communities. As separate youth coalitions in distinct areas of Rockingham County, each effort has been successful in developing positive youth development programs, securing new funding and mobilizing effective youth and adult partnerships.

These local youth coalition efforts, however, continue to experience challenges to meet the need for comprehensive youth programming in their areas. Through conversations with Extension’s 4-H Youth Development staff, these youth coalitions decided to work together to expand their opportunities through larger coalition building with the establishment of the Rockingham County Youth Coalitions (RCYC) partnership.

The new partnership of the Rockingham County Youth Coalitions (RCYC) will connect and share resources among existing or emerging area youth coalitions. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was developed to establish RCFY and move forward with mutually beneficial activities. It outlines key areas for partnership and collaboration, including the following:
• Strengthen area youth coalition efforts and more effectively develop and provide activities, services and supports through cooperative program planning, implementation and evaluation.
• Increase the quantity and quality of available youth development resources, while reducing possible duplication of efforts among organizations involved
• Specifically express partnership and collaboration through:
o Board development, recruitment and enhancement
o Organizational development, training and sharing of strategies
o A resource library
o Training and technical assistance expertise
o Program development
o Joint funding efforts
o Evaluation design and implementation
o Networking and communication support
o Volunteer management, including, recruitment, orientation, and training
o County-wide celebrations and recognition events

While early in its development, RCYC holds great potential to expand the effectiveness of area youth coalitions and to foster partnerships with UNH. Opportunities abound for placement of undergraduate and graduate interns, research projects, training events and joint pursuit of funding opportunities. Any interested parties within the UNH community should contact Rick Alleva, 4-H Youth Development, Rockingham County at 679-5616 or rick.alleva@unh.edu

The Natural Resources Outreach Coalition (NROC) is a collaborative program involving 12 organizations, coordinated by UNH Cooperative Extension. Its purpose is to support communities facing rapid growth by helping them understand the status of their natural resources, the potential impacts of growth on those resources, and techniques for natural resources-based management and protection. NROC, which began in 1999, has served 15 communities through 2005.

The NROC team delivers a customized educational presentation to communities called Dealing with Growth, followed by long-term assistance developing and implementing an action plan for protecting natural resources. NROC also offers a choice of educational workshops and referral to sources of financial and other assistance. NROC tailors the program to communities’ specific needs and typically works with community members for 6-12 months.

In 2005, the New Hampshire Coastal Program, a financial sponsor of NROC, commissioned the Institute for New Hampshire Studies (INHS) at Plymouth State University to conduct an independent study of NROC’s effectiveness. The INHS used a literature review, program content analysis, interviews with NROC staff and a survey of NROC clientele to obtain its findings.

The conclusions indicate NROC is effective in:
• recruiting, mobilizing and maintaining involvement of citizens in their communities
• increasing the capacity of citizens to protect their communities’ natural resources
• providing assistance and education in a cost-effective manner.

The INHS study cited the following as strengths of NROC:
• NROC’s role as a facilitator: “It provides resources and support, and prods a community to meet and stay effective during meetings, while staying on schedule.”
• NROC’s function as an “umbrella organization providing one source shopping with customization of programs, bringing together disparate resources, with a unified message, and a coordinated effort.”
• NROC’s “considerable expertise and commitment that matches well with the structure of community-defined goals.”
• The NROC coordinating process, which “enhances communication within communities.”
• “Community and personal empowerment are outcomes” in NROC programs.

For more information on the Natural Resources Outreach Coalition or the INHS study, contact NROC Coordinator Amanda Stone at 364-5324 or Amanda.Stone@unh.edu

Foreign invaders have been relocating to the Gulf of Maine for decades, but now Extension Specialist Mark Wiley and other Sea Grant Extension educators from around New England are recruiting recreational divers to help keep them out.

Marine invasive species can wreak havoc on existing communities in the Gulf of Maine, but often they become firmly established before anyone knows they’ve arrived. “We would like to train recreational divers to recognize some of the more problematic species and let us know where they see them when they are out diving.” Mark says.

Mark and other Sea Grant Extension educators have a two-year grant from NOAA to develop the training program and share the results with agencies responsible for monitoring and controlling invasives.

“There is a hardy core of recreational divers who love New England’s cold waters that we would like to tap to help us,” he says. Divers would receive training in what some of the more problematic species look like, where to look for them, and how to differentiate them from native species.

Divers who spot invasives will need to document which species they found, and where, through an on-line data collection process. Divers interested in participating should contact Mark at (603) 749-156 or through email at mark.wiley@unh.edu.

How does UNH 4-H Camp change children? We asked parents of 849 campers from the 2005 summer camp program for help answering this question. Over 15 percent of the parents of our 2005 campers responded to a post-camp experience survey. Questions reflected the kinds of knowledge and skills we hope campers learn and practice in a typical UNH 4-H Camp experience. Over half the children (53%) in the survey had attended UNH 4-H Camp for the first time.

Over half the responding parents (60%) believe their child is more interested in learning new things since camp, and almost a third of parents (31%) think their child discovered something they might like as a career or vocation. Learning something new about the natural environment, and learning and practicing new skills were important camp outcomes reported by most parents (87%). One parent discovered her son “loved being in the woods, he loves being outdoors.” Many campers also learned the importance of eating well, exercise and rest.

An important life skill is learning how to relate to others and make new friends. Most parents (83%) felt their child made new friends that were a positive influence. These parents believe camp also helped their child learn how to get along with others, and some parents (42%) report their child is actually doing better in this skill since camp. A majority of parents (79%) believe their child learned something about people from another culture. Parents commented there was “nice camaraderie in the cabin” and, “he had a child with special needs in the cabin, this was a good positive experience for all.”

The survey suggests good news for busy parents. Over half the parents (54%) believe camp helped their child learn how to solve problems without their help, and one-third report their child helps more around the house or yard since being at camp.

Also good to know...overwhelmingly parents agree (99%) that children had fun at camp. A parent wrote, “Both kids had a great time and each wants to stay an extra week next year!” Another parent reported it was “my daughter’s fifth year at camp. She loves it and talks about it all year.” What makes camp such a special experience? Parents cite everything from “learning the silly new camp songs” to swimming, candle lighting, non-candy snacks in the camp store, kayaking, archery, and cooking makeshift bread. However, the overwhelming impact of camp may just come from “the counselors who come from many countries” and their sincere commitment to being “really fun, friendly and making campers feel safe.”

