NAASF Public Lands Managers’ Meeting State Presentations

October 2-6, 2017 Traverse City, Michigan CONNECTICUT CT Division of Forestry

Current Staffing: 6 Field Foresters Challenges: •EAB, Gypsy Moth, SPB, Elongate hemlock scale • Increased Pressure for Recreational Trails • 3.5 billion dollar State deficit/NO State Budget •Attrition Changes: Implementation of Roadside Logs Sales 2017 NA-Region 9 Public Lands Committee Meeting Illinois (2900 acres) Henderson Co. Hidden Springs State Forest (1200 acres) Shelby Co. Lowden-Miller State Forest (2400 acres) Ogle Co. (7200 acres) Mason Co. Spoon River State Forest (1680 acres) Knox Co. State Forest (5200 acres) Union Co. Wildcat Hollow State Forest (700 acres) Effingham Co

State Forests = 22,000 acres State Forests = 8 % of total State owned lands State Forests = ½ of 1% of the total Illinois forestland

• DNR & Forestry are committed to long-term, ecologically based forest management on State Forests. • Active Forest management activities create habitat for the greatest percentage of important species in Illinois. • Natural resources, habitats and species on our State Forests are inventoried and monitored regularly. • Annual management affects about 1% of State Forest acreage – or 1/200th of 1% of total Illinois forestland. • Annual forest management of the State Forests will Sustain & Improve habitat, forests, wildlife and water.

1983 - 2012: NO HARVESTING STATE FORESTS 2012 – 0ngoing: HSSF - Commercial Pine Thinning Forest -Wide TTSF 2015 – 2017: – 194 ac. Initial Selective Shelterwood Harvest 2017 – 2017: *State Park – Tornado Log Salvage, Firewood Harvest LMSF 2017 – 2019: – 20 ac. Oak Wilt Salvage/Pre-Salvage Select Harvest SRSF – 2017 – 2019: 50 ac. Selective Commercial Improvement Harvest WHSF – 2017 – 2019: 50 ac Selective Commercial Improvement Harvest PMD/2017/DFR INDIANA Indiana

u Assets: u 13 state forests u 2 forest recreation areas u 10 administrative units u 158,000 acres u FSC & SFI certified u Generated Revenues: u Timber: $3 million u Recreation: $1.3 million Advocacy and Social Media Help Wanted

u Social media handling u Accuracy of your reported ‘set asides’ u Invasive species clauses in timber sale contracts u Carbon markets

Dan Ernst, Assistant State Forester [email protected] 317-232-4101 MARYLAND MARYLAND DNR FOREST SERVICE

NAASF Public Lands Management Committee Where to begin Forest Certification

• New auditors • New audit services contract • New issues It’s been that kind of year St Johns Rock ORV Trail

• Certification closed trails • New ORV trail opens • Build it and they will come, maybe Begin with the end in mind Collaborative Habitat Management

• Goshawk • Lupine Jack A Great Big Thank You

Jack Perdue [email protected] MINNESOTA Minnesota NAASF-PLMC Flash Talk Dave Schuller, State Land Programs Supervisor MNDNR - Forestry 4 Big Things

u Sustainable Timber Harvest Analysis u PFM (Private Forest Management) Initiative u NextGen System u State Forest Maps Sustainable Timber Harvest Analysis

u Why? u New timber industry looking at Minnesota, existing industry has wood supply concern

u Past DNR analysis = 800,000 cords from state lands, industry requests 1,000,000 cords u Governor direction u How? u Legislature provided $500,000 for study u Mason, Bruce & Girard doing modelling. u When? u Final report due March 1, 2018 PFM - Staff & Timber Harvest History 35

30 me u l 25 V o

PFM Initiative r

be 20 im T 15 M F P

/ 10 s ' E T

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0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 u Why? FTE Volume

u Industry concern over wood supply u 40% of MN Forest land is NIPF (6.8 million acres) u Significant decrease in timber from NIPF lands, related to PFM assistance u How? u Industry influenced legislative initiative - $2.5 million/year u Incentives (cost-share) for private landowners & private consultants u Increase DNR staffing from 10 to 18 NextGen System

u Why? u System is over a decade old – better technologies exist u System patched together, cumbersome, inefficient, siloed u How? u Legislative audit determined need for an upgrade u Legislature provided $3 million in FY18/19 and $2 million in FY 20/21 u Exploring lessons learned from other states (shout out to WI & MI) u Request for Proposal (RFP) in January 2018 u Initiate project with vendor in June 2018 State Forest Maps u Why

u 59 State Forests

u 3.8 million acres with many recreational opportunities

u Current maps over 30 years old – pre GIS u How

u User surveys to make paper map layout more user friendly

u New technologies –

u GeoPDF, download from website (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_forests/map.html)

u Works with Avenza and other mapping systems

u Data stays current (updated every 6 months) u Status

u 5 completed since 2016 (5/year ongoing goal) Questions? MASSACHUSETTS WHAT’S HAPPENING ON MASSACHUSETTS STATE LANDS?

