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The Southwest Community Forestry Research Center is a regional station of the National Community Forestry Center. The
Research Center helps communities use local information and resources to investigate forest-related issues. The Research Center achieves
this objective by:
- working with rural people to gather information to make decisions about their forests and communities
- finding useful ways, from newsletters to workshops, to transfer information from professional researchers to rural
people
- bringing researchers and rural people together to investigate forestry issues.
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Most people know the issues and problems they face in their communities. The Research Center uses a process called “participatory
research” with rural communities to find ways to address forestry problems with research, technical assistance, information sharing, and
communication.
First the Center brings together community members who identify what they need to better manage their natural resources and improve their
quality of life. Then community members work with a technical expert to investigate these issues. The process combines information learned
through practical experience with information gathered from scientific studies. Through participatory research, we can involve people
who live and work on the land so that forestry research becomes more practical and accessible.
Visit what’s new and regional projects for examples of topics we hope
to investigate with communities in the southwest. Also, please see our publications. If you have an idea
for a research project or need information on forestry topics, or if you would be interested in providing technical assistance on specific
forestry issues, please contact us at the address below.
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Ecological monitoring protocols and training are
available through the Center. |
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The Southwest Community Forestry Research Center is one of
three regional centers, with the
other two centers in the Appalachians, and the Pacific Northwest.
The centers nest in established organizations (for example,
the Research Center is based at the Forest Trust) and are
advised by a group of community members and forestry professionals
from across the region (the Bioregional
Advisory Council). The centers work independently so they
can be responsive to regional cultures. Each regional center
is part of the National Community Forestry Center, which coordinates
communication among the regional centers and works at the
national level.
Henry Carey, director of the Forest Trust, was one of a group of people who conceived of the research centers. In 1997, Carey and others
drove through high deserts in New Mexico, rounded hills in Kentucky and snowy mountains in Vermont, to learn from rural people across
the country how research might improve their lives and their forests. After a competitive application process, the Forest Trust was
awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service to provide technical
forestry assistance to rural communities. The Trust worked with one of its sister organizations, the National Network of Forest Practitioners,
to establish the national center and four research stations in 2000.
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The Center offers support for communities to map
fuel reduction or other forest-related projects. |
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| Ask a Researcher ! |
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We are happy to receive inquiries about the work of the Research Center or specific
questions related to forestry issues or opportunities in your own community. Please include the information below in your inquiry,
email it to martha@theforesttrust.org
and we will do our best to respond by email or phone within 48 hours.
Inquiry information should include: Name, Phone number, Affiliation (business, tribe,
community organization, other), Address, Request or question
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Martha Schumann
Southwest Community Forestry Research Center
P.O. Box 519
Santa Fe, NM 87504
(800) 803 0025
martha@theforesttrust.org
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| This material is based upon work supported
by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 9936200-8704.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the
view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Copyright: ©1998 The Forest Trust Inc.
POB 519 Santa Fe, NM 87504 PH: 505-983-8992
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