AUGUSTA – The Maine Forest Service stepped into the national limelight this month, introducing a new manual of Best Management Practices for Forestry.

The Department of Conservation agency has just published a new booklet, “Protecting Maine’s Water Quality,” which replaces the state’s 1992 Best Management Practices Field Handbook.

Chris Martin, a water resources forester with the Maine Forest Service, stated in a news release Monday that the service is one of the first agencies in the nation to concentrate on an outcome-based approach for using water-quality protection techniques before, during and after logging operations.

“It is more cost effective, efficient and easier to prevent pollution than to fix problems after they occur,” Martin stated.

This new publication, he added, will help woodlot owners, loggers, foresters and others understand, identify and implement water-quality protection measures while meeting timber harvest objectives.

Best Management Practices are recommended procedures for protecting water quality during forest harvests.

The manual demonstrates how landowners, loggers and foresters involved in timber harvesting can use an outcome-based approach to protect water quality, said department spokesman Jim Crocker.

“Development of the new BMP manual was a cooperative effort of the Maine Forest Service and FORAT, the Forest Advisory Team, which has broad representation from Maine’s forestry community,” Crocker stated.

Maine is also one of a handful of northeastern states participating in a best management practices monitoring program with the USDA Forest Service, Martin stated.

“Maine’s forestry professionals have been very supportive of this effort. Since the manual’s publication, more than 500 loggers, foresters and woodlot owners have been trained in water-quality BMPs,” he added.

Financial support for the publication was provided by grants from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund and the Maine Coastal Program.

To review the new manual, visit the MFS Web site at www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/pubs/bmp_manual.htm. For additional information, visit www.maineforestservice.org or call the forest service at 800-367-0223 in state, or 207-287-2791.