We are fast approaching the sweetest season in New England, the time of the year when sugarmakers tap their maple trees for the sap and boil it down to make pure maple syrup, maple candy and other products. Extension Educator Sumner Dole works with these producers from across the Northeast and Canada to ensure that tree health and consumer standards for maple syrup are in place and in practice. His objectives are to enhance the economic viability of the maple industry in the region while protecting both the maple resource and consumers.

Sumner worked with New Hampshire’s maple community to detect and reduce lead levels in maple syrup with great success. Working with the International Maple Syrup Institute, Sumner helped design a random sample purchase and testing program to detect adulterated syrup entering the market around the world. This protocol ensures that the products’ label reflects pure maple syrup.

UNH Cooperative Extension collaborated with the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the University of Maine Extension to develop and conduct two annual New England Maple Grading Schools in Lancaster, NH. The International Maple Syrup Institute and maple industry provided some financial support for the grading school, attended by participants representing six states and three provinces. This school provides a strong scientific base combined with intensive hands-on exercises.

Lately, several insects have attacked our sugar maple trees. Extension’s Forest Resource Educators are available to advise maple producers on dealing with these incidents. The more conservative tapping guidelines outlined in the Sugarbush Management: A Guide to Maintaining Tree Health are sustainable and if followed, lessen the need to revise tapping practices with each insect outbreak.

UNH Cooperative Extension supports the maple industry, a multi-million dollar renewable resource rural industry, with assistance from educators and specialists in the Forestry and Wildlife Resources program and our partners in the NH Division of Forests and Lands.

New Hampshire’s first statewide grazing conference takes place Feb. 3 and 4 at the 2006 Farm and Forest Expo in Manchester.

Event sponsors are UNH Cooperative Extension and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Services Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative. “Grazing and the Bottom Line — Kick It in the Grass” will provide farmers and others interested in grazing and grass-based livestock production the opportunity to engage out-of-state and homegrown experts during the sessions.

Friday’s speaker, Dr. Ben Bartlett, a large-animal veterinarian who works for Michigan State University as a Dairy and Livestock Extension Educator, grazes cattle and sheep in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where winters are rougher than most parts of New Hampshire.

The morning session will address grazing opportunities for New Hampshire and the Northeast. A panel discussion follows on overcoming challenges in the Northeast that will include a discussion on climate and bedstraw issues.

Steve Taylor, NH Commissioner of Agriculture, will address the conference attendees at lunch. Participants can choose from two tracks during Friday’s afternoon session. Track 1 focuses on organic dairy production, including milk production, transitioning and herd health management. Track 2 will focus on grazing and forage production with topics that include forage storage and stockpiling, nutrient cycling and soil fertility, and forage biodiversity and pasture productivity. The afternoon session will address silvopasture, which integrates pasture and forest production, with a presentation by USDA’s Agricultural Resource Service experts.

The conference concludes with a Saturday morning workshop. The workshop sessions will focus primarily on equine owner needs, including pasture and nutrient management as well as equine health and pasturing. Speakers include Carey Williams from Rutgers University and UNH Cooperative Extension’s own Carl Majewski. Contact Program Leader Juli Brussell at juli.brussell@unh.edu for information.

Cooperative Extension family education and policy specialist Emily Douglas is collaborating in several projects both within and outside of the UNH campus. In one such project, Emily is part of an interdisciplinary evaluation team working with the Family Resource Center in Gorham. Along with Drs. Sally Ward (Department of Sociology) and Wendy Walsh (Department of Sociology and Crimes against Children Research Center,) Emily is evaluating the effectiveness of a job-readiness program called JOBPro.

JOBPro is a community-based program that offers participants both hard and soft job skills and is in part the result of a partnership program developed by the Androscoggin Valley Economic Recovery program, Community Technical College, Granite State College and area employers.

The program provides training in computer skills, on-the-job problem solving, workplace safety, time management, financial management, resume writing, and the importance of punctuality and dependability to maintain employment. Participants are surveyed before and after they complete the program; follow-up interviewing will be scheduled place in the coming months.

Jane’s Trust, which funds JOBPro, makes grants to address important issues in the Trust's fields of interest and areas of geographical focus described below. Trustees are interested particularly in organizations and projects that primarily benefit underserved populations and disadvantaged communities. Jane's Trust makes grant in the states of Florida and Massachusetts, and in the northern New England states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. To learn more, contact Emily at emily.douglas@unh.edu

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Mark Wiley, Extension Specialist, Marine Science Education, other UNH staff, and two other collaborating institutions a Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) grant. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will coordinate the grant, which also involves University of Maine staff. The new Center, COSEE-Ocean Systems (OS), will engage scientists and educators eager to deliver effective marine science education tools and techniques to existing COSEE's, helping them spread their efforts inland and to rural areas.

COSEE program goals are to:
• foster collaboration and communication between ocean science researchers and educators,
• facilitate integration of research into high-quality educational materials and develop linkages that foster development and dissemination of these materials,
• provide pedagogical expertise and guidance for research scientists involved in education and
• provide material that promotes a deeper understanding of the ocean and its influence on each person’s quality of life and our national prosperity.

This is the first COSEE funded to support a thematic approach to the goals of the program. All previously funded COSEE’s have a regional focus. COSEE-Ocean Systems will develop, implement and evaluate several different approaches to connecting rural and inland students and teachers to the marine environment. Successful approaches will then be shared with other COSEEs in the network. Wiley will work with Amy Cline of the UNH Center for Coastal Ocean Observation and Analysis to develop teacher professional development opportunities that share the successful strategies developed by the collaborators. The program is funded for five years. To learn more, contact Wiley at mark.wiley@unh.edu

New Hampshire’s state dairy and horse teams recently returned from national contests/events in Wisconsin and Kentucky. Four youth competed at the National 4- H Dairy Judging Contest held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. Youth get the opportunity to showcase their dairy selection, decision-making, teamwork and communication skills.

Two New Hampshire youth chosen as delegates to the national dairy conference, also held at World Dairy Expo, met other youth involved in dairy, toured state-of-the art farms, and learned more about future dairy industry opportunities.

New Hampshire 4-H sends four horse teams and one dairy team to the Eastern National 4-H Contest, part of the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, KY. Both Horse and Dairy Quiz Bowl team members compete in a college quiz bowl-type of competition that require months of studying and team practices.

The NH 4-H Hippology Team competed in an event designed to test horse knowledge and skills as well as teamwork. Youth take a written quiz, identify equipment and breeds of horses, judge horses and work through a problem-solving question – requiring teamwork, communication skills and creativity.

The Horse Communication’s Team delivers speeches and demonstrations – both as individuals and in teams on a variety of thought-provoking topics related to the equine industry. Youth involved in this contest must have poise, excellent communication skills and confidence to deliver a polished speech or presentation to national judges.

