Northern Forest News Digest

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) introduced legislation this week that would extend renewable energy tax credits to efficient wood heating systems in residential and commercial applications. Co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), theBiomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2013, or BTU Act, would underscore the value and potential for biomass thermal energy, which is currently underutilized in the United States. As Senator King stated as he announced the Act, biomass thermal systems “offer a responsible and efficient way to generate clean energy, save money, and invest in our local economies.”

Thermal biomass systems reduce heating bills by an average of 40 percent, and nearly every cent of biomass heating investment is returned to the local economy – whereas 80 percent of every heating oil dollar in New England and New York is sent out of the state. By one estimate, 342 direct jobs are created for every 100,000 tons of wood pellets manufactured. In addition, wood heating creates an important market for low-grade wood products – further supporting the forest economy – and, when accompanied by responsible forestry practices, decreases carbon emissions over the long term.

The Northern Forest Center advances thermal biomass heating through advocacy, technical assistance and on-the-ground project implementation. Recently, we have:

·         Helped assess the feasibility of biomass heating systems in facilities such as the Milan (NH) Village School, and raised funds for installation in the Long Lake (NY) Town Hall and elsewhere;

·         Celebrated the near-completion of our first Model Neighborhood Project in Berlin, NH – demonstrating the viability and value of residential pellet boilers on a community scale – and secured funding for Phase 1 of a Model Neighborhood Project in Farmington, ME;

·         Met with Congressional delegations from each of the Northern Forest states to advocate for programs and funding that support thermal biomass.

We encourage supporters of thermal biomass energy to contact their U.S. Senators and ask them to join Sen. King and Sen. Collins in support of the BTU Act. Contact information for the Northern Forest delegation can be found here.

Vermont
By: Karen M. Koenig
A sawdust fire broke out yesterday at Copeland Furniture, a manufacturer of residential furniture based in Bradford, VT. There was damage to the building, but no one was injured.

The fire broke out in the sawdust silo at the 75,000-square-foot plant on Wednesday night, May 1. According to WCAX.com, 10 fire departments from Vermont and New Hampshire responded to the blaze. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.

This is the second sawdust fire at a furniture plant in the region in the past few days. On April 30, fire broke out in silos at the Ethan Allen casegoods facility in Orleans, resulting in a temporary shutdown.
Woodworking Network article

Vermont
By: Susan Smallheer
State forestry officials raised questions Thursday about just how sustainable the proposed North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project would be.

The developers of the 35-megawatt wood-fired project have proposed an inadequate wood harvesting program, said Steven Sinclair, director of forests for the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, during hearings before the Vermont Public Service Board.

Sinclair, who was on the stand for most of Thursday, also said that his office had removed the word “renewable” from its website when describing wood-fired projects, based on “new information and research.”

“The science on both renewableness and carbon-neutrality is in question,” Sinclair added.
Rutland Herlad article

New Hampshire
By: Barbara Tetreault
Two officials of the company hired to handle wood procurement for the Burgess BioPower biomass plant said the company will try and buy from local loggers and foresters first. With the plant estimated to require 750,000 to 800,000 tons of biomass annually, Jimmy Carrier of Richard Carrier Trucking (RCT) said he expects the plant will be receiving wood from a 150 to 200 mile radius of Berlin.

"We're going to try and keep everybody local working first," Carrier told a gathering of forestry and natural resource professionals at the 23 annual Mud Breakfast last Friday at the Mountain View Grand resort. Carrier was joined by John Ballew of RCT wood procurement.
Berlin Daily Sun article

New York
By: Capitol Pressroom
Yesterday was Adirondack Day in the state capitol with groups from across the Park offering food, crafts and information about the North Country to people in Albany.

State Senator Betty Little described the event as a way to raise awareness about the Adirondacks, especially among lawmakers and legislative aides from downstate who've never made the journey up the Northway.

Cuomo says he also plans to hold a summit next week to help boost tourism statewide.
North Country Public Radio article

New York
By: NCPR News
Members of Congress from the North Country and Vermont are urging the Homeland Security Department to drop a proposal that could add new fees for travelers entering the US from Canada.

