BRUNSWICK – With 2 million acres of protected forest land, the Northern Forest has become a laboratory for cutting-edge approaches to forest conservation. The Open Space Institute announces a series of workshops that will explore one such method – integrated, or ecological forestry.

An Ecological Forestry Workshop for the Northern Forest ecoregion will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 13 and 14, at the Manomet Center. John Hagan, who developed a template for private landowners to practice sustainable forestry and directs the Forest Conservation Program at Manomet Center for Conservation, will serve as the primary instructor.

The Conservation Forestry Network is orchestrating the workshops. It is a new program created in late 2004 by the Open Space Institute, Interforest, a private forest consulting firm, and the Conservation Fund.

More information about the workshops is available online at www.osiny.org (click on “conservation forestry”) or by calling Amy Offen at 212-629-3981, ext. 235. Scholarships are available for participants representing nonprofit organizations.

The workshops are designed to guide foresters from the for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors in select regions nationwide on how to identify and restore habitat by retaining certain key structures; how to protect and enhance water quality; and, how to use a mix of harvest techniques to increase regeneration rates.