Launching Forestry FACTS
With planning and fundraising to begin in fall 2024, the goal will be to have Phase 1 projects completed by fall 2026. This new phase for the Thompson School will be led by COLSA in collaboration with UNH Extension and external partners. A Forestry FACTS advisory committee will guide needs assessments/prioritization and fundraising.
Phase 1
- Site inventory and assessment for footprint modifications
- Clean and refinish existing spaces, including parking
- Construct sugaring facility
- Construct outdoor classroom/pavilion
- Develop trailhead adjacent to Leaward Orchards
- Upgrade trails into College Woods<
- Host regular programming activities
- Expand Christmas tree farm
- Develop interpretive materials
Phase 2
- Construct storage barn
- Upgrade the sawmill
- Expand indoor and outdoor teaching and office spaces
- Formalize programming (e.g. state-wide relevant career and technical education programs; community groups; credit and non-credit university courses)
Forestry FACTS Vision
The UNH Thompson School (T-School) has historically served a key role in providing hands-on, place-based learning and developing and supporting a skilled workforce to strengthen New Hampshire’s forestry, agricultural and food industries and economies. As the labor needs of our state’s industries evolve, so too is the vision for how the T-School can continue meeting its mission to serve Granite State communities through relevant, research-informed, experiential education that businesses, entrepreneurs and lifelong learners can look to for workforce development.
To support this, the Field Activity Center @ the Thompson School (FACTS) will leverage the T-School’s high-quality demonstration and training facilities with UNH’s instructional expertise to bring meaningful, career-readying and advancing non-degree educational programming to a new and expanded audience.
Forestry FACTS: Why, What, Where, and How
Why: New Hampshire forests serve as multifaceted economic drivers and community cornerstones for the state. But while many visit and enjoy forests, far fewer are familiar with (and often misunderstand) the practice of forestry—strategic management of forestlands that seeks to balance long-term, multigenerational economic and environmental value of the lands.
What: Forestry FACTS will provide a place-based teaching and learning facility that can engage New Hampshire business owners and their employees, industry enthusiasts, and lifelong learners in active learning around the different ways that forestry is practiced in New Hampshire.
Where: The UNH T-School Sawmill is a valuable component of teaching, research and extension activity at UNH. The site is part of the UNH-Durham campus and has access to parking, running water, power, year-round educational facilities, and a direct connection to the iconic College Woods, UNH’s largest classroom.
How: Re-imagining the current sawmill site with an expanded footprint, which will accommodate high visitor traffic and enable curricular and outreach activities to engage with new elements of contemporary New Hampshire forestry. The sawmill, the site’s centerpiece, will be complemented by a modern maple-sugaring operation, an expanded Christmas tree production and management research site, demonstration areas in College Woods for providing best practices for managing timber production, programming around recreational and wildlife activities, among other topics that will emerge and require science-based, experiential learning. Forestry FACTS will provide UNH staff and faculty with a place to bring business and community stakeholders groups year-round to experience the complexity and importance of forestry to New Hampshire and the role forest management plays in sustaining healthy communities and ecosystems.
Support
To support Forestry FACTS, please click here. For more information, please contact colsa.dean@unh.edu.
