Even as the nation has tried to come to grips with the ramifications of the Recovery Act, one of the big unanswered questions has been: What happens next? This obviously applies especially to concerns about the continuation of stimulus-funded jobs. But it’s also a significant question when applied to long-term programmatic outcomes that may not be known or assured for years after the Recovery Act’s funds have been expended.

As one of the U.S Forest Service’s ARRA grantees for fighting invasive species of vegetation, the team working on the Rhode Island Forest Health Works Project has been giving this query a great deal of thought.  “We recognized right from the get-go that this was a great opportunity,” says Catherine Sparks, the chief of the Division of Forest Environment in the state’s Department of Environmental Management, which is partnering with the Rhode Island Natural History Survey on this grant. The key, she says, is not only to accomplish measurable results, but to figure out ways to continue the work long after ARRA. “We wanted to have some lasting benefits beyond the environmental benefits on the ground.”

To that end, the Rhode Island team wants to be able to communicate to others about the most successful approaches, in combating these invasive plants, as described in this Providence Journal article. That includes the challenges and the unexpected ups-and-downs so other states can benefit from the Rhode Island effort.  Sparks believes that Rhode Island’s work can help others learn “a good way to mitigate this situation beyond just throwing money at it.”

Closer to home, the team is also building up public education about the invasive species, engaging arborists, landscapists and even the Department of Transportation. The team is also hiring students to do the work, especially ones who live in the communities where the work is being done. That way, Sparks explains, the message will spread throughout the community. Tonight, as a matter of fact, there will be an open house to showcase the work to the community and “give the people some ownership,” as Sparks puts it.

“We’re used to doing so much with so little,” she says of the very aggressive approach the team has taken with the $673,000 stimulus grant. “We’re going to squeeze 15 cents from every nickel.”

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