monitoring projects. Permanent forest inventory plots have been installed at every site according to the USDA Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) system, which will enable the watershed model forests to be compared to other sites throughout the Northeast. Water quality monitoring gauges are installed at three model forests to study the effects of various silvicultural treatments on stream flow and water quality.

The Lennox Memorial Forest in Delaware County was completed in 2001 and has hosted hundreds of landowners and natural resource managers from as near as the surrounding Catskills and New York City and as far as the U.K., Korea, and Pakistan. Visitors to the Lennox Forest begin the tour at an educational kiosk with an exhibit created in partnership with Trout Unlimited that connects healthy forests to clean water. Once inside the forest, visitors travel a two-mile demonstration road with interpretive signs that highlight erosion control best management practices (BMPs) and fourteen silvicultural treatments. A number of deer “exclosures” are installed at the Lennox Forest to help research the effects of deer grazing on forest regeneration.

Watershed Forestry Program Model Forests

Lennox Memorial Model Forest is a 140-acre site owned by Delaware County and affiliated with the 4-H Camp Shankitunk in Delhi, NY.

Frost Valley Model Forest is a 240-acre site owned by Frost Valley YMCA and connected to its environmental education center in Ulster County.

Siuslaw Model Forest is a 140-acre site in Greene County hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County and the Agroforestry Resource Center.

Each model forest site is located in a distinct environmental and social community. Exhibits are geared toward the region's specific target audience.