The Aroostook River watershed has an historic and current reliance on agriculture and forestry as primary economies. Current emphasis on increasing alternative energy use as well as sourcing local resources for energy presents significant opportunities and risks for socioeconomic benefit and ecological services. To promote sustainable local alternative development we will conduct basic and applied research to evaluate the potential increase in locally produced alternative energy sources, including biomass, wind, solar, and hydroelectricity. We will collect knowledge from academic and applied literature, local research, and through stakeholder partnerships. Our research will assess historical and current land use related to energy production, locations for developing new alternative energy, potential ecological impacts of new alternative energy initiatives, and economic feasibility and community benefit of proposed alternative energy. We will engage a variety of stakeholders to address the range of scales (small to very large landowner) and scopes (agency, university, municipal, business, individual). We will assess our hypothesis that partnerships that link all affected stakeholders will result in optimal socioeconomic benefit as well as least impact to ecological services. During Year 3 of our work we will further develop our collaboration to promote biomass grass production by coordinating with researchers, landowners, and business leaders to coordinate efforts to locate and establish up to 10,000 acres of grassland. At the same time we will continue to evaluate the potential ecological impact (or benefit) to grassland birds. We will also work closely with the town of Fort Fairfield to begin to develop a comprehensive township-scale alternative energy management plan. These efforts, among other work, will serve as case studies for future work within and beyond our region. In addition to engaging over 25 stakeholders, our outreach will include a GIS workshop for local planners, presentations and workshops to K-12 teachers and students, and a press release to engage local private landowners.