In a letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napoitano, Vermont Representative Peter Welch and the North Country's Bill Owens described the concept as "a bad idea."

The department currently plans to study whether new fees are appropriate. A request for funding for the effort is in the Federal budget request for next year.
North Country Public Radio article

Vermont
By: Amy Kolb Noyes
Last week the Vermont Transportation Board officially expanded the Scenic Route 100 Byway to encompass 138 miles through 20 towns in central and southern Vermont. To be clear, Route 100 hasn't changed, just the "byway" designation has been expanded to new portions of the road. So, why are so many towns and businesses along the route so excited? It's all about marketing.

The push to expand the byway came from regional planning commissions and chambers of commerce along the route, representing towns and businesses along the way.
Vermont Public Radio article

New Hampshire
By: Sam Evans-Brown
Fiddleheads are the whimsical, tightly coiled spiral of fern sprouts that push their way up from under the layers of winter debris on the forest floor. They are also a regional and seasonal delicacy, and their season is incredibly short. In some Southern parts of the state, it may already be over. For any given fiddlehead patch, it can last as little as a week and a half.

That means for those who harvest the sprouts, fiddlehead patches are closely guarded secrets.

Even just finding fiddleheads in stores can be tough. But at the Concord Coop, an independent grocery store in Concord, a basket of the vibrant green sprouts sat in the vegetable cooler this week.

“It’s why I’m here today, because I thought that the coop would have fiddleheads,” says Ruth Brown, a Concord resident.
New Hampshire Public Radio article

Vermont
By: Patty Daniels and Ric Cengeri
Around the country, many beekeepers checking in on their hives after the winter found staggering losses. As many as 40 percent of commercial bee hives were lost this winter. In Vermont, though, losses have been closer to 10-15 percent bee die-off, which is in the range of normal. In an interview with VPR's Vermont Edition, state apiculturist Steve Parise explains why.
Vermont Public Radio article

New York
By: Matt Richmond
New York State's second highest court has ruled in favor of two towns which passed laws banning gas drilling.

In two decisions released Thursday, the court ruled unanimously in favor of local control in Dryden and Middlefield.

Earthjustice attorney Deborah Goldberg argued for the Town of Dryden. She says the unanimous decisions by the four judge panel that heard both cases puts to rest the question of whether New York towns can ban drilling.

"There's no dispute among them and there should be no dispute generally on this issue."

The defendants relied on a case called Frew Run which said towns in New York can ban gravel mines within their borders.
North Country Public Radio article

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) introduced legislation this week that would extend renewable energy tax credits to efficient wood heating systems in residential and commercial applications. Co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), theBiomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2013, or BTU Act, would underscore the value and potential for biomass thermal energy, which is currently underutilized in the United States. As Senator King stated as he announced the Act, biomass thermal systems “offer a responsible and efficient way to generate clean energy, save money, and invest in our local economies.”

Thermal biomass systems reduce heating bills by an average of 40 percent, and nearly every cent of biomass heating investment is returned to the local economy – whereas 80 percent of every heating oil dollar in New England and New York is sent out of the state. By one estimate, 342 direct jobs are created for every 100,000 tons of wood pellets manufactured. In addition, wood heating creates an important market for low-grade wood products – further supporting the forest economy – and, when accompanied by responsible forestry practices, decreases carbon emissions over the long term.

The Northern Forest Center advances thermal biomass heating through advocacy, technical assistance and on-the-ground project implementation. Recently, we have:

·         Helped assess the feasibility of biomass heating systems in facilities such as the Milan (NH) Village School, and raised funds for installation in the Long Lake (NY) Town Hall and elsewhere;

·         Celebrated the near-completion of our first Model Neighborhood Project in Berlin, NH – demonstrating the viability and value of residential pellet boilers on a community scale – and secured funding for Phase 1 of a Model Neighborhood Project in Farmington, ME;

·         Met with Congressional delegations from each of the Northern Forest states to advocate for programs and funding that support thermal biomass.

We encourage supporters of thermal biomass energy to contact their U.S. Senators and ask them to join Sen. King and Sen. Collins in support of the BTU Act. Contact information for the Northern Forest delegation can be found here.

