Extension News: January 2011 Archives

Tax benefit for qualifying lower-income workers

Do you struggle to get by from paycheck to paycheck? Then you should know about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a special tax benefit for people who work full-time or part-time. Millions of low-wage taxpayers qualify. Even if you aren't a U.S. citizen, you may still qualify for the EITC.

More than 76,500 New Hampshire residents collectively received $137.7 million in EITC in 2009. The average EITC for State of New Hampshire residents for 2009 was $1,796.

What is Earned Income Credit?

The EITC is a special tax benefit for working people who earn low or moderate incomes. If you fall into this category, the EITC can help reduce your taxes and increase your income.

If you qualify for EITC and file a federal tax return, you can get back some or all of the federal tax withheld from your pay during the year. You may also get some cash back from the IRS. Even if you didn't earn enough to pay an income tax, you may qualify for EITC.

Who can get EITC?

If you worked full-time or part-time at some point in 2010, you can qualify for the EITC depending on your family income which must fall below the following income guidelines:

Family size	Single	Married filing jointly
Three or more children	$43,362	$48,362
Two children	$40,373	$45,373
One child	$35,545	$40,545
No children	$13,470	$18,470

Source: Internal Revenue Service

How much is it worth?

The chart below shows the maximum EITC a family can earn. Your family income determines the actual amount of EITC you receive.

Family size	Maximum EITC
Three or more children	$5,666
Two children	$5,368
One child	$3,050
No children	$457

Source: Internal Revenue Service

The IRS considers a qualifying child: (1) Any child who lived in your household for more than half of 2010, and (2) is your son, daughter, adopted child, grandchild, great-grandchild, stepchild, or eligible foster child, and (3) who also meets one of the following criteria:

• Was younger than age 19 at the end of the tax year
• Was a full-time student under age 24, or
• Was permanently and totally disabled at any age during the year

How do you get the EITC?

Workers raising a qualifying child in 2010 must file either Form 1040 or 1040A and must attach Schedule EIC. Workers with children can't get the EITC if they file Form 1040EZ or do not attach Schedule EIC. Married workers must file a joint return to get the EITC.

Workers who didn't raise a qualifying child in their home in 2010 can file any tax form, including the 1040EZ. These workers write EITC (or dollar amount of their credit) on the Earned Income Credit line on the tax form. They don't file Schedule EIC.

You must provide a correct name and Social Security number for every person listed on the tax return and Schedule EIC. If this information is incorrect or missing, the IRS will delay the refund.

Free help filing your tax forms

Many families who apply for EITC pay someone to complete their tax forms. Many families who apply for EITC pay someone $55 to $200--or sometimes much more--to complete their tax forms. Getting a quick tax refund may cost you even more.

Low or moderate income workers can get free help with tax preparation through local offices throughout New Hampshire. The IRS certifies volunteers to provide free tax help at sites throughout New Hampshire. Find out where the closest free tax preparation site by calling 2-1-1 or visiting the NH Earned Income Tax Credit online.

Does the EITC affect eligibility for other public benefits?

No. The money you receive as EITC doesn't count as income in determining your eligibility for benefits like Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, SNAP food benefits (formerly called food stamps), the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, Supplemental Social Security (SSI), or public or subsidized housing.

For more information:

• Earned Income Tax Credit for 2010Cooperative Extension EITC brochure for New Hampshire residents
NH Earned Income Tax Credit (information for New Hampshire residents)
• IRS Earned Income Tax Credit Questions & Answers
• IRS Frequently Asked Questions about “Qualifying Child” rules
• Information en espanol: Crédito por Ingreso del Trabajo(EITC)
• New Hampshire IRS offices
• IRS tool for estimating how much EITC you will get for 2010

Good Forestry offers comprehensive guidance for forest landowners & professionals

"After more than two years and many hours of discussion, writing and revision by hundreds of landowners, foresters, loggers, conservation activists and average citizens," the second edition of Good Forestry in the Granite State: Recommended Voluntary Forest Management Practices for New Hampshire is ready for distribution," says Extension Forest Resources Specialist Karen Bennett, who coordinated the project.

New edition reflects advances in knowledge; changes in markets, practices, laws

Originally published in 1997, the revision of Good Forestry incorporates advances in knowledge and changes in forestry markets, practices, and state laws. A 24-member steering committee, representing conservation organizations, state agencies and the forest industry led the revision process.

The guide gives landowners and the professionals who work with them practical recommendations to care for their woodlots.

According to Brad Simpkins, State Forester and director of the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands, "A guide like Good Forestry is important because New Hampshire is 84 percent forested, and most of that forest is owned by private landowners. We depend on these private lands for clean air and water, scenic beauty, recreation, abundant wildlife, and a forest industry that's important to the state's economy. Good Forestry helps private landowners take care of their land."

