Education and Outreach

The general goal of the landowner extension and continuing education components is to raise the knowledge level of landowners, foresters and loggers regarding long-term forest management, including the importance of using BMPs when harvesting. The NYC Watershed Model Forests hosts many of the extension and continuing education activities by using locally based research on the impacts of various forest management practices on water quality. They offer an opportunity to demonstrate how the balance between a working landscape and water quality can be maintained while providing a practical means of studying and monitoring the effects of forest management on ecosystem functions and water quality. Key topics include (1) the impact of various silvicultural treatments and harvesting regimes on forest stand productivity and cycling of nitrogen and phosphorous, including their delivery to streams; (2) the linkages between timber harvesting and increased turbidity and sedimentation in receiving waters and the ultimate impact on aquatic biota; and (3) the proper design and implementation of BMPs.

Each Model Forest offers opportunities for demonstration and continuing education. The roads that provide access to these forests display the three major parameters that determine BMP effectiveness in any setting -- soil type, slope, and watershed characteristics (i.e., size, runoff, and location of site within watershed). The access systems offer practical and effective examples of how to minimize sedimentation in the region's surface waters. The goal is to reinforce the use of long standing BMP techniques, such as culverts and broad-based dips, while concurrently promoting the adoption of state-of-the-art BMP techniques, such as geotextile fabric to stabilize soil.

Data from the forest inventories will provide the basis for interpretive signs and educational scripts, both of which help facilitate workshops and short courses. The interpretive signs will be situated throughout each Model Forest, most notably in association with each experimental block. The signs will describe forest management activities occurring within the demonstration blocks while addressing the importance of protecting water quality given specific site conditions. The signs will also include per acre information on stocking levels, volume, basal area, regeneration and species composition. Because all Model Forests will be managed as working landscapes, the signs will be removed during harvesting operations and reinstalled thereafter. Educational scripts targeting specific audiences and group tours will be developed to provide more in-depth information, particularly for professional audiences such as foresters who require more detail.