New Hampshire
By: Bob Sanders
It’s special interest time, as New Hampshire's renewable energy portfolio standards program starts its race to the legislative finish line and lawmakers grapple with a bill that would cap the state’s Renewable Energy Fund at $4.5 million, partly to return funds as rebates to electricity ratepayers and partly so it won’t be such an inviting target for lawmakers looking to balance the budget.

Senate Bill 148, sponsored by Sen. Jed Bradley, R- Wolfeboro, has already passed the Senate, and heard Wednesday by the House Science , Technology and Energy committee, and several key parts of the bill that either would help or hurt different constituencies inspired much of the testimony.

The proposed REF cap would echo what happened with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program, which was capped following a $3.1 million legislative raid. The amount available in the REF is much greater, $19 million (though about $5 million is already spoken for). No one has raided the that fund yet, but with the House granting Gov. Maggie Hassan permission to raid dedicated funds like REF, it is certainly something being considered, even if the Senate budget writers haven’t endorsed that blank check.

Like the RGGI fund, the REF money comes from ratepayers, not taxpayers. Its source is the fees paid by utilities that don't meet the state's renewable portfolio standard, which requires that almost a quarter of the energy generated in New Hampshire must come from renewable sources by 2025. Utilities that don't meet certain benchmarks must pay penalties.

The demand for biomass power in other states with renewable portfolio standards is the main reason behind the surplus. That demand, particularly in Connecticut, makes it harder for utilities to meet the standards in New Hampshire, so they pay into the REF instead.
New Hampshire Business Review article

New England
By: Dan Haugen
Wood fuel represents just a sliver of the Midwest’s heating market. By BTUs, solid biomass supplied 3 percent of the region’s heat in 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The rest came primarily from non-renewable, fossil fuels — mostly natural gas.

A biomass advocacy group called Heating the Midwest thinks the region could and should significantly boost the share of heat it gets from wood-burning stoves and boilers, and it unveiled a vision at its annual conference in Minnesota last week for how to get to a 10 percent thermal biomass goal by 2025.

Heating the Midwest is looking to the Northeast as a successful example of where regional coordination and investment is helping to grow a wood-fuel industry. Its vision document was prepared by a Maine biomass research and consulting group, FutureMetrics, that did a similar roadmap for the Northeast in 2010.

Wood fuel provides about 4 percent of heating energy in the Northeast (six New England states and New York), where biomass supporters have announced a goal of providing 18 percent of thermal power by 2025.
Midwest Energy News article link

Maine
By: Alex Barber
Cianbro Corp. CEO Peter Vigue said Wednesday he supported the decision of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee to repeal a feasibility study for the proposed east-west highway.

The leading proponent of the proposed highway said the project can still move forward despite the committee’s action.

“The study [by the state] is certainly not a prerequisite for a project like this being successful or going forward,” Vigue said in a telephone interview.

“This is something that can be done and be done by a third party,” he continued. “[The study is] certainly something that isn’t necessary to be done by the state of Maine. There are private entities that do that. Even the state of Maine wouldn’t have done that [on its own], they would’ve gone to a third party.”

The proposed corridor includes a 220-mile toll highway connecting Calais to Coburn Gore, making an east-west route from New Brunswick to Quebec.

The Transportation Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend repealing the requirement that the Maine Department of Transportation complete a $300,000 feasibility study for the proposed $2.1 billion private east-west highway.
Bangor Daily news article
Related article

New York
By: Capitol Pressroom
New York state and private companies investing tens of millions of dollars in the North Country in an effort to bring broadband internet connections to some of the region's most remote, rural areas.

In March, the state announced that $200,000 will go to the town of Thurman in Warren County to help develop a kind of far-reaching wi-fi connection known as "white space."

Evelyn Wood, town supervisor in Thurman, and David Salway, head of New York's Broadband Program Office, appeared yesterday on the public radio program Capitol Pressroom to talk about the project.
North Country Public Radio article

Maine
By: Robert Long
A proposed 220-mile east-highway across Maine will hurt local businesses and destroy wildlife habitat, opponents of the project said at a State House event Tuesday.

