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As we enter the 87th year of a forestry program in UC, we see more and more public demands for sustainable manage-ment of our forests. Issues relating to forestry are found in the media on an almost daily basis. The current energy crisis provides opportunities for research and extension initiatives relating to the production of biomass energy from the forest. There is in-creasing recognition of the role of forests in sequestering carbon, and evolving carbon credit markets potentially create new opportunities for managing forest land. The summer of 2000 was one of the worst years ever for western wildfires and points to the need to actively manage forests to reduce fuel hazards in forest stands. There is also widespread acknowledgment of the risk of exotic pests in our forests, for example Sudden Oak Death, pine pitch canker, and Eucalyptus psyllid (see Hot Topics article). Concern about watershed management and interrelated needs to sustain viable aquatic populations, while continuing to provide economic sustainibility of local communities, is attracting great interest by the public and the legislature. These concerns have led to a major Center for Forestry research project assessing the role of large woody debris in coastal watercourses and providing for scientific peer review of forest watershed data by various departments in the Resources Agency. And CE Forestry Specialist Richard Harris is developing a comprehensive watershed assessment manual with the collaboration of several Resources Agency departments. This spring the Center is coordinating north coast public input sessions on this new initiative known as the North Coast Watershed Assessment Program (NCWAP). We also acknowledge the increasing need for professionally trained foresters and resource managers. As UC prepares for "Tidal Wave 2" from the anticipated dramatic increase in undergraduate students, we are looking for ways to attract more students into our forestry and resource management majors (see Undergraduate Recruitment article). |
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