2017 CRSF Annual Report

Published: 2018

Author(s):
Aaron Weiskittel, Meg Fergusson

Abstract:

2017 Annual Report (pdf)

Edited by Aaron Weiskittel & Meg Fergusson

Highlights

  • Aaron Weiskittel, along with industry leaders and the Maine Forest Products Council, received nearly $2.5 million in funding from the Economic Development Administration and Maine Technology Institute to support vital work on Maine’s economic development team.
  • CRSF website completely revised, revamped, and updated for new platform to conform with UMaine IT requirements.
  • Brian Roth, Aaron Weiskittel, and Anil Kizha began work on a new CFRU study to examine alternative silvicultural approaches for improving rotation length productivity and value of mid-rotation stands in Maine. The main objective is to establish a network of 18 operational scale study installations distributed across the state in all combinations of mid-rotation softwood, mixedwood, and hardwood stands of good, medium, and low site quality. Once established, this network will serve as an operational-scale field laboratory and has received quite a bit of interest from potential collaborators across campus.
  • The Nature-based Tourism Research Program (led by Dr. Sandra De Urioste-Stone) conducted an undergraduate and graduate student service-learning project to facilitate tourism destination planning in western Maine in collaboration with local stakeholders through a grant provided by the Davis Educational Foundation.
  • CRSF affiliated researcher Dr. Shawn Fraver continues to lead several USDA research grants to support national Ameriflux program monitoring efforts on the Howland Forest, which is the second longest running site in the Ameriflux program.
  • In addition to the long-term research efforts at Howland Forest, the Holt Research Forest and Penobscot Experimental Forest are now affiliated with CRSF. The three are among the longest running research forests in Maine as well as the Northeast.
  • CRSF continues to be the lead on the Maine Spruce Budworm Task Force communications team, maintaining the mainesprucebudworm.org website and Facebook page that are the primary information sources on budworm for the forest industry, state government, researchers and the public.
  • CRSF completed a self-study that documented its past accomplishments and outlines a future vision for the research center, which was reviewed by an external committee.