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A growing proportion of forested landscapes are interspersed with human infrastructure, such as utility lines and roads, increasing the potential for tree-failure consequences due to storms and other causes. Utilities and other institutions have strong incentives to reduce such interactions and allocate substantial resources to risk reduction, but trees and forests in densely populated landscapes also provide significant amenities to society. We present a generalized framework for "Stormwise" forest management, focused on resistance of roadside forests to storms, based on elements of arboricultural and silvicultural practice and tree biomechanics and architecture. We detail results of a multidisciplinary research program focused on management outcomes, opportunities and barriers to implementation, and allocation of investment based on physical and social landscape characteristics. We discuss initial findings, the potential for widespread adoption of resilience-focused management in roadside and infrastructure-adjacent forests, and the importance of such work, considering a changing climate. Study Implications: The research and implementation program we detail here illustrates the potential for "Stormwise" forest management to reduce storm-damage recovery costs, result in fewer and shorter-duration power and transportation interruptions, and allow for low-investment ground-based management in future forest entries. We illustrate a multifaceted, interdisciplinary research program that links the geospatial, social, and biophysical components of understanding forest infrastructure systems. We illustrate how implementation of Stormwise management has the potential to benefit stakeholders such as residents and utilities, offset the substantial economic costs of tree-related power outages, and reduce societal disruptions associated with interactions between trees and infrastructure during storms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The iconic southern New England landscape is a densely populated region in which historic villages and growing cities are set within an expansive forest. While oaks are dominant or significant species in 60% of these forests, they face pressures that compromise their health and ability to regenerate. Threats include deer herbivory and insect defoliation, while drought and climate-change stresses compound other disturbance factors. With traditional silviculture methods no longer working reliably and landowner motivations changing, new management options are needed. A 2019-22 initiative led by the Forest Stewards Guild and state agencies has engaged partners in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island to collaborate in promoting stewardship that will support and improve the resiliency of the region's oak forests. One promising output of this collaboration is a web-based Oak Resiliency Assessment Tool that professionals and landowners can use. Looking forward, researchers at the University of Connecticut and University of Rhode Island are leading a study designed to test different management approaches to help regional oak forests adapt to changing climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses designing and planning of the wastewater collection and treatment in order to modernize the infrastructure redevelopment in Bangkok, Thailand. The city's residential and industrial wastewater passes through septic tanks prior to meeting a network of natural and constructed waterways and finally into the river.

In many Connecticut forests with an overabundance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii DC) has become the dominant understory shrub, which may provide a habitat favorable to blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) and white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque) survival. To determine mouse and larval tick abundances at three replicate sites over 2 yr, mice were trapped in unmanipulated dense barberry infestations, areas where barberry was controlled, and areas where barberry was absent. The number of feeding larval ticks/mouse was recorded. Adult and nymphal ticks were sampled along 200-m draglines in each treatment, retained, and were tested for Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt, and Brenner) presence. Total first-captured mouse counts did not differ between treatments. Mean number of feeding larval ticks per mouse was highest on mice captured in dense barberry. Adult tick densities in dense barberry were higher than in both controlled barberry and no barberry areas. Ticks sampled from full barberry infestations and controlled barberry areas had similar infection prevalence with B. burgdorferi the first year. In areas where barberry was controlled, infection prevalence was reduced to equal that of no barberry areas the second year of the study. Results indicate that managing Japanese barberry will have a positive effect on public health by reducing the number of B. burgdorferi-infected blacklegged ticks that can develop into motile life stages that commonly feed on humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private forest owners influence future forest cover, health, and connectivity in the landscape. A forest management plan can promote effective stewardship by clearly specifying goals, objectives, and strategies; however, nationally, few forest owners have a written plan for their land, suggesting barriers to participation in management planning processes. We constructed a systematic map of research conducted within the Northeast US between 1990 and 2020 to identify topical themes, explorations into planning barriers, and potential leverage points to planning. We document an emphasis on identifying characteristics of private forest owners, management intensity, and landowner decision influences. Subsequent content analysis revealed a tenuous understanding of planning influences and motivations, and qualitative coding identified funding, current forest conditions, and carbon markets as potential leverage points to influence planning participation. Our findings emphasize the need for focused investigation surrounding forest owner perspectives of management planning and policy tools to remedy knowledge gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the popularity of "buy local" agricultural campaigns, there might be opportunities for Extension to promote the local attribute of wood products. Unfortunately, there is little available literature exploring wood-products manufacturers' attitudes and opinions regarding local wood. In fall 2012, 38 in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals representing a range of firm sizes and final products. Participants provided a definition for what they considered to be local wood and identified four major barriers to the inclusion of Connecticut-grown and -processed wood in their manufacturing: high expense, low visibility, limited demand, and limited availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community priorities are shifting in response to the scientific reality and socioeconomic threats of climate change. Improving sustainable resilience in the ways we supply food, water, and energy are creating new ways of thinking about these critical resources. Cooperative Extension is in a prime position to teach individuals and communities how to live and work sustainably. The National Network for Sustainable Living Education has identified six essential steps for creating a national approach to Extension programming on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four years after its inception an outreach campaign promoting foreststewardship in south-central Connecticut was carefully evaluated. Results emphasize that efforts may be directed to promoting a simpler and more autonomous form of resource inventory and forest stewardship planning than many forestry specialists might originally envision. Evaluation methods used to measure the success of outreach efforts should recognize a continuum of possible outcomes, not simply the ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]