UMaine’s New School and Research Center Look to the Future of Maine’s Forests
Contact: Charlene Herrick (207) 581-3204; David Munson (207) 581-3777
ORONO, Maine — After more than a century of promoting responsible forest stewardship and research, UMaine’s Department of Forest Ecosystem Science and Department of Forest Management have merged to form the new School of Forest Resources.
The new school creates a single point of contact for the hundreds of government agencies, nonprofit groups, businesses and Maine citizens who rely on UMaine’s forest programs for information and support. The School of Forest Resources’ Interim Director Stephen Reiling, the former Associate Director of the Maine Agriculture and Forest Experiment Station, sees the formation of the school as an opportunity for UMaine to apply its many diverse resources more efficiently and effectively to address the economic, ecological and social changes that continue to affect the state’s vast forestlands.
“Change in Maine’s forests is inevitable, and it is important that UMaine’s education and research programs adjust to that changing landscape so that we can manage the state’s forest resources in an economically sound and ecologically responsible way,” said Reiling. “By creating the School of Forest Resources, we have positioned ourselves so that we can maintain our tradition of leadership in forest-related education and research, providing the most up-to-date programs for our students while conducting research that can respond to the changing needs of the forest industry and the citizens of Maine.”
In addition to the formation of the school, an independent research center with close ties to the School of Forest Resources has also been created. The Center for Research on Sustainable Forests will be the new home for UMaine’s forestry-related research programs, improving upon a long tradition of forestry and forest ecosystems research at the university.
The virtual center brings together dozens of UMaine researchers toward the common goal of forest health and productivity, and will award $350,000 in research funding per year for projects that investigate a broad range of forest-related issues.