Here is a link to Paul Smiths Forest Farm Fork presentation by Dave Mason on April 21.  The event was titled “Forest, Farm and Fork, an Opportunity Symposium” and the focus was on a wide array of grant programs, mostly available through the USDA.  The general theme was based on the recently passed Farm Bill.

The new Center views our working landscape as 3 components:  farms, production forests, and tourism related to recreational landscapes.  The Center is a joint venture with Paul Smiths bringing expertise in forestry and hospitality and Cornell Cooperative Extension bringing agricultural expertise.  There will be more program news about the Center soon.

The ADK Futures presentation briefly recapped the economic strategy that was derived from the project’s workshops and then walked through all the progress of the last 18 months on local food, local energy, broadband and tourism.  The progress is impressive, but not widely known so take a minute to look at the file.   The Farm Bill includes USDA funding for rural broadband development, which is why the topic was included.

The update information was derived from the new ADK Futures news tracking database.  This database attaches links to current news and research reports to the events used in the ADK Futures scenario workshops.  The idea is to provide a way for the public to see what progress is being made  – think of it as a feedback loop so people can tell if the ADK Futures vision is moving ahead, or not.   You can look through the data by going to www.ADKfutures.net