The Catskill Mountain/Hudson Valley region of New York State is a region undergoing tremendous development pressure, culminating in threats to farm and forested land and resultant impacts on water quality, including the New York City watershed, wildlife habitat and quality of life for rural and surrounding urban residents. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County, a 501C(3) nonprofit organization and part of the New York State Cornell Cooperative System of Cornell University, has been engaged in these issues through agroforestry programming for rural land owners for over 10 years. Agroforestry is defined as the combination of agriculture and forestry practices that result in more integrated, diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems. Our target audiences are those with a greater level of influence over the state of the land: including rural landowners, educators, researchers, policy makers, and students in the Catskill Mountain/Hudson Valley region. One key audience, private landowners, has been changing in recent years, and a new approach is needed to reach this group. With forested land making up as much as 80% of the land area in much of the region and over 60% of this forested land in private, non-industrial ownership, the private land owner is a critical audience in determining the nature of the landscape in upstate New York . This "new generation" of forest owners tends to be "environmentally aware" but lacking in forest management skills and understanding of rural values and culture.

Landowner outreach programs must be re-designed to reach this group, as well as existing private forest owners and farmers. Farmers in particular need to recognize the financial value of managing their woodlots. Options for these landowners to consider should be expanded to include alternative non traditional special forest products such as berries and wild fruits, chips and shavings, medicinal herbs and pharmaceuticals, greenery, cultivation of native vegetation for distribution, honey, mushrooms, nuts, recreation and wildlife related to tourism, specialty wood products and services, and maple syrup.

Information on American Ginseng Production.