New Hampshire relies on landowner education, rather than mandates, to keep forests healthy

"Unlike many other heavily forested states, New Hampshire ensures a healthy forest through education, rather than state mandates," says Bennett. New Hampshire law directs the State Forester to develop educational tools to manage 'ecologically sensitive and unique natural features of forestland.' The product of landowners, specialists, and others, Good Forestry is the tool the State Forester developed for landowners, foresters, and loggers to use.

New topics, expansions of those previously covered

"New topics include setting objectives, management plans, estate planning and land protection, staying safe in the woods, choosing the right timber harvesting system, stream crossings, invasive plants, wildlife species of greatest conservation need, steep slopes, forest products, maple sugaring, and ecosystem-services markets," Bennett says.

"We've also expanded topics covered in the first edition, notably those related to silviculture (the art and science of growing trees), vernal pools, and riparian forests (forests along rivers). Knowledge gained from the N.H. Wildlife Action Plan was incorporated into the wildlife-related chapters."

Tim Fleury, Extension forest resources educator in Merrimack County, says he's excited about the new version. "Good Forestry in the Granite State gives background and practical tips to help landowners interested in taking care of their land," he says.

"It starts out encouraging landowners to think about what they want for their land and encourages them to develop some objectives and a plan and to work with professionals. Good Forestry isn't a cookbook for woodlot management. It says the actions of a landowner can be based on landowner interests, looking at the land, and getting help."

How to get your copy

Good Forestry is a 225-page guide, in a three-ring binder format. Each copy comes with a cd.

An online version is available free at www.goodforestry.org, as well as links for ordering print copies of the book. You can call 800-444-8978 to order a copy.

"We hope the guide will be used as an on-the-ground reference for day-to-day decision-making," says Bennett. "It's a must-read for all forest landowners and the professionals who work with them."

Sea Grant Extension staff help N.H. fishermen develop new marketing strategies

New Hampshire consumers can find locally and sustainably caught fresh fish for sale at an increasing number of farmers' markets, restaurants, retail food stores, and through the the newest direct-marketing strategy, community-supported fisheries (CSFs).

The CSF takes its model from community-supported agriculture ventures (CSAs), in which consumers buy shares of the upcoming season's harvest in advance, sharing both the risks inherent in any natural resource enterprise and the profits/savings involved by eliminating various middlemen.

Extension specialists in the forefront of direct marketing initiatives

"UNH Sea Grant Extension has been in the forefront of this direct-marketing innovation, providing many forms of support that have helped foster the growth of CSFs in New Hampshire," says Erik Chapman, a Sea Grant Extension program coordinator for fisheries and aquaculture.

"For example, our fisheries specialist, Ken La Valley, helped lay the foundation for CSFs through development of the New Hampshire Fresh and Local Seafood brand. This brand helped educate New Hampshire consumers about local fish and the local fishing industry.

"The CSFs then provided one way, along farmer's markets, fish markets, and restaurants, for consumers to purchase environmentally sustainable, fresh, and healthy fish while supporting New Hampshire's fishing fleet, which is characterized by family-run, small fishing boats," Chapman says.

La Valley has also provided help in locating drop-off points, and developing advertising and web-based business interfaces for New Hampshire's two CSFs (Eastman's Fresh Catch and the Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative).

"These CSFs have grown in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years, continually adding to their membership and expanding the range of their availability to consumers further and further inland," says Chapman.

New Hampshire fishermen hard-hit by new fisheries management practices

He continues, "New Hampshire fishermen and their families are particularly hard-hit by current management practices that are designed to meet sustainability goals for fish, not fishing businesses.

"For a number of reasons, the new management appears to favor larger boats from Maine and Massachusetts, leaving fleets characterized by small, day boats desperately looking for innovative ways to make ends meet," says Chapman.

"Local markets give fishermen some hope. By selling locally, they can recover some of the profits lost to middle-men who process, transport, and sell their fish to people thousands of miles away."

Looking for local and sustainably harvested seafood?

Chapman says that consumers increasingly, "are looking to buy fish that's 'sustainably harvested.' It's confusing and hard to judge the 'sustainability' of fish available through the mass markets.

"That's what's so appealing about the New Hampshire CSFs," he says. "You know exactly when, where, and how your fish was caught. And we're lucky. The New Hampshire CSFs represent small, non-industrial, family operations, which are strictly managed for sustainability.

"Look for New Hampshire CSFs and for locally caught fish at farmers markets and grocery stores near you, and when you find them, know that UNH Cooperative Extension helped make it possible!"