The 4-H Horse Judging Team also competed, practicing horse selection, oral communication and decision-making skills. All these events are culminations of local and state contests. In most cases, youth attending participate in fundraising efforts to help support their trip and the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire supports travel and lodging.

Logging operations have for decades used Best Management Practices (BMPs) for erosion control. New Hampshire, like other states, has a BMP manual describing acceptable methods and techniques designed to prevent sedimentation of streams, ponds and wetlands during and after logging.

The prescribed methods, according to Sarah Smith, UNH Cooperative Extension’s Forest Industry Specialist, aren’t always effective. Sarah recently wrote a grant to the USDA Forest Service enabling the Extension forestry staff to participate in a USDA, Forest Service, regional study examining the effectiveness of BMP installation.

The process, called the BMP Monitoring Protocol, is a “whole new way of looking at things,” says Smith. “The goal is to begin to identify BMPs that are working well or those that have not been installed or maintained properly. Then, we can focus our educational efforts.”

The sample logging operations were chosen randomly from 2004 state intent-to-cut forms landowners must file with the NH Department of Revenue Administration prior to harvesting. Once permission to enter the property was granted, Extension went to work collecting data. The process should continue until snow flies. Results on individual sites will remain confidential and results reported in summary. It is important that landowners not view this process as regulatory. The focus is educational.

The grant also supported the purchase of pocket personal computers, helping the sample crews to record data electronically, which is downloaded directly to an Excel spreadsheet.

On Tuesday, October 25, Thomas Dorr, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, joined state dignitaries on a stage in Manchester’s Radisson Conference Center for a public listening session regarding the upcoming 2007 Farm Bill. What Dorr and others clearly heard from the more than 40 people who testified was good news for UNH Cooperative Extension.

From the state FFA representative to 4-H alumni to New Hampshire farm and forest owners, the message was clear: “We owe a lot to Cooperative Extension – please make sure that funds are there to keep the work of Extension out there for the people.”

Specific concerns ranged from allocating more funding to farm and forest preservation initiatives, increasing funds for 4-H youth efforts, ensuring that farmers have access to innovative marketing information to funding WIC coupon programs for farmers markets.

The unique characteristics of New Hampshire farm and forest owner needs were made clear to the Under Secretary in testimony from Program Leaders Juli Brussell and Bob Edmonds. Anna Boudreau, chair of the State Extension Advisory Council, spoke regarding the need for increased federal formula funding to provide stability for the work of Cooperative Extension.

Many people testifying, farm and forest owners, spoke eloquently of the impact Cooperative Extension has made in their lives, providing the Under Secretary with a clear picture of the important role Cooperative Extension plays in serving the citizens of New Hampshire.

You might be interested in reading the testimony I submitted on our behalf.

A research team made up of Extension Specialist Charlie French, Sally Ward, Professor/Department Chair, Sociology Department and Kelly Giraud, Associate Professor, Resource Economics Department, plan to evaluate the economic and social performance of resident-owned manufactured housing communities in New Hampshire.

The Ford Foundation, the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund and the Carsey Institute are supporting the research effort.

Currently, 71 resident-owned manufactured housing communities serve 3,300 New Hampshire families. Thanks to the assistance of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, homeowners in each of these cooperatively-owned communities were able to form self-governing corporations that purchased the land beneath their homes, as opposed to renting their land.

In spite of the popularity of resident-owned communities in New Hampshire, one important question remains - do they outperform landowner-owned manufactured housing parks from a social and economic standpoint?

The research team set out to answer this question through a comprehensive study that engaged residents of manufactured housing cooperatives, residents of landowner-owned parks and local officials from seven New Hampshire towns.

The study is testing the following hypotheses:
1. The cost of home ownership is stabilized by resident ownership
2. Homeowners gain access market-rate financing products
3. Homeowners gain long-term security
4. Members of resident owned cooperatives gain legal, managerial, and financial control over their community.

The research findings could have profound implications on how organizations and institutions address affordable housing in an increasingly tight housing market. The findings will be published and released at "The Meredith Institute," a national event to be held in Manchester November 1-3, dedicated to sectoral strategies to address affordable housing.

Following the dramatic decline in Gulf of Maine and George’s Bank fish stocks during the early 1990’s, fishermen faced a multitude of regulations that dictate the gear used, the number of days that can be fished, and how much fish can be landed.

To combat industry limitations and preserve fishing as a means to make a living, fishing industry members partnered with the academic community to cooperatively develop conservation gear.

Since 2000, more than 190 cooperative research projects in the Northeast received over $25 million. Two regional programs, the Northeast Consortium (NEC) and the Cooperative Research Partnership Initiative (CRPI), support the majority of cooperative research projects. The NEC funds a broad scope of projects, ranging from oceanographic monitoring to fishing gear conservation engineering. The CRPI initiative enhances the data on which fishery management decisions are made.

Presently, conservation engineering has focused on reducing the bycatch of commercially important non-target species by making fishing gears more selective. Selectivity was increased by altering net mesh characteristics (size, shape or position) and by using fish behavior to develop gear that excludes fish or adds selectivity devices such as grates and separator panels.

The cooperative research process has been most successful with projects that are equal partnerships that rely not only on scientific and statistical verification but the insight and operational wisdom of the fishing industry.

For more information on cooperative research, visit the NEC and CRPI websites.

A Community Youth Mapping (CYM) orientation day held March 24 proved to be the stimulus for summer projects conducted in partnership with UNH Cooperative Extension. Of the 70 attending the orientation provided by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, two county groups, the CoRe Group in Belknap County and the Transition Resource Network in Strafford County came forward with grant money to conduct a summer asset mapping project. Encouragement from the Workforce Opportunity Youth Council to apply for discretionary funds also proved successful for UNH Cooperative Extension with a $25,000 award.

The Community Youth Mapping (CYM) effort is a catalyst for motivating youth and adults to identify existing resources, places to go, things to do and special opportunities in the community, as well as create and expand new opportunities. CYM is a youth development approach to information collection that requires meaningful participation by youth and adults. Young people are the stakeholders in the planning, collection, data entry, analysis and dissemination of this information. Adults provide technical, political and personal support. The assets often mapped include existing resources for young people and families in such areas as art, food, counseling, health, education, housing, emergency services, employment and recreation. Ideally, CYM is coordinated by a local public, private and nonprofit partnership that engages youth and adults. The strength of this youth-adult partnership is key to the CYM process.

In trainings held this summer in both counties, youth mappers and their adult mentors were introduced to the process and the survey tool they would use to collect and record information. The training featured role-playing, canvassing safety, dealing with difficult people, professional protocols, interpersonal relations and daily expectations on the job.

