Extension News: June 2011 Archives

The NH Method: Practical wetlands guide updated and online


New Hampshire communities, conservation groups and natural resources consultants now have an updated, practical method for evaluating wetland functions. The NH Method, originally published in 1991, has been updated for the first time in 20 years through the efforts of its two main authors from UNH Cooperative Extension and the NH Method Work Group.

Wetlands play a key role in maintaining water quality, reducing the amount and volume of stormwater runoff, and storing floodwater to prevent downstream property damage.

First update since 1991

First developed in 1991, the NH Method was long overdue for an update, according to one of the authors, Amanda Lindley Stone, UNH Cooperative Extension land and water conservation specialist.

"The NH Method is widely used in New Hampshire, so the update was needed to incorporate new information, studies and technologies. It also was an opportunity to incorporate feedback we have received from users over the years."

Officially known as the "Method for the Inventory and Evaluation of Freshwater Wetlands in New Hampshire," it has always been known as the NH Method, providing a science-based method designed that both professionals and non-professionals will find easy to use.

The format provides a step-by-step process that allows users to learn about wetlands and wetland evaluation. It is available only through its website and can be downloaded as one document or by chapters.

Over the past 20 years, the NH Method has been used frequently for community and watershed-based wetland assessments throughout the state and has been demonstrated as both useful and accurate.

Easy to use, educational, and objective

Its ease of use, educational value and the overall objectivity of the resulting function evaluations have contributed to its popularity. Since 1991, the NH DES Wetlands Bureau Prime Wetlands Regulations have recommended it as the preferred method for evaluating wetlands for the purpose of Prime Wetlands designation.

"The original NH Method was published before the wide availability of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in the early days of desktop computers, before the availability of the Internet," Stone says.

"Eighteen years later, it was ripe for an update that included new information sources and technologies. In addition, the update incorporates changes suggested by past users."

The update includes the addition of new scientific information and new technologies, along with revisions that improve clarity and that incorporate new data from recent studies. Intended uses include:

• Educating members of conservation commissions, other town boards, non-wetland professionals and the public about wetland functions and values.
• Evaluating one or more wetlands in a study area, such as a town or a watershed.
• Evaluating Prime Wetlands (see: RSA 482-A:15)
• Collecting baseline information about the wetlands in a study area.
• Creating a database of the scores for the evaluated wetlands for a number of functions, as well as other data about the wetlands in a study area.
• Supporting local planning and decision-making.

Stone and Frank Mitchell, a UNH Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus, are the main editors. Contributing authors are listed within the document.

Check out the new resource. You can download it as one document or by chapters.

Digital mapping workshop helps fishermen & other business owners move into the smartphone era

With all the tourists visiting the Seacoast this summer, it's a safe bet that many of them will touch the screen of their smartphone to find a local eatery that offers fresh seafood rather than flip through the local phone book.

Shane Bradt, geospatial extension specialist for UNH Cooperative Extension, presented information on how to put businesses on the digital map, giving fishermen and small businessmen the opportunity to reach new clients who are increasingly tech-savvy. Approximately 30 fishermen and small business owners attended the Fisheries Roundtable discussion on June 13th from 6-8 p.m. at the Portsmouth Public Library, co-hosted by the Northeast Consortium and N.H. Sea Grant.

For many business owners, marketing products and services to the public in the digital age can be confusing due to the increasing number of options and the pace at which they are changing, Bradt told the group.


A seismic shift in the way people find and access information

He says that while there is still value in traditional forms of advertising--in newspapers, flyers, phone book listings or roadside ads--the trend is turning away from these to focus more on computer-based information via the Internet home computers, cars' GPS systems, and on smartphones people carry with them wherever they go.

"It's important to get your business listed correctly on online maps so people can find you," Bradt says. "Even if you personally don't have a smartphone, many of your potential clients may have one."

Bradt says that as of July 2010, there were approximately 53.4 million smartphone users in the U.S., and projections estimate that smartphone users will outnumber users whose cell phones don't have Internet access by late this year.

"This represents a seismic shift in the way people find and access information," says Bradt.


Businesses move into the smartphone era

Smartphones take advantage of GPS devices and online mapping databases to provide suggestions for, say, restaurants that serve lobster, and then provide directions for you to walk or drive there.

For the technologically savvy, this on-the-go information enables them to quickly and easily find what they're looking for. For fishermen looking to connect with new markets and dealers, this is an easy way to get their business information listed with little or no cost to them.

For the small business owner or fisherman looking to direct more business through his or her door, getting business information into the most relevant databases is imperative. Taking the time to list your business online ensures that your clients have accurate information about your services and how to find you.

And, Bradt adds, it's best to list your business information in a variety of databases to ensure it shows up in the myriad computer devices available to the public.

At the end of Bradt's presentation, he suggested nine databases in which to enter business information for free: InfoUSA, Localeze, NavTeq, SuperPages, TeleAtlas, Bing, Google Maps, Yahoo Maps and MapQuest.


Want to learn ways to put digital mapping to work for your business? This page on the Geospatial Technologies website offers information about upcoming workshops.