Patrick McGowan, a former Route 2 business owner, Maine conservation commissioner, legislator and Democratic candidate for governor, said Tuesday that “people in this Capitol have rejected the notion of an east-west highway since 1937.” He called the proposal “the single largest destruction of fisheries and wildlife habitat in the history of this state by a private entity.”

He and other business owners spoke during a media event hosted by the Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club before the Legislature’s Transportation Committee held public hearings on six bills related to the proposed $2.1 billion private toll highway from Calais to Coburn Gore. Opponents contended that the project isn’t needed because public roadways already traverse the state and that it would imperil wildlife, create pollution and harm small businesses, both those based on natural resources and those that cater to travelers along Route 1, Route 2, Route 9 and Route 201.
Bangor Daily News article

Maine
By: Jackie Farwell
McDonald was one of more than a record-high 1,100 Maine residents diagnosed last year with Lyme disease. Public health officials are warning that the risk for Lyme has increased now that ticks have emerged for the season. A mild winter in 2011 led to a bumper crop of ticks that appeared early in the 2012 season.

“We’ve seen increases every year for the last four or five years,” said Dr. Stephen Sears, state epidemiologist. “There’s no reason to suspect that we won’t potentially see more cases because it appears that Lyme’s moving into parts of the state where it was not as common before.”

Lyme first appeared in the southern part of Maine, and has consistently spread north and Down East. Lyme disease in humans now shows up in every county in the state thanks to hungry deer ticks that feed mostly during the summer months.
Bangor Daily News article

New York
By: Chris Knight
Many nursing homes around the state are seeing big financial losses, and the situation is the same, if not worse, here in the North Country.

That's sparked a dialogue in the last few months among the region's long-term care leaders about ways they can partner, share services or even consolidate under one organization. Leaders of at least eight to 10 of the region's nursing homes have been involved in these talks.

Some long-term care advocates believe North Country nursing homes are at a tipping point.
North Country Public Radio article

Vermont
By: Jane Lindholm and Sage Van Wing
In 2002 there were 37 cases of Lyme disease in Vermont. In 2011 there were over 500. Experts aren’t sure why the numbers are rising so drastically, but they do agree that the disease is serious.

If you know you’ve been bitten by a deer tick, and you develop a rash, you have likely been infected with Lyme disease. A short course of antibiotics, administered quickly after an infection, has proven effective at treating the disease at that stage. After that, though, there is some disagreement as to how the disease should be identified and treated.
Vermont Public Radio article

New Hampshire
By: Sean Hurley
While most newspapers are downsizing, outsourcing, assimilating or outright folding, there’s a newspaper in the North Country that’s flourishing. Two weeks ago the Colebrook Chronicle opened a new business office in downtown Colebrook. As Sean Hurley reports, business at the Chronicle has never been better.
New Hampshire Public Radio article

New Hampshire
By: Michael Brindley
Friday marks 10 years since the Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire’s most iconic symbol, collapsed from its point along the side of Cannon Mountain.

A ceremony will be held Friday at 11:30 a.m. to commemorate the anniversary.
New Hampshire Public Radio article

Vermont
By: Jane Lindholm
On a beautiful Spring day, it’s hard not to spend some time outside.

Jennifer Lamphere Roberts is the author of the newly released “AMC’s Best Day Hikes in Vermont,” put out by the Appalachian Mountain Club. It’s a look at 60 trails in the Green Mountain State.

Roberts, who is an expert in finding the perfect trail for a hike, recommends Eagle Mountain in Milton, that is the highest point on Vermont's lake shore. In the southern part of the state, she loves Mount Olga in Wilmington, part of Molly Stark State Park.
Vermont Public Radio article

Vermont
By: Steve Zind
The shortage of qualified workers is a problem that’s become increasingly urgent for manufacturers across the country and in Vermont.

For years technical programs at high schools have been teaching basic skills, but the specialized needs of modern manufacturers demand more specialized training and an approach customized to individual manufacturers.

For Velan Valve Corporation the problem finding machinists became evident a few years back.

Whenever the company advertised an opening there were lots of applicants but no one was qualified.