Youth collecting the information were compensated with either a regular wage, stipend or school credit. As a result, important elements of commitment are learned, such as arriving at work on time, filling out a timesheet, following a code of conduct, working in individual and group settings, communicating with a supervisor and completing tasks.

Mapping took place through August 4. In Belknap County there were 21 youth mappers and 10 adult volunteer supervisors. They "mapped" the following towns: Center Harbor, Meredith, Weirs, Laconia, Gilford, Belmont, Gilmanton, Alton and Barnstead. In Strafford County there were 18 youth mappers and eight adult supervisors. They "mapped" Rochester and Dover.

The youth involved learned valuable workforce skills, such as how to conduct interviews, record information, work with databases, analyze, report, and present what they’ve learned. They also developed important job-readiness “soft” skills: teamwork, conflict resolution, communication and professional behavior. They took on leadership roles that help build confidence and self-esteem.

Over 75 people headed to UNH's Woodman Farm Aug. 16 to see first-hand some examples of the agricultural research taking place there. The horticultural research farm is part of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station.

The program began with introductions of UNH and UNH Cooperative Extension faculty and staff who conduct research at the farm. A walking tour of the farm followed, covering research highlights. Cathy Neal, Extension Professor/Specialist, Ornamentals, showed New Hampshire growers several plantings of new varieties of cut flowers. She also demonstrated new varieties of fall garden mums that don't need to be hand-pinched. This laborious process is normally done one or more times to produce an attractive bushy plant.

In the apple orchard Alan Eaton, Extension Professor/Specialist, Entomology, and George Hamilton, Extension Tree Fruit Specialist, talked about the apple research done at Woodman Farm and how it measurably reduced the amount of pesticides applied by New Hampshire apple growers. In addition to future research plans, Alan also discussed a new and promising method of controlling apple maggot suitable for organic and conventional growers that should be commercially available on a limited basis next year.

Brent Loy, Professor of Plant Biology and plant breeder, displayed several of his new plants. Among them are a spineless summer squash, disease-resistant squashes, pumpkins and gourds, and yellow tomatoes. Brent also talked about his melon breeding work.

Becky Grube, Sustainable Horticulture Specialist and Extension Professor, grew and evaluated several varieties of edamame (also known as vegetable soybean). It is currently grown by a few New Hampshire farmers, but may become a more popular crop. Steamed in the pods and lightly salted, these beans make a tasty and nutritious snack food. Visitors were able to taste test the varieties side-by-side and choose their favorites.

Several other research projects were presented, including colored bell peppers, living mulches in tomatoes from UNH Dept. of Natural Resources graduate student Bill Errickson and strawberry genetic studies with Tom Davis, Professor of Plant Biology.

John McLean, Woodman Farm manager, wrapped up the evening’s program by dedicating the newly remodeled classroom at the Farm to Otho Wells, retired UNH Cooperative Extension Vegetable Specialist.

UNH Cooperative Extension works with four other New England states to implement a project funded by USDA/CSREES to bring Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to home gardeners.

Under the direction of URI Cooperative Extension Specialists, the grant activities include assessing the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of home gardeners, then developing and implementing a GAP train-the-trainer education program to address the needs of this target audience.

This grant builds on the New England Extension Food Safety Consortium's GAP grant for commercial fruit and vegetable growers implemented regionally from 2000-2004.

Good agricultural practices such as compost management, personal hygiene and following recommended handling and storage practices are important steps in maintaining the safety of food grown at home. To determine home gardeners' food safety knowledge and practices, Catherine Violette and Margaret Hagen are coordinating with other state specialists a two-stage needs assessment process.

In 2004, a mail survey went to 5,000 randomly selected home gardeners in five New England states. Of the 762 usable surveys returned, only 23 of 56 knowledge items completed met the 80 percent subject mastery standard. Low scoring topics included use of fresh manure/compost, safety of organically grown produce, cleaning produce, water safety and home canning. Higher knowledge levels were associated with higher income, years of gardening experience, and Master Gardener certification.

To gain greater insight into food safety knowledge and practices of particular concern, follow-up on-site interviews are taking place this summer. Eleven Master Gardeners recruited from six New Hampshire counties are participating in this phase of the project. They were trained in May to implement on-site, structured interviews. This summer, the volunteers successfully completed 15 interviews with home gardeners - well over the half-way mark of completing 20 interviews in New Hampshire.

Interview results will be analyzed this fall. Once results are available, project directors will plan and develop a GAP education curriculum to address the food safety issues identified. Once again, trained Master Gardener volunteers will implement the curriculum throughout the state. Once completed, an assessment of the effectiveness of the educational program in improving the food safety practices of home gardeners will take place before distribution of the program both regionally and nationally.

A series of informal outdoor conservation workshops by UNH Cooperative Extension’s Community Conservation Assistance Program attracted a diverse group of interested participants the past two summers.

Phil Auger and Frank Mitchell organized the workshops. This year, attendance is up from 2004, with participants traveling from throughout New Hampshire and in some cases, interest exceeding capacity for some workshops.

In addition to Auger and Mitchell, who also provide some of the workshops, the series relies on other Extension staff, including Darrell Covell, Matt Tarr and Alan Eaton, as well as representatives of partner groups, the Center for Land Conservation Assistance/Society for the Protection of NH Forests, Nature Conservancy, NH Division of Parks’ Trails Bureau, Rockingham Land Trust, NH Natural Heritage Bureau, NH Office of Energy and Planning and private natural resources professionals.

The 2005 series consists of six conservation workshops. Attendees learn about:
• conservation easement management,
• conducting biological inventories,
• identifying conservation values on properties,
• forest management on conservation lands,
• managing public use of conservation lands,
• forest ecology and,
• interpreting land use history.

A highlight of this summer’s workshop series is a session in the UNH College Woods by Tom Wessels, a professor at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene and author of the popular book, Reading the Forested Landscape. The Adelard A. and Valeda Lea Roy Foundation provided financial support for the Conservation Workshop Series.

For more information on the Summer Conservation Workshop Series, contact Frank Mitchell at Frank.Mitchell@unh.edu or 862-1067, or Phil Auger at Phil.Auger@unh.edu or 679-5616.

Traditional animal science projects are the most familiar part of 4-H to most people. Even people raised in urban areas often seek out the 4-H barns at the local county fair to see the animals and ask questions of the youth who exhibit them. 4-H youth development has changed a lot over the years, but the interest in animal science remains strong and youth learn about responsibility, sportsmanship and teamwork while they gain important skills in agriculture and animal care including animal selection. Here are some of the animal science experiences open to 4-H youth in New Hampshire.

UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H program holds an annual dairy judging and horse judging contest. Youth participants view several “classes” (consisting of four animals) and judge the animals based on confirmation and breed standards. For horses, they also look at their performance in riding classes. In addition to a written critique of how they place the class, youth gain important communication skills because they speak from memory to the judge for two minutes about the decisions they made regarding the animals.

In March, 75 youth and volunteers attended a dairy judging clinic where they learned about dairy cattle selection from Drs. Tom Fairchild and Drew Conroy from UNH’s Animal and Nutritional Sciences Department. The clinic featured instruction and demonstration on anatomy, confirmation and breed character as well as the opportunity to practice oral reasons.

In April, 29 youth participated in a horse judging contest held in Carroll County. They visited two farms and judged six classes of horses. In addition to official adult judges, recent alumni of the horse judging program served as co-officials.

Forty youth took part in a two-day dairy judging contest in May at four farms in Connecticut and New York to judge some of the best dairy cattle in the region. Youth judged several breeds of dairy cattle and delivered oral reasons to an official judge.

At these events, youth work towards representing New Hampshire 4-H in national judging contests. This year four youth and a coach will participate in the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest held in Madison, Wisconsin in September and four youth and a coach will attend the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup in Louisville, Kentucky in November.

I had various early retirement packages dangled in front of me the last few years. Some of my colleagues across the state took advantage of the offers and seemed to survive at such a young age (61, I never thought I'd reach 31). The one offered last fall by UNH caused me to reach out, grab the ring and take advantage.

As a result, I will "retire" June 30, but return on a 50 percent non-benefit basis through the end of the year. I will provide assistance as in the past but will wean some of my duties and pass some to others.

What happens after December 31? There will be limited program coverage without the presence of a full time Extension Educator in forest resources in Cheshire County. Given the resource (84 percent of Cheshire County is forested and owned by an estimated 6,500 private non-industrial landowners) and the expressed needs of those involved, I hope a full time educator will be funded.

I've been tromping around New Hampshire's forests as a professional forester for about 34 years and I've seen a lot. I virtually spent my whole professional career with UNH Cooperative Extension assisting landowners, decision makers and the general public helping them make informed decisions about the forest resource, first in Coos County and then in Cheshire starting in 1981.

I estimate that through the years I walked over more than 150,000 acres of forest land and provided help to about 20,000 individuals. I generated more than 500 electronic and written media items (news articles, radio, TV, publications and other stuff) and given more than 300 public presentations. How do I know all this? Reports! Our partners require some fairly detailed reports.

It's been a great run and still is with the only disappointment being the days I didn’t learn something. The questions, concerns and issues confronting owners and managers of the forest resource, the homeowners and general public are challenging. I hope I had a positive impact on them all.

How can I possibly thank the landowners, decision makers, co-workers, fellow resource professionals including foresters, school kids, the general public, all the others and the support of my family that have made this go so quick and be so enjoyable? I'll just say thanks.

How can you beat the surrealism of brilliant colors while walking through the forest on a crisp fall morning, the crunch of undisturbed fresh snow under your feet while traversing a northern hardwood forest, observing the youthful excitement of discovering that black birch twigs taste like wintergreen, the positive forest response of past management recommendations, the discovery of back country abandoned cellar holes and stone walls, the soulful cry of a loon in the solitude of a pond off in the woods?

The forest resource is in reasonably good shape, it is resilient yet fragile and its health so terribly important for the quality of life, pure water, forest products, clean air and our wildlife. For the most part it's in good hands as long as folks stick with a stewardship ethic to see it through. We all do things to touch the lives of the next generation, I hope I did my share. I hope I was able to contribute to an increased natural resource knowledge and ethic over the years. I certainly appreciate the opportunity to have given it a try. Thanks.

Charlie French received a UNH Faculty Technology Development Grant to institute a cross-disciplinary course within UNH's Resource Economics Department. The course will expose students to the theory and practice of Cooperative Extension and outreach: the conversion of University research and knowledge into programs that benefit the public. Picture Tel, a two-way, interactive video/internet system, will connect 15 campus-based students with Extension Educators from County offices who work in natural resources and other fields.

The Extension Educator featured in each class session will discuss their community outreach work, their experiences fulfilling the Land Grant University’s outreach mission, and the lessons they have learned. Students will ask questions and engage in dialogue with the speakers. The course focuses on exposing students to professionals they would not normally have a chance to interact with through the use of Picture Tel technology. A second goal of the course includes involving the students and guest speakers in evaluating the effectiveness of using Picture Tel as a learning/teaching tool so future Picture Tel classes can benefit from the lessons learned.

The course will be offered in the Spring of 2006. Extension staff willing to participate in a session are needed and would be appreciated. $100 will be given to the presenter's Extension office budget to compensate for staff time and use of equipment.

One UNHCE Aquaculture Program funded by the Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center focuses on developing a business feasibility study for baitfish aquaculture. Project objectives include: 1)determining suitable size and operating characteristics of an aquaculture enterprise readily replicated throughout the Northeast, 2)obtaining market, economic and technical information to determine the feasibility of operating this type of business and 3)compiling enterprise budgets and other financial records to demonstrate business feasibility to potential investors and/or new entrants into commercial aquaculture.

The bait market in this region is notable. In 1996, over two million people in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts held fishing licenses, and approximately two-thirds of them used live bait. The retail value of bait sold in just these four states in 1996 was estimated at over $31 million.

Though the market is large, the majority of baitfish used by Northeastern anglers comes from outside the region. Long transportation distances cause bait quality to suffer, and many Northeast state natural resource agencies are concerned about exotic and/or invasive species being imported with baitfish.

Baitfish culture is often considered an ideal start-up aquaculture enterprise. When existing ponds are used, startup costs for a baitfish aquaculture operation can be quite low, helping even small, part-time farmers participate. In addition, relative to food fish, bait are sold at a very young age and have a much shorter time to market, resulting in lower production costs. Selling prices, however, are quite high, with most species selling by the dozen or even individually. All these factors combine to provide a unique marketing opportunity for local bait producers.

The war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism changed the face of our military and those who serve our country. These families need support. To help this coming summer, UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Camps will offer a free week of summer camp to children of deployed parents.

Operation Purple Camp takes place at the University of New Hampshire’s 4-H Bear Hill Camp from August 14 to August 19. UNH 4-H Bear Hill Camp is located in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown. UNH Cooperative Extension and the NH National Guard collaborated with the National Military Family Association and Sears, Roebuck and Co. to provide this summer camp experience for children of military families. Funding comes from the Sears American Dream Campaign, the company’s multi-year, $100 million commitment to strengthen families, homes and communities.