Photo: Bradt (center) and Erik Chapman, fisheries program coordinator for N.H. Sea Grant, help Scott Bailey from Port Norris, N.J.

The workshop was a collaboration between UNH Sea Grant Extension fisheries and UNH Cooperative Extension GIS programs in support of the retraining efforts of the Lobster Trade Adjustment program funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Learn to tell it apart from similar beetles

Forest health experts fear that an exotic pest called the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), which made its way into the U.S. in wooden packing crates from China more than a decade ago, could move into New Hampshire and devastate our forest landscape.

Beetle not yet found in N.H.

"So far, we haven't found ALB in New Hampshire," says UNH Cooperative Extension entomologist, Dr. Stan Swier. "But since the beetle was discovered in Worcester and near Boston, Massachusetts, state and federal officials have mounted a massive eradication program there, expected to last many years and to cost tens of millions of dollars."

Beetle behavior

"The female ALB chews holes in the trunks and branches of many hardwood species--especially maples, but also birch, elm, ash, poplar, willow, horsechesnut, and many more--to lay her eggs," says Swier. "The eggs hatch, and the larvae excavate large galleries inside the tree, disrupting sap flow, weakening and eventually killing it. ALB attacks many hardwood trees, but is most common in maple and birch."

Beetle threatens forest values

"New Hampshire's 4.6 million forested acres provide the scenic natural backdrop for the quality of life we all enjoy," says Swier. "Our timber industries are collectively worth $2 billion and support 21,000 jobs. Forests also help protect our water quality, prevent flooding, provide wildlife habitat, give us our maple syrup industry, and support many recreational activities for both tourists and residents alike."

Prevention: first line of defense

"Prevention is our first line of defense, followed by aggressive eradication programs if the beetle is found," says Swier. "The beetle can move around in firewood. It's important not to bring in firewood from out of state. The larva burrows deeply into the tree, making it extremely difficult to control. We currently have no biological control methods for this pest."

"Chemicals can reduce the problem on landscape trees, but aren't practical in a forest. Chemicals cannot eradicate ALB," says Swier. "Once the beetle has been discovered, it becomes a very expensive search-and-destroy operation, involving cutting, burning and chipping."

Citizen monitoring is working

"With nearly five million forested acres in New Hampshire, we believe ordinary citizen observers are the most important key to identifying this potential threat," Swier says. "In cooperation with the Division of Forests an Lands and the N.H. Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Cooperative Extension held many workshops and twilight meeting around the state.

Swier says the statewide call for citizen involvement is working. "We are currently getting bombarded with hundreds of calls and emails from citizens who are seeing beetles that look a lot like ALB.

Distinguishing ALB from look-alikes

"The ALB is often confused with the somewhat smaller whitespotted sawyer (WSS), a common, non-threatening beetle that feeds on dying conifers, rather than hardwoods. WSS are flying now, and people who see them are concerned they may be the ALB. The ALB adults typically don't emerge until mid-July.

Adult ALB are large (0.75 - 1.50 inches long), with very long black-and-white-banded antennae. The body is glossy black with irregular white spots. The feet are bluish.

The WSS males are metallic black with one white dot at the base of the wing covers. Females are brown with speckles and also have the white dot at the base of the wing covers. The ALB doesn't have this white dot, though it has many white spots on its wing covers.

This fact sheet will help you distinguish between the two beetles. Or visit our ALB web page for general information about the invasive beetle.

If you think you may have found an ALB

If you can snap a close-up digital photo of your beetle, send it by email attachment to suzanne.hebert@unh.edu.

Alternatively, place an intact beetle into a small, crush-proof container and mail it along with your contact information to the Arthropod Identification Lab, UNH Cooperative Extension, Spaulding Hall G28, 38 Academic Way, Durham, 03824. There's no charge for either service.

Call our Info Line, 1-877-398-4769, M-F, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., or Wednesdays, 5 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., with questions about insect identification, plant diseases, and other problems with your garden or home grounds. You can also email us at answers@unh.edu.

June-August cruises explore N.H.'s marine and estuarine environments

Join the University of New Hampshire Marine Docents for a day cruise aboard the university's research vessel, the R/V Gulf Challenger. Find out what UNH researchers are learning about the marine and estuarine environments. Get up close and personal with coastal creatures and local history.

Spend the day on Appledore Island, one of the nine beautiful Isles of Shoals off the coasts of Maine and N.H. Hike around the island, learn about its natural history and geology, and hold a sea star at the Shoals Marine Laboratory touch tanks.

Or join fellow explorers on an activity-based cruise from Portsmouth up the Piscataqua River into the Great Bay Estuary and to the UNH Jackson Estuarine Laboratory. Marine Docents will lead activities such as catching plankton and measuring water salinity.

Cruises will depart from the Judd Gregg Marine Research Complex in New Castle, N.H. Children ages 10 and older are welcome with an adult. The Isles of Shoals trips run from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. and cost $40 per person The Great Bay trips run from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. and cost $25 per person. Discovery Cruises are sponsored by N.H. Sea Grant and UNH Cooperative Extension.

Space is limited -- reserve your cruise now! For more information or to make a reservation, please visit our website at www.unh.edu/marine-education or call Dari Ward at 603-749-1565.