Extension
The goal of the PINEMAP extension team is to disseminate emerging knowledge, practices, and PINEMAP decision support tools to enable corporate and non-corporate landowners to increase forest carbon sequestration, nitrogen fertilizer efficiency, and forest resilience under changing climate. In order to achieve this goal, the PINEMAP extension activities include the following:
- Develop partnerships among Extension foresters and state climatologists to build a regional network of climate Extension/outreach specialists. These teams of Extension foresters and state climatologists will collectively develop and review materials; provide oversight and advice to research and education activities; and develop and implement workshops to teach about climate variability and climate change impacts to local and regional forest industry and non-industrial private forest (NIPF)landowners
- Implement state and regional Extension advisory committees with forest management, climatology, social science, and extension expertise to provide oversight to regional specialists that will develop, deliver, and evaluate PINEMAP Extension programming and outcomes.
- Assess stakeholder perceptions and information and decision-making needs, and current practices and determine preferred and most cost effective methods of communication, education, and evaluation.
- Develop a web-based Decision Support System (DSS) that will include the results of genetics, silviculture, and economic models resulting from project research. The DSS will provide an open-source set of current and future decision support tools directed to the innovative management of southern pine forests.
- Develop extension products including online learning modules for eXtension, a national Internet-based educational network; fact sheets; and webinars.
- Conduct training workshops for educators from a variety of agencies, county Extension agents, and state forestry and natural resource professionals with outreach responsibilities in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- Develop impact assessments regarding:
- the adoption of alternative planted pine forest management systems designed to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation;
- the engagement of non-corporate landowners in active planted pine management and carbon markets;
- the quantitative changes in regional planted pine forest carbon sequestration and nitrogen use efficiency resulting from adoption of alternative management systems;
- clientele understanding of interaction between climate and forests.