“I don’t know how many cooks and landscapers and bottlewashers. A lot of cooks!” says Dennis Lalancette, general manager at Velan’s Williston plant, describing who applied for the positions.

The Canadian based manufacturer has facilities around the world that produce build-to-order valves for the petroleum and defense industries. They range in size from small 2-inch models to massive valves with elaborate controls.

Lalancette says finding qualified machinists was a matter of survival for the Williston facility. If the company couldn’t make valves in Vermont, it could easily send the work somewhere else.

“We didn’t want that to happen,” he says. “We’ve got 150 families counting on us to do the right thing here.”

The right thing was for Velan to more proactive in creating a pool of qualified workers.
Vermont Public Radio article

New York
By: Julie Grant
Leaders on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border are pleased that the U.S. isn't moving forward on a border crossing fee.

The Department of Homeland Security recently asked Congress to authorize a border fee study. The department wanted to charge everyone entering the U.S. by land from Canada and Mexico.

The Senate judiciary committee voted last Thursday to ban the fee altogether, as part of the Immigration Reform Bill.
North Country Public Radio article

New York
By: Brian Mann
Locking people up and keeping them behind bars is one of the North Country's biggest industries. There are more than twenty jails and prison facilities scattered across our rural region. Corrections and law enforcement agencies provide high-paying jobs from Ogdensburg to Glens Falls.

But the prison industry isn't something we talk about very often. The North Country's Regional Economic Development plan talks about renewable energy and trains and farms and government. But it doesn't even mention prisons -- not once.

Earlier this month, a student group at SUNY Plattsburgh invited community members, faculty and activists to meet and talk about mass incarceration and how it affects communities.
North Country Public Radio article

Nearly all business sectors can be assisted through the program. However, USDA-RD is placing specific emphasis on the following business sectors in 2013.
1. Projects that will develop, expand or enhance the viability of agricultural or forestry related value-added businesses.

Projects that impact locally produced / locally manufactured food networks and/or distribution systems.
Projects that assist in the development or expansion of cooperatively owned businesses (including healthcare).
Projects that specifically support manufacturing.
Projects that integrate technology – i.e. web sales analytics, business IT assessment/planning

To learn more about the program, please visit the following website: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_rbeg.html
Application packages can be found on-line at: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/NHVT_RBEG.html  

Vermont
Press Release
The Vermont Community Foundation announced that its Innovations and Collaborations grant program awarded $222,000 to 13 nonprofit organizations in Vermont this fall. Awards ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 and several Foundation fundholders partnered with the Community Foundation in supporting the selected organizations.

“Through these grants, the Community Foundation and our fundholders support nonprofits that come up with new ways of working and reach across issue areas to collectively solve community problems,” says Stuart Comstock-Gay, president & CEO of the Community Foundation. “Innovations and Collaborations grants champion the kind of work that encourages cooperation among different organizations and has the potential to create best practices for others.”
Vermont Community Foundation link

New York
By: Staff
People interested in learning more about the Tupper Lake Micro-Enterprise Grant Program, or those who would like assistance in completing the application or business plan, are invited to meet with staff of the Adirondack Economic Development Corporation at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the village offices on Park Street.

The village of Tupper Lake will be offering nearly $200,000 in grant funding to help small businesses get their start or grow to the next level, thanks to a state grant designed to create and retain employment opportunities for low to moderate income individuals and maintain and expand the village's commercial tax base.

The deadline for the initial funding round is Oct. 12. All available funds may be committed in the initial round. AEDC has been contracted to administer the grant on behalf of the village and will be providing the required entrepreneurship training component of the program.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise article link

New Hampshire
By: Joan Chamberlain
This short presentation was presented at the 2013 Northeast Biomass Heating Expo.  The slides explain the new biomass system they installed in their facility.  
Link to presentation (a PDF)

Maine
Maine Energy Systems (MESys) announces they are on track to sell a record number of fully-automatic wood pellet boilers in the northeastern U.S. this year. Because of increasing demand, MESys has reduced prices on its AutoPellet 20kW boiler, which is suitable for residential and light commercial customers, by nearly 18%.

