Project seeks public comment

New Hampshire is unique among heavily forested states in that forestry practices and standards aren't mandated by state law, but upheld by voluntary compliance with best-practices guidelines.

This voluntary process is guided by Good Forestry in the Granite State: Recommended Voluntary Forest Management Practices for the State of New Hampshire (GFGS), a publication for both public and private forest landowners, and an essential tool for resource professionals working in all sectors of the State's $3 billion forest economy.

GFGS is currently being revised to consider new scholarship in the field of natural resources and to address changes in forestry markets and professional forestry practices, changes in natural communities, and changes in state statutes and administrative rules.

Looking for public input
Public input is an important part of revising GFGS. To that end, Cooperative Extension has set up a Good Forestry Web site to inform the public of the status of the project and to collect public opinion on the first edition of GFGS via an online survey.

We encourage all forest stakeholders to take the survey, which asks the public about their own use of GFGS, their assessment of the first edition, and their suggestions for the revised document.

The survey, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, will remain open through December 1, 2008. The committee considers the survey responses an important contribution to the GFGS revision process.

GFGS history and new steering committee
The first edition of GFGS, published a decade ago and written by 24 New Hampshire forestry stakeholders, was a joint effort of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands. The effort also included thoughtful comments provided by hundreds of individuals and organizations statewide.

The update project's steering committee represents stakeholders all segments of the forestry community, including

• N.H. Division of Forests and Lands
• N.H. Fish and Game
• UNH Cooperative Extension
• N.H. Timberland Owners Association
• N.H. Tree Farm, the U.S. Forest Service
• The forest products industry
• Many conservation organizations

Besides identifying information gaps and needed improvements to the current best-practices manual, the steering committee will recruit the technical teams to handle the writing and revision process.

Funding for the GFGS revision is provided by the Northeast Utilities Foundation, Inc.

To receive a paper copy of the GFGS survey, contact Kristina Ferrare at (603) 862-3883 or kristina.ferrare@unh.edu. For more information on the Good Forestry in the Granite State project, contact Karen Bennett, Project Manager, UNH Cooperative Extension, (603) 862-4861 or email karen.bennett@unh.edu