Team Members
- Rob Lilieholm, School of Forest Resources
- Chris Cronan, School of Biology & Ecology
Conceptual Development of the Forest Management Arena
Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI) includes three main Research Arenas identified as major drivers of landscape change in Maine – forest management, urbanization, and climate change. Understanding these drivers – including the linked nature of social and ecological systems – is critical to efforts designed to enhance the sustainability of human and natural systems. Also critical is the process of engaging multiple stakeholders in the research process, and understanding how scientific knowledge can be transformed into meaningful outcome-based change.
From a macro-level perspective, understanding human-forest interactions is a particularly important given that 90% of the state is in forest cover. Already, a number of SSI forest-related efforts are underway. These include efforts to conserve vernal pools, understand landscape hydrologic processes, explore agent-based models of landscape change, and develop methodologies to forecast forest cover changes, forest health, and wildlife habitat.
This research effort develops several parallel tracks of research intended to round-out and broaden the efforts cited above. Specifically, this research seeks to: (1) capitalize on existing research as “low-hanging fruit” that can lead to early SSI successes; (2) broaden the range of inquiry within the Forest Management Arena to ensure that the scope of coverage reflects both the scale of likely SSI funding and the range of issues facing forests in the State; and (3) recruit additional on-campus research expertise, build relevant stakeholder networks, and leverage SSI funding through additional outside funding.
The research includes three interrelated Focus Areas:
Focus Area 1:
Creation of an historic baseline of forest cover and land use to provide a common foundation for SSI forest- and agriculture-related research.
Here, Richard Judd (UMaine History) and Rob Lilieholm will work to assess available information on forest cover and land use, including historical documents, maps, and personal sources. These historical vignettes of past landscapes will form the basis of future visions of sustainable working forests and agricultural lands. The goal will be to provide an image of how Maine’s varying natural landscapes (e.g, agricultural lands, forests and pastures) have changed over time.
Focus Area 2:
Modeling policy options and economic incentives for conserving ecosystem function and working forests.
Chris Cronan and Rob Lilieholm began this work in 2007. We have already developed a good understanding of the location of conservation lands in Maine, along with how well they relate to a host of ecological, social, and cultural indicators of value. We are now beginning to focus on the lower Penobscot River Watershed, identifying important conservation lands as well as lands likely to be lost to development. The hope is that by taking a comprehensive view towards these landscapes, we can identify future development patterns that meet Maine’s needs for economic growth while protecting its important natural assets.
Focus Area 3: Assessing the issues and impacts of rising energy demands and emerging forest-based technologies on communities and forest resources.
This research examines important energy issues facing Maine. Currently, we are analyzing data from a survey of 3,000 Maine households that asked residents about their view regarding forests, forest management, and forest-based biorefineries (facilities that convert wood into products like fuels and other chemicals normally produced from oil). Additional research will examine projected increases in the demand for wood pellets for home heating – a rapidly emerging industry likely to compete with Maine’s pulp and paper sector for wood supplies.
