FSML Planning for the Future of the Holt Research Forest

缅因州的大学被授予规划补助金，使一个10年计划的发展，以更新和制定新的研究，教育和公共宣传计划在霍尔特研究森林（HRF）在南部缅因州。最近项目领导层和支持基金会的变化为在过去成功的基础上再接再厉创造了一个理想的机会，并制定了一项计划，以确保难民基金会作为一个外地站的遗产和可持续性。这项计划之所以必要，部分原因是出现了1982年没有预见到的一系列新的环境挑战。该计划将制定战略，以促进关于健康管理的森林生态系统的价值、气候变化适应和城市/农村界面的森林动态的研究和教学。一项战略计划将确定必要的步骤，以建立一个强化的基础设施，一个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，并加强基金会与类似外地站之间的沟通。规划补助金和由此产生的战略计划的一个关键成果将是扩大教学，培训和学习的机会，吸引研究生，博士后，本科生，K-12教师和青年以及成人学习者。霍尔特研究森林（HRF）是一个位于缅因州南部沿海的野外站，有35年的多学科生态研究历史。该地点的特点是红橡树白松森林生态系统，一个重要的和相对未被充分研究的森林类型，河口前沿的盐沼和滩涂，以及岛上最大的淡水池塘。HRF独特的沿海环境在国家认可的肯纳贝克河口与30，000英亩的保护地在15英里半径内提供了广泛的可能性，扩大研究。该规划项目旨在阐明研究，教育和公共宣传方案的增长潜力。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、自然资源专业人员、当地学校、保护组织、国家机构、林地所有者和公众都将参与进来，以改善成果。这将通过三个讲习班和一个会议来实现;征求该领域专家的外部评价;与类似台站的同行建立网络;并将调查结果综合成一个指导未来工作的十年战略计划。

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.