The university of puerto rico, agricultural experiment station maintains a small but important forestry research program financed by mcintire-stennis funds

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the University of Puerto Rico, Agricultural Experiment Station $142,742 under the Cooperative Forestry Research program (CFDA 10.202) on October 1, 2025, for forestry research activities in Puerto Rico through September 30, 2027.

The award funds four research activities: experiments with technologies to overcome drought mortality of juvenile trees in reforestation projects; sediment analysis of three pre-1950 reservoirs to reconstruct more than 70 years of watershed ecological evolution and develop a local framework for sustainable multifunctional landscape planning; choice experiments and cost-benefit analyses examining residents' willingness to pay for forest recreational opportunities; and establishment of a long-term ecological research station to study land cover change, carbon and biodiversity linkages on serpentine soils, with community involvement in management plan development and implementation. Deliverables include peer-reviewed journal publications, popular media articles, and presentations at scientific meetings.

Intended beneficiaries include the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Department of Agriculture, Planning Board, residents in forest-adjacent areas, the scientific and academic community, and private and public entities pursuing reforestation in water-limited areas. Work is performed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

These funds support research on useful technologies for reforestation projects and for the management of WA tersheds related to forests, on the economic viability of developing recreational opportunities in forests, and on establishing useful baseline data for the development of management plans of selected forests. Intended beneficiaries of research activities include local government agencies such as the department of natural and environmental resources, the department of agriculture, and the puerto rico planning board; residents living in areas surrounding the forests selected for research activities; the scientific and academic community; and private and public entities interested in reforestation projects in areas with limited water supply. Activities planned include: 1-experiments with technologies for overcoming drought mortality of juvenile trees in reforestation projects; 2- analyses of sediment in three reservoirs constructed prior to 1950 to reconstruct the ecological evolution (>70 YR) of their watersheds and ultimately use the information to develop a local framework for the planning of sustainable multifunctional landscapes in puerto rico; 3-choice experiments to examine residents' willingness to pay for recreational opportunities in selected forests and cost-benefit analyses of developing the intended recreational activities; and 4-the establishment of a long-term, ecological research station for the study of land cover change, carbon and biodiversity linkages on serpentine soils, as well as the benefits neighboring c ommunities may gain from their involvement in the development and implementation of a management plan for the station. Deliverables from projects' activities include publication in peer reviewed journals and popular media outlets, posters and oral presentations at scientific meetings depicting project results; an updated geographical information system containing land cover, soil, and geological information layers of the three major watersheds of puerto rico; proof-of-concept of upscaled earth-water distillation technology for juvenile tree irrigation and human consumption; and increased documentation of interactions between land cover change, carbon storage capacity and biodiversity.