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Gorham, NH - Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) visited the Gorham Community Forest to view the Forest’s recent expansion and meet with local elected officials and environmental advocates to discuss the importance of community forests to the North Country economy. Kuster advocated for Forest Service funding to help expand the Gorham and Randolph Community Forests. 

“The Gorham Community Forest is a beautiful space that provides economic and recreational value to the North Country and a measure of environmental protection to our world,” said Kuster. “I was proud to be involved in securing the necessary Forest Service funding to add these important lands to the Gorham region. This project will provide countless benefits for the North Country and New Hampshire in the years to come. I look forward to my continued work with the advocates and officials I met today to preserve and protect our environment.” 

“New Hampshire community forests are economic drivers for towns, while helping to ensure clean drinking water, protecting wildlife habitat and providing enhanced recreational opportunities,” said Sally Manikian, New Hampshire and Vermont Representative with the Conservation Fund. “We were thrilled to show Congresswoman Kuster the lands that The Conservation Fund and the Town of Gorham protected earlier this month in part with funding that she supported from the USDA Forest Service’s Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program.”

“It was our pleasure to walk today with Ms. Kuster up to the reservoir in the Town Forest, while Michael Waddell, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen and Chairman of the Town Forest Committee gave a history of the Town Forest from its creation in 1990 through the present day and described how the acquisition of 2020 acres known as Tinker Brook resulted in protecting the Town's watershed,” said Denise M. Vallee, Town Manager of Gorham. “The Town appreciates Ms. Kuster's efforts and support in obtaining the federal grant funds associated with the project and asked that she support the upcoming Androscoggin Valley Corridor project for which a Forest Legacy Program grant will be sought.”

A longtime advocate for our forests and our environment, Kuster unveiled her Clean Energy Agenda in January to address climate change and transition to a clean energy economy. Last month, she held a virtual roundtable discussion with Hubbard Brook climate change scientists to discuss the latest research and findings on climate change. 

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