“High fossil fuel costs and growing consumer awareness of our wood pellet boilers have contributed to the strong 2013 sales,” said Les Otten, MESys’ co-founder and CEO. “We’ve installed hundreds of boilers over the last few years, and owners are reporting heating bills reduced by up to 50 percent.”

MESys, in partnership with the Northern Forest Center and Berlin Better Buildings, installed 36 of its boilers in Berlin, New Hampshire as part of a pilot program known as the Berlin Model Neighborhood Project.
Redorbit article

New Hampshire
By: Barbara Tetreault
 A group of homeowners gathered at Tea Birds Restaurant Tuesday night to celebrate the end of their addiction to home heating oil.
"Every time the oil truck goes by, I smile," said Marie Canning.

Canning's home is one of 36 Berlin homes that has or is in the process of replacing its oil burner with a high efficiency wood pellet boiler. It is estimated the 36 homeowners combined will save more than $50,000 a year in heating costs.

In addition to saving money, the homeowners are also proving that switching to a local renewable energy source helps the local economy and the environment. The project is expected to have a $200,000 annual impact on the local economy.

The homeowners participated in the Model Neighborhood Project, which subsidized the purchase and installation of the boilers. Launched in the fall of 2011 by the Northern Forest Center, Berlin Better Buildings, and Maine Energy Systems, the goal was to install 40 pellet boilers in Berlin homes.

"Berlin has proven that this technology works, that we can use local wood to replace foreign oil, that we can spend our heating dollars locally and support jobs in the local forest industry," said Rob Riley, president of the Northern Forest Center.

Mike Wilson, senior program director at the Northern Forest Center, said Berlin now has the highest concentration of bulk pellet boilers in the country. "Berlin really is a model for this," he said.
Berlin Daily Sun article

Date: Monday, May 6, 9am-4pm
Location: Husson University, Bangor, ME
The Maine Woods Consortium is hosting tourism business leaders and other stakeholders for a day-long retreat to:

Learn from Robert Reid, US Travel Editor for Lonely Planet, why the world’s leading travel publisher selected Northern Maine as one of its Top 10 US Travel Destinations for 2013.
Hear from Carolann Ouellette, Director of the Maine Office of Tourism, about the state’s 2013 marketing plan and new campaign touching on brand platform, strategies, objectives and target markets.

Talk with destination development leaders from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont about their experiences working with businesses, local organizations, private landowners and others to position their place as a successful vacation destination. Panelists will include:
Tim Tierney – Kingdom Trails Association, Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom
Cathy Conway – New Hampshire Grand, Northern New Hampshire
Robin Zinchuk – Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, Western Maine
Join peers from destination areas and across the state to assess the status and potential of specific Maine Woods destination areas, and identify key opportunities to collaborate on common challenges and opportunities.

If you would like more information on this event, please contact the Maine Woods Consortium at info@mainewoodsconsortium.org.

Colebrook, New Hampshire
Date: April 29th
The use of an outdoor classroom for educating children has dwindled in recent years despite the overwhelming evidence that it works incredibly well! Join us on April 29th for a free screening and discussion of Mother Nature’s Child in Colebrook (see attached). This movie is especially important for the North Country, encouraging parents and teachers to embrace the idea of using our rich natural amenities to teach kids outside! This showing is brought to you by Plum Creek Timberlands and is open to everyone! Please help us pass it on!
Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire has more information.

Lake Plaicd, New York
Date: June 6-7
Taking place at the stunning Conference Center in Lake Placid (NY), the second annual Clean Energy Conference will begin Wed., June 5 at 3 p.m. with the opening of the exhibitor showcase and will include a welcome reception. Thursday's full-day session runs from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., featuring workshops in nine areas: solar, wind, hydro, biomass, bio-digesters, transmission, conservation/efficiency for new and existing buildings, and a special topics session (with topics such as biofuels, LNG, batteries, etc.). Friday will begin at 8 a.m. with continued track sessions and opportunities for round-table discussions with regional experts. The exhibitor showcase will be open to the public on Friday.
The conference is presented by ANCA and partners.
Link to general information and registration.