Two UNH Extension state forestry specialists, Andrew Fast and Steven Roberge, shared their knowledge and discussed important forestry topics with national colleagues at the 2024 Society of American Foresters National Convention in Loveland, Colorado in September 2024.
Roberge served as the moderator and Fast served as a panelist for the opening plenary session titled, “Unveiling the Human Dimension: Foresters Engaging with Stakeholders.” The session explored the people who manage resources, the challenges they face and the necessary relationships between land managers, their clients, the public and policymakers.
The conference’s overall theme, “The Resources We Manage,” references all the considerations that forestry and natural resources professionals need to reflect on when planning and implementing decisions on the ground.
In Roberge and Fast’s session, the discussion focused on cultivating relationships and educating the public on the importance of forests.
Fast provides statewide leadership and support to the forest industry through educational programing, business attraction and retention, economic development and research.
“I support market development and workforce development and provide technical assistance. Basically, anything businesses need. For me, working with forest businesses is process oriented,” Fast explained.
Andrew Fast
He shared examples from his work with cross laminated timber development in the northeast.
As he has been working through this process, there has been a lot of focus on developing an entirely new supply chain for dried eastern hemlock. A few of his important takeaways included:
- Forestry professionals must understand incentives in order to affect behavior and make change.
- Forestry professionals need to understand the goals of the person with whom they are working and not project their own goals if they want to affect behavior and make change.
- Crediting and recognizing others bring goodwill and trust and all the necessary things that allow teams to outperform the sum of their parts.
He noted that the success of this initiative has been because of generous collaborators.
In addition to his work with forest businesses, Fast serves as a professor and provides mentorship for the forestry club at UNH.
“There are so many great opportunities for education and skills training — summer jobs, conferences, personal connections. Again and again, I tell my students, ‘Just show up and good things happen,’” he said.
The plenary session “Unveiling the Human Dimension: Foresters Engaging with Stakeholders.”
Roberge is a state specialist and professor who oversees the system of county Extension foresters, coordinates outreach to forest owners and professionals and implements the State’s Forest Stewardship Program. His primary role is to transfer research to forest owners and natural resource professionals. Roberge and his team provide stewardship options for forest owners to help manage the state’s private forestland. He also serves as UNH Extension’s maple specialist, providing programming and training for New Hampshire’s maple producers. Roberge chairs the New Hampshire Forester Licensing Board, serves on the New Hampshire Forest Advisory Board and serves as chair of the U.S. Forest Service Region 9 Cooperative Forest Management Committee.
Steven Roberge