Learn more

Video: UNH Cooperative Extension partners with local fishermen

Fishermen Partner with UNH to Build Local Markets (short video)
Collaborative Fisheries Research at UNH
The Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative 2011 Shrimp CSF kicks off January 8-9
Yankee Fishermen's Cooperative
Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative CSF
Eastman's Fresh Catch
Eastman's CSF

Want to banish cabin fever for a few hours? Bundle up the family and head for the 2011 New Hampshire Farm & Forest Exposition.

Now in its 26th year, the 2011 NH Farm & Forest Exposition takes place February 4 and 5 at the Center of NH--Radisson Hotel on 700 Elm St. in Manchester.

As always, the event has something for everybody: dozens of educational sessions and commercial exhibits, student and exhibitor demonstrations, animals, an auction, and many activities for attendees of all ages. And don't forget the Blake's ice cream and Stonyfield Frozen Yogurt at the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire booth, the foundation's annual fundraising event!

This year's theme: NH Farms and Forests: Growth through Yankee Ingenuity. A quick scan of the educational offerings will reveal ingenuity aplenty, from growing a better beer, to first aid for horses, to food-safety education and planning for agrotourism providers, to making your own maple syrup.

The $7.00 admission price (children under 15 get in free) makes the Farm & Forest Expo a terrific bargain for a family-friendly day on the town. Check it out!

Protecting New Hampshire’s forest from invasive pests is daunting.  It takes political will, action plans, scientific knowledge, funding, staffing, planning, lots of hard work, and most importantly the help of the public.  The ultimate in invasive pest management is to keep the pest out of New Hampshire altogether. Short of that we need to find the infestation soon after its accidental arrival when the outbreak is geographically small and affects few trees.  Case in point, in 2008 the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) was discovered in Worcester, Massachusetts setting off one of the most extensive and expensive forest pest eradication programs in history.  The reason it became so extensive and thus very expensive is that the outbreak went undetected for more than ten years.  In those 10 to 15 years the infestation spread to over 70 square miles around Worcester, MA.

To meet the goal of keeping invasive pests out of New Hampshire we’re studying modes of transportation and natural vectoring capabilities of ALB and designing quarantines to limit the movement of host material.  To meet the goal of finding any accidental introduction early when it’s a manageable problem we need the help of the general public. To that end, the Division of Forests and Lands worked jointly with the UNH Cooperative Extension to develop a “citizen monitoring program” that would help survey for devastating forest pests such as Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer. This past summer a group of volunteers were trained to collect insects from outdoor swimming pool filters.

Why pools as collection sites?  Days after the discovery of ALB in Worcester experts were canvassing neighborhoods investigating the extent of the outbreak when they stumbled across a public pool attendant who said he was collecting these beetles for years in his pool filters.  We used this knowledge to create a program designed to reach out to pool sites around the state. We asked attendants to collect insects found in their pools for six weeks in July and August when the potential flight period of the ALB is at its peak.  This past summer 34 volunteers distributed throughout all regions of the state participated in the project. On a weekly basis the UNH County Extension Forester visited those sites in their county and swapped empty jars for full jars of insects the volunteers had collected. This was repeated for six weeks in July and August when the weather was warm enough to support adult ALB activity.  The jars of insects were delivered to the Division of Forests and Lands Forest Health lab at Fox State Forest in Hillsborough.  The insects were sorted by order, family and species to determine if any target species like ALB were present.

The results of collecting insects in pools were absolutely spectacular.  At those 34 sites from around the state we collected 5,811 insects in 18 different orders.  2,444 of those were in the order Coleoptera (beetles) and that was really important because our target species, ALB, is a beetle.  There is no doubt that if there was an infestation of ALB anywhere near those pools we would’ve collected some in the survey.

While we thankfully didn’t find ALB in the pool survey this summer we did find two other invasive pests not known to exist in the counties where we found them.  The first is brown marmorated stink bug which is an agricultural pest of fruits and vegetables.  This bug was found in Rockingham County and is the first known sighting in New Hampshire.  The second was European fire ants found in Merrimack County.

This project was a success due to the shared cooperation and hard work of volunteer citizens, UNH Cooperative Extension, the U.S Forest Service, and the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands.  It’s this type of effort and resourcefulness that will play a critical role in minimizing any detrimental forest health effects from an ever-increasing list of invasive forest pests in North America.  We have funding to continue this project through the 2011 summer so please consider volunteering your time to collect insects in your pool filters or skimmers.  If interested, call your County Extension Forester or the Forest Health office at 464-3016.

article by Kyle Lombard, Forest Health Program Coordinator, N.H. Division of Forests and Lands
posted January 4, 2011 by Kristina Ferrare