Study: Communications key to Northern Forest economy

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

October 9, 2008

By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI The Press Republican Thu Oct 09, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

Congress urged to help bring cell phones, high-speed Internet to Northern Forest

CONCORD, N.H. -- Congress should help bring cell-phone and high-speed Internet service to rural communities across northern New England and New York as part of a wide-ranging plan to improve the area's weak economy, a study recommended Wednesday.

"In practical terms, we want cell phones and Internet service to work as well in the Northern Forest as they do in Boston or New York City," members of the Northern Forest Sustainable Economy Initiative said in a report to governors, policy makers and business and community leaders in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.

Without the improvements, economic-development options are "difficult, if not impossible, to consider," the group said in the report.

The 60-member committee was appointed by the governors of the four states, in conjunction with the Concord-based Northern Forest Center and the North Country Council of New Hampshire.

The authors called the report the first four-state strategy for sustainable economic development in the 30-million-acre Northern Forest, which is home to more than 2 million people.

Long-term goals include working over state lines to maintain the forests that brought communities and jobs to the region in the first place; coordinating marketing of businesses, including tourism; encouraging residents and government to buy locally made products and services; improving communications and transportation; and harnessing renewable energy.

"The greatest opportunity for Northern Forest communities to regain economic success in a global marketplace is to band together to solve common problems," said committee member Bob Thompson of Maine's Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments

The group says the area is in transition from an economy dominated by large corporations, including lumber and paper companies, to a future where economic development will be led by smaller businesses trying to compete around the world.

"Our communities are mostly rural, and they're facing the same challenges trying to be competitive in a global marketplace whether they're in Maine or New York," said Terry Martino of the Adirondack North Country Association.

Asking Congress to help improve communications is a top recommendation because major portions of the region do not have cell-phone coverage or affordable, reliable high-speed Internet access.

Other recommendations include:

Fostering new businesses that maintain and enhance the area's assets, especially the forest.

Restoring east-west freight train lines within two years and exploring passenger service to southern New England and New York.

Protecting the forest environment and ecology, including maintaining and seeking new federal funding for various programs.

Setting up a coordinated organization to help advocate for and implement the recommendations in all four states.

"We want the businesses and employees of the region to share the pride -- and the financial rewards -- of meeting the growing worldwide demand for high-quality green' products. We want the region to benefit from meeting more of its energy needs with sustainable local resources," the committee wrote.

The forest stretches 400 miles, from New York's Tug Hill Plateau and Adirondack Mountains, to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and Green Mountains, New Hampshire's North Country and White Mountains and Maine's Western Mountains and Down East lakes.

The committee recognizes the region as a special place and said its recommendations are designed to keep it that way.

"Our region has unique opportunities because of the quality of our natural resources, and the Sustainable Economy Initiative strategy recognizes that we must maintain those resources to succeed," said Kay Henry of the Vermont-based Northern Forest Canoe Trail.