FSML Planning for the Future of the Holt Research Forest

缅因大学获得了一笔规划拨款，用于在缅因州南部的霍尔特研究森林（HRF）制定一项10年计划，以更新和制定新的研究、教育和公共宣传项目。最近项目领导和支持基金会的变化创造了一个理想的机会，可以在过去的成功基础上建立一个计划，以确保HRF作为一个实地站的遗产和可持续性。这项计划之所以必要，部分原因是1982年未曾预见到的一系列全新的环境挑战已经出现。该计划将制定战略，促进有关健康管理的森林生态系统、适应气候变化和城乡结合部森林动态的价值的研究和教学。一项战略计划将确定必要的步骤，以建立加强的基础设施、完善的数据管理计划，增加获得宝贵的长期数据的机会、更广泛地传播研究成果，以及在人权基金和类似的外地站之间发展更大的联系。规划拨款和由此产生的战略计划的一个关键成果将是扩大研究生、博士后、本科生、K-12教师、青年和成人学习者的教学、培训和学习机会。霍尔特研究森林（HRF）是一个位于缅因州中海岸南部的野外研究站，拥有35年的多学科生态研究历史。该基地的特色是红橡树白松林生态系统，这是一种重要但相对未被充分研究的森林类型，拥有盐沼和潮滩的河口，以及岛上最大的淡水池塘。HRF独特的海岸环境位于全国公认的肯纳贝克河口，在15英里半径内拥有30,000英亩的保护区，为扩大研究提供了广泛的可能性。该规划项目旨在阐明研究、教育和公共宣传项目的增长潜力。这一进程将涉及各种各样的利益攸关方和潜在受益者。其他大学和学院、科学家、自然资源专业人士、当地学校、保护组织、国家机构、林地所有者和普通公众都将参与进来，以改善结果。这将通过三个讲习班和一次会议来完成；征求该领域专家的外部评价；与类似站点的同行建立网络；并将调查结果综合成指导未来工作的10年战略计划。

University of Maine is awarded a planning grant to enable the development of a 10year plan to update and formulate new research, educational, and public outreach programs at Holt Research Forest (HRF) in southern Maine. Recent changes of project leadership and supporting foundation creates an ideal opportunity to build on past successes and create a plan to ensure the legacy and sustainability of HRF as a field station. This plan is needed in part because a whole new set of environmental challenges, not foreseen in 1982, have emerged. The plan will develop strategies to stimulate research and teaching on the value of healthy managed forest ecosystems, climate change adaptation, and forest dynamics at the urban/rural interface. A strategic plan will establish the steps needed for establishing an enhanced infrastructure, a refined data management plan with increased access to the valuable long-term data, broader dissemination of research results, and developing greater communication between HRF and similar field stations. A key outcome of the planning grant and resulting strategic plan would be expanded opportunities for teaching, training, and learning that engage graduate students, postdocs, undergraduate students, K-12 teachers and youth, and adult learners. The Holt Research Forest (HRF) a field station located in southern mid-coastal Maine and has a 35-year history of multidisciplinary ecological research. The site features a red oak white pine forest ecosystem, an important and relatively understudied forest type, estuarine frontage with salt marshes and tidal flats, and the largest fresh water pond on the island. The unique coastal setting of HRF within the nationally recognized Kennebec Estuary with 30,000acres of conservation lands within a 15 mile radius provides a wide spectrum of possibilities for expansion of research. This planning project seeks to articulate the growth potential for research, educational, and public outreach programming. The process will involve a wide diversity of stakeholders and potential beneficiaries. Other universities and colleges, scientists, natural resource professionals, local schools, conservation organizations, state agencies, woodlot owners, and the general public will all be engaged to improve the outcomes. This will be accomplished through three workshops and a conference; soliciting an external evaluation from experts in the field; networking with peers at similar stations; and synthesizing the findings into a10-year strategic plan that will guide future endeavors.