The National Military Family Association developed the camps, 22 this year, as a way to bring children from across the military services together to learn from one another and share their experiences in dealing with deployment-related stress. They will learn about different cultures, share talents, gain new skills and most importantly, enjoy much-deserved carefree fun and treasured lifetime memories.

Operation Purple Camp is available to children of military personnel, targeting kids 8-16 years of age. All are encouraged to apply. Its goal is to have all branches of service represented, with emphasis on those service branches from New Hampshire and the New England region. First priority is youth who have a deployed or recently deployed parent (or other family member residing in the same house as camper). Deployment must occur from June 2004 to September 2006.

Registration runs through May 15. Families can call 603-862-2184 for an application for Operation Purple at UNH 4-H Bear Hill Camp or visit the website and click on the Register for Operation Purple.

Strafford County staff found a unique way to expand valuable Extension work. In particular, one volunteer, a former employee, works to increase and enhance Extension’s visibility through her natural resources efforts.

Former Strafford County Office Administrator Cal Schroeder implemented this volunteer concept. The volunteer, Lorie Chase, embarked on a mission to protect the natural character of the Seacoast area. While Cal provided office space to Lorie, she provided the talent and drive. Since then, her efforts include numerous partnership collaborations, ideas and leadership to tackle environmental issues. Lorie is well-known for her work and brings credibility and visibility to UNH Cooperative Extension. She previously worked for Extension’s Forestry and Wildlife Program, was a Tree Farmer and volunteer.

Lorie partners with Don Black, Strafford County’s Extension Educator, Forest Resources, on her volunteer efforts. She works in a variety of venues, from the banks of the Cocheco River helping people learn about the importance of riparian restoration and protection to appearing on cable television, talking about river corridor conservation. Lorie and Don received Conservation License Plate Grants and secured a $100,000 grant for the Strafford County Commissioners to develop a trail for the disabled from the county nursing home to the Cocheco River. The trail will include a tree house for the disabled. Lorie and the Cocheco River Watershed have been asked to apply for the New Hampshire entry into the EPA competitive grant round for a $600,000-900,000 Targeted Watershed Grant.

To learn about Lorie’s work, contact her at lorie.chase@unh.edu or 749-4445.

Question - What do ‘wannabe’ farmers, organic tomatoes, computer business software and grass-based livestock have in common?

Answer - They are all components of a vision for innovative agriculture, supported by UNH Cooperative Extension Agricultural Resources staff in their efforts to make New Hampshire farmers more profitable. Now that vision moves closer to reality.

UNH Cooperative Extension Agricultural Resources program staff are partnering with North Country Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D), NH Department of Agriculture, Marketing and Foods, NH Farm Bureau and others on a two-year, $156,000 USDA Rural Development grant. The grant, coordinated through North Country RC&D, provides funds to offer technical and business assistance for up to 20 New Hampshire farm families who want to develop and grow their businesses.

Farmers’ enterprise ideas can translate into innovative new farm businesses, which in turn support local economies as well as New Hampshire’s agritourism opportunities. This means that a farmer’s dream of a farm-based commercial kitchen turning out fruit pies and jams will now have the chance to become reality with the help of a personal BAT (Business Assistance Team.)

Experts in different areas of production, marketing and business management will comprise the BATs. Not surprisingly, Extension’s agricultural resources staff will play a large role. Several Extension staff, particularly John Porter and Mike Sciabarrasi, already have shared significant time and expertise by serving on the grant project’s steering committee. They will continue to do so as well as being part of the individual BATs working with selected farmers. Participating farmers, chosen through a competitive application process this spring, will have the opportunity to share their experiences with each other and other farmers through workshops and case studies during the next two years. The hope is this sharing leads to a ripple effect, multiplying the impact of the new and expanding agricultural businesses far beyond their local communities.

Like most other states, opportunities to let agricultural entrepreneurship shine often lag behind other business concepts in New Hampshire. This grant project provides an infrastructure to grow those innovative ideas into solid businesses. By showcasing these farm-based enterprises, UNH Cooperative Extension can demonstrate the importance of innovative agriculture to New Hampshire’s economic development. So keep your eye on the sky! That next flying pie may be coming home to roost in your own community.

For more information about the New Hampshire Ag Innovations Program, contact the project coordinator, Charlene Andersen of Kamigo Marketing, at 942-7160 or email her at info@kamigomarketing.com

Parents are under more stress than ever. Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia, writes in her book, The Shelter of Us, about one of the biggest changes in parenting over the past decades. In the past, it was the parents’ job to socialize children so they were prepared to join the mainstream culture. Today, parents must protect children from the world, and help young people hold on to values that too often conflict with those they encounter in the world. Parenting education changed to reflect this important difference.

In Rockingham County, Karen Blass teaches families how to deal with the influence of marketing and the media on children. The media targets children in many ways, from television characters in their fast food boxes to children’s books produced by for-profit companies. Karen helps parents and kids become more media smart. Through media literacy classes, parents and kids learn to spot commercials and the ways advertisers try to sell them products. Through this work, families learn to define values important to them and reject the media messages that conflict with those values.

In Sullivan County, Gail Kennedy collaborates with Nancy Berry to deliver drug and alcohol prevention education to teens who need this information the most. A grant from the NH Department of Health and Human Services brings Strengthening Families, a model program with proven effectiveness, to Sullivan County youth. Parents learn to recognize signs of drug use and how to communicate with youth. While parents meet, teens meet separately to develop skills to resist drug and alcohol use.

Statewide, UNH Cooperative Extension continues its popular and effective age-paced newsletter series, Cradle Crier and Toddler Tales. Annually, about 5,000 parents receive these newsletters geared to the age of the child (birth through two). Parents consistently report they learn about child development, safety, nutrition and other important parenting skills. The newsletters help parents feel more confident, setting the stage for strong parents throughout childhood.

The Northeast Consortium, created in 1999, consists of four research institutions (UNH, UMaine, MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.) The consortium encourages and funds cooperative research and monitoring projects in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank that create effective, equal partnerships among fishermen, scientists, educators and marine resource managers. It administers nearly $5 million annually for cooperative research on a broad range of topics including gear selectivity, fish habitat, stock assessments, and socioeconomics.

Rollie Barnaby, Extension Educator, Marine Resources, was a member of the team that created the consortium. He continues to serve as the project’s outreach coordinator. Every project funded by the consortium needs at least one researcher and one commercial fisherman. One of Rollie’s tasks is to help match fishermen with researchers. He also helps fishermen develop research ideas.