William Hill, CF State Forest Land Manager WE’RE WORKING!

BUT WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THE CARBON?! MISSOURI MISSOURII

Missouri Department of Conservation • Elk Restoration began 2011 – started with 28 now have 130 • SFI initial audit just completed • 630,000 acres soon to be certified. • HCP Just Getting Started • Covers 44 Million acres • Indiana, Gray, NLEB, Little Brown, Tri-Colored NEW HAMPSHIRE NASH STREAM FOREST

NEW HAMPSHIRE Background

• Largest NH State Reservation - Approximately 40,000 acres.

• Acquired in 1988 during the break up the Diamond International timber land holdings in northern New England and NY.

• Purchased with funds from LCIP, SPNHF, TNC and a USFS held conservation easement.

• 91 camp leases.

• First management plan completed in 1995. Current Management Plan Revision Process

• Finishing up first full revision of management plan (4-year process).

• Considerable public input - Over 180 comments and 400 pages of responses.

• Hot topics - timber harvesting, ATV expansion, climate change.

• Considering third party certification of NSF. “Continue to contribute to the forest economy through the sale of wood products”

• 20,000 manageable acres - 90% northern hardwoods.

• Focus on high quality long rotation forest products.

• Primarily uneven-aged management - STS and GS.

• 3,500 acres treated - 3.7 million bf and 56 thousand tons harvested. “Provide continued public access for recreation”

• Initial focus was on traditional, low impact, dispersed recreation.

• Plan amended in 2002 to allow limited ATV use - West Side Trail.

• Ride the Wilds - 1,000 miles of connected ATV trails in northern NH.

• 2012 second pilot ATV trail - Kelsey Notch Trail.

• Additional trail requests submitted during current planning process. “Protect the area’s natural beauty and ecological values”

• Nationally recognized restoration work with Trout Unlimited.

• 13 miles of Nash Stream and 9 tributaries - 44 mi2 watershed.

• Replaced 9 undersized culverts and removed 4 others.

• 7 miles of instream restoration - addition of boulder clusters and log jams to create pools. Questions? Ohio Division of Forestry WEST VIRGINIA 7 State Forests 63,000 acres WISCONSIN Wisconsin State Lands • WDNR owns 1.5 million acres of which 1 million is forested • 6% of WI’s forested land is state owned

• WDNR State Forest approx 500,000 acres DNR State Owned Lands Forest Management

• Significant investment in updating Forest RECON • Updated all State Forest property master plans • Expedited timber sale backlog • Regeneration fund for harvested lands

• Department alignment moving recreation and law enforcement operations out of Division of Forestry

• Continuation of streamlining operations and regulations PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA Hall’s Run Mountain VERMONT 2017

Vermont State Lands Flash Outdoor Recreation

•The VT Outdoor Recreation Economic Clloaborative has been formed by Governor Scott to guide and market outdoor recreation in Vermont. Varied stakeholders are being invited to listening sessions around VT. Land Acquisiton

• Vermont continues to add land and easements even as it loses land management staff. We have discovered that some of our districts need to step up to investigate access, legal and management concerns as these have not always been addressed with project proposals. Increased Emphasis on Hazard Tree Assessment

•In part because of new trails and remote campsites, VT is stepping up assessment of trees near heavily used areas. State Lands staff will take a bigger role in these. In 2018, we will add at least 40 person-days for this work to what was done in 2017 and before. Leases, Licenses and SUPs •Vermont permits activities ranging from established ski areas to maple tapping to therapeutic camping to outdoor (even paddleboard!) yoga classes. We host town recreation sites on State Lands, and allow charity races, dog walking enclosures and Tyrolean traverse demonstrations. The volume of the demand and the types of activities continue to grow. So much in fact, that in some areas we are faced with how to accommodate or prioritize uses or users. Town and university users are asserting sovereign immunity from insurance requirements leading to legal concerns for some activities. Forest Health

•VT State Lands host a variety of research projects, both internal and through permits with others. Some involve permanent plots, others traps or other monitoring devices. Timber sale agreements now have multiple quarantines explained. State lands staff are often called upon to assist with Forest Health and Fire Program activities. Forester Licensure

•Vermont now requires Licenses for Foresters. We have not yet figured out exactly what activities State Lands staff will need to stamp or certify, how we will deal with temps working on our licenses or how we will serve consulting foresters when we design training. Other-- • Good Neighbor-Potential for a shared Forester with GMNF • Succession Planning and Filling Positions-On-going! • Birch Tapping-Who would have thought? • Water Quality- Funding Watershed Resiliency • ADA and Recreation Access • Timber Sales-Where are the Markets?