From 1999-2004, the Northeast Consortium funded more than 130 projects, involved over 260 paid and volunteer fishermen and 95 scientists, and ensured completion of over 30 funded projects. Commercial fishermen received more than $7 million in direct payments, which according to a regional economic impact model, produced over $12 million in economic benefits for the fishing and shore side support industries sustaining 140 fishing jobs and more than 55 jobs in onshore support industries.

Of 411 commercial fishermen surveyed in 2003, 88 percent believe cooperative research leads to better fisheries management, 86 percent believe cooperative research improves relationships between fishermen and scientists, and 77 percent believe cooperative research provides economic benefits to fishing communities.

The 4-H Youth Development program of UNH Cooperative Extension supports development of important life skills. Emphasis over the past five years focused on fostering skills in setting goals and making decisions, communicating effectively and accepting differences in others.

Although today’s youth access 4-H through a variety of different programs, including camps and after-school programs, the classic 4-H Club remains a strong influence on young people. In the classic 4-H Club program, a variety of components contribute to the development of these skills, including volunteer training, club leadership, communication events, animal shows, recordkeeping, competitive events, community service and other educational activities.

Results of a recent study of New Hampshire 4-H club members, ages 12 and over, provide evidence of the positive impact of 4-H clubs. In this study, approximately 100 4-H youth and their parents from five counties responded to written surveys. Volunteer leaders and judges at county-wide events also took part in the study. More than half of all respondents believe participation in 4-H helped youth increase their skills in setting and reaching goals.

In an age of easy access to information, the ability to gather useful and reliable data is critical. Over two-thirds of parents and half the 4-H members believe their 4-H Club experiences increased their skill in gathering and organizing information for clearly presenting thoughts and making effective presentations. A majority of parents and youth also believe 4-H provides opportunities to gain confidence speaking in front of others, and persuading others with the creative use of words and actions.

With increasing diversity in our nation and communities, youth benefit from learning positive interpersonal skills. At least a third of 4-H members and their parents found the 4-H Club a place where youth can make new friends who are a positive influence on them. Through the 4-H Club experience, youth also learn how to solve conflicts in ways that aren’t hurtful to others. 4-H helps them practice being respectful of others, regardless of their differences.

A renewed effort to conserve open space lands in Rockingham County for future generations began a few years ago when the County Advisory Council and county officials supported a new Extension educator position. Phil Auger filled that position, working with land conservation partners, communities and private landowners, sharing his expertise to meet major environmental and economic problems facing the area today – loss of open space and protection of water resources.

Research shows people prioritize water as a critical reason to purchase and protect land. Those polled see it as “very important” to buy land to protect lakes, rivers, streams and watersheds, the quality of the water they drink, and improve water quality in lakes, streams and rivers. Land conservation provides a long-term approach in the protection of many threatened natural resources, including water resources.

The Land and Water Educator offers direct support to virtually all conservation organizations, with particular emphasis on small regional groups. Phil’s objectives include creating awareness of the need for protection of lands for drinking water, working forests, agricultural lands and lands that define “quality of life” for New Hampshire residents, helping communities and regional land conservation organizations identify, develop skills, implement practices and ultimately conserve key parcels and natural resource features, and develop a strong core of private non-profit organizations and private consulting firms that carry out land conservation work.

Phil’s accomplishments include:
• “Does Open Space Pay” programs and other work within communities demonstrated the economic link between open space losses and escalating property taxes. As a result, New Hampshire communities allocated $20 million in 2002, $30 million in 2003 and $36 million in 2004 for land conservation – over $100 million in four years.
• Presentations on the economics of open space remain in demand statewide. This year’s presentations included the Rochester City Council, local cable television, and communities in the Green Mountain Conservation Group region.
• The work of Phil and other educators sparked a major cultural change in how municipalities interact. Where Extension staff encourage a watershed approach rather than only working within political boundaries, multi-community conservation groups formed for land conservation purposes.

Three years ago, the Professional Development component of the Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) got a nice surprise when Stephen Herbert of the University of Massachusetts developed a 16-page color booklet profiling some of the SARE Farmer Grant recipients in that state, their projects and the results.

This booklet showed, by example, how the Farmer Grant program works, in a format that was appealing, easy to read, and compact. It spurred the Professional Development Committee to offer incentive funds to all states in the region to develop similar publications.

Now, New Hampshire has developed a web-based publication, “Creative Ideas, Practical Solutions: SARE Farmer Grants in New Hampshire,” up and running on the UNH Cooperative Extension web site. The booklet is brought to you by Lorraine Merrill, Caroline Robinson, Linda Brushett and from UNH Cooperative Extension, Seth Wilner and Faye Cragin.

Highlighted in the publication is a solar vehicle for farm use, a farm-based sustainable agriculture education program, an orchard management project, the development of a community-supported agriculture cooperative, and a new resource on selling dairy products at farmers’ markets. There also is a listing of sample grants from around the state and a section offering helpful hints on developing a SARE grant proposal. The publication is fresh, specific and useful.

This article is reprinted, with permission, from Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture, Winter 2004-2005, the newsletter of the Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

Last year, New Hampshire residents qualified for $16.5 million in unclaimed Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). National research studies reveal between 15-20 percent of eligible workers earning less than $35,458 don’t claim their EITC. By filing a tax return, working individuals and families can receive as much as $4,300.

In December 2003, the Annie E. Casey and the NH Charitable Foundations provided grant funding for “Linking Workers with the Earned IncomeTax Credit.” It focuses on developing marketing strategies to increase the visibility of EITC benefits to low and moderate-income New Hampshire residents. It also helps conduct research to increase the population’s understanding of EITC and availability of free tax preparation sites. The grant efforts included forming a statewide EITC Alliance to share best practices and information, and provide financial management education.

Many families applying for EITC pay someone to complete their tax forms. This can cost $55 to $200 or higher. Low-income workers can get free tax preparation help with offices located throughout New Hampshire. You can find the nearest free tax preparation location at the AARP web site.

Many EITC-eligible families participated in UNH Cooperative Extension’s “Making Money Work for You” series. At its conclusion, results show 64 percent set up a system for storing financial records and 36 percent planned to, 34 percent prepared a household inventory and 56 percent planned to, while 37 percent reviewed their insurance coverage and 40 percent planned to do so. Sixty-seven percent now follow a spending plan, 45 percent now have an emergency fund, 51 percent now save, 61 percent reduced their money leaks, and 56 percent obtained a copy of their credit report.

Two free publications are available to EITC-eligible individuals and families, “Need More Money to Pay Your Bills?” and “2005 Advance Earned Income Tax Credit.” By the end of January, you can order them from UNH Cooperative Extension Publications Center. For more information, contact Val Long or Suzann Enzian Knight.

Teams of high school students from across northern New England gather at the University of New Hampshire Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005, to compete in the annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB). The team that wins the event, also known as the Nor’easter Bowl, goes on to compete in the nationals, held in Mississippi in April, with all expenses paid.

The event is open to high school teams from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Each team consists of four members plus an alternate and coach. There is no cost to schools and breakfast and lunch are provided, as is lodging for teams traveling a long distance.

One of 24 regional competitions, the UNH NOSB is an exciting opportunity for both students and teachers to broaden their knowledge and interact with other schools in a timed, round-robin competition. Teams face off against one another to answer multiple-choice, short-answer and team challenge questions. Categories include physics, chemistry, biology, geology and geography of the oceans, the social sciences, ocean-related technology and current events.

The Nor’easter Bowl is a collaboration of the UNH Marine Program, UNH Cooperative Extension, NH Sea Grant, the University of Maine, the University of New England, Bigelow Laboratory and the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE).

Bullying prevention is one focus of UNH Cooperative Extension's Family and Youth Development current programming efforts.

In the past year, UNH Cooperative Extension partnered with the UNH Resource Center on Adolescence, the UNH Family Research Laboratory/Crimes Against Children Research Center, the NH Department of Education and the NH Bureau of Maternal and Child Health to conduct educational sessions on bullying and discuss collaboration.

In addition, the New Hampshire legislature demonstrated its concern by enacting New Hampshire's Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention law, requiring each school board adopt a pupil safety and violence prevention policy that addresses pupil harassment. House Bill 1162, passed in the 2004 session, "requires school districts to notify the parents or legal guardians of the district’s policies on bullying and requires that a report of any bullying incidents be made by telephone and by a written report sent by mail to the parent or legal guardian of the pupils involved."

This past April, UNH Cooperative Extension conducted the National Bullying Prevention Campaign satellite conference, Take A Stand, Lend a Hand, Stop Bullying Now! Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau provided support for this conference nationally and in several parts of the state.

A new two-part Bullies & Victims: What’s A Parent to Do? series takes place in eleven locations around the state. The first one took place November 30 and the second is set for December 7, 6:30–9:30 pm. This national satellite series is sponsored by several Cooperative Extensions, with the broadcast originating from Iowa.

The program focus is to help families deal with bullying and kids who are out of control. It helps participants understand the fundamental strengths children acquire to manage fear and resist predatory peer behavior such as bullying and other forms of intimidation. Participants also will examine how parents, teachers and community members can help support healthy social and emotional development in children and youth.

These educational programs lay the groundwork for collaborations with local and statewide partners to address this very important issue in a comprehensive manner. Our hope is to stimulate attention to these issues at the youth, family, school and community level.

Just how do you make sure wildlife continue to thrive when they live in the fastest growing state in the Northeast? The answer is good planning. New Hampshire, like all other states, received new federal funding in 2003 to create a “Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan.” The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has two years to create this new plan to ensure a bright future for all wildlife in the state.

In the spirit of New Hampshire partnerships, the state’s Fish & Game Department looked to its partners to help them write the plan. These partners include researchers from UNH, biologists from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, and ecologists from The Nature Conservancy, among many others. Additionally, Fish & Game asked UNH Cooperative Extension Wildlife Specialist Darrel Covell to co-coordinate the plan’s development.

Now into its second year, the Comprehensive Wildlife Plan has come a long way. While biologists work on the wildlife and habitat end of things, Covell is busy gathering input from the public – one of the eight required elements of the plan. Covell and colleagues formed the “Communications and Outreach Team” and conducted a Wildlife Summit meeting of individuals and groups interested in wildlife. Facilitated by professionals (including UNH Cooperative Extension’s Phil Auger, Charlie French and Frank Mitchell), the Wildlife Summit helped define and prioritize issues affecting wildlife.

The team also gathered additional input from a broader public through a Wildlife Plan Web Survey. It is open until November 15. To date, more than 1,200 people responded to the web survey. Please feel free to complete the survey yourself. For more details on the Comprehensive Wildlife Plan, visit the Fish and Game web site, and find out more about critical wildlife habitats and wildlife species.

UNH Cooperative Extension's Family, Home & Garden Education Center Info Line answered 35,000 calls in the last five years! The Education Center volunteers, highly trained Master Gardeners, provide research-based information on a wide variety of questions from homeowners. In those five years, 221 Education Center Master Gardeners volunteered a total of 13,418 hours.

Categories range from annuals to wildlife and include questions about child development, food safety, backyard livestock, ponds, vegetables and weeds, to name a few. There are 24 categories of questions, and the top five remain constant. The most frequently asked questions focus on trees and shrubs, household insects, annuals and perennials, lawns and wildlife.

This past year, the top category was "trees and shrubs," an indication that home landscaping interests are growing, generating lots of questions, and lawn concerns made up the third biggest category. For this reason, the Center coordinator and entomologist, Rachel Maccini, expanded the Info Line training to include more information.

This fall a presentation about Urban Pest Control updated Master Gardener trainees about new control methods for termites, ants and household pests. IPM, pond maintenance, water quality, mold and mildew, new insects to New Hampshire, and forest entomology are other topics covered in the expanded training schedule.

Peg Boyles continues to work with center staff to update fact sheets. More and more fact sheets are available on our web site, providing instant information to callers who are on-line. The center can also provide information to callers without web connections through their home fax machines.

Education Center Director Margaret Hagan’s topical shows on WMUR-TV generated 445 calls this year for further information, indicating the public’s interest. The center also provides classroom space for unique and interesting evening workshops taught by Master Gardeners. In the last two years, Master Gardeners conducted 32 evening and weekend workshops for 291 participants.

Anne Krantz, involved since the Center opened, says, “The Center opened just five years ago and undergoes constant tuning to provide even faster and more efficient answers to ever tougher questions. From our humble start with a class of 30 recruits, we have become a state-of-the-art operation, respected by other states. We who were in the first class remember our anxiety about our ability to do such sophisticated work - to simultaneously use the computers to quickly enter information and to do searches while talking to the callers.

In class we worried about the Y-2K scare and anticipated questions about disasters – how long could water be kept in plastic jugs? When we graduated and began to staff the Ed Center we were swamped! I remember having six or seven pending questions, and fearing that I would get the answer to the wrong client. But it was so exciting – it seems like another century now! We expected calls about gardening topics that we were comfortable with – what flowers to plant where. But as Ed Center vo