A FAMILY FARM RESTORED

NEWS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2009
CONTACT: Sharon Trudel, Resource Management, Inc. 603-536-8900 or
sharon.trudel@RMIrecycles.com

Promise for the Future in the Aftermath of the October 2005 Alstead Floods

The Wilson Family Farm is located in Alstead, New Hampshire and has been in Gene Wilson’s family for over 150 years. Just over ten years ago, Gene and Bobbie Wilson purchased the family farm and have been working toward their retirement. In 2005, Gene was employed by the Department of Defense and had been deployed to Iraq several times, including the fall of 2005 during the flooding and most of the following year. While Gene was in Iraq, Bobbie dealt with the floods and the subsequent recovery efforts. Unfortunately, the personal toll on the Wilson’s
included the depletion of their personal savings, the condemnation of their home, the complete
demolition of their barns, destruction of all their farm equipment and the eradication of the topsoil
in approximately 1/3 of the fields at the Wilson Family Farm. While they were able to reconstruct
their home and replace one of the barns, their personal resources and other assistance available to
them was insufficient to replace either the equipment necessary to work the farm or the topsoil that enabled them to grow crops. After depleting their family savings and with Gene out of the country,Bobbie’s best option was to ask for help from the State of New Hampshire. And ask, and ask, and ask she did.
In Gene’s absence, Bobbie worked as an emergency responder with the local rescue squad in the
weeks immediately following the flood and single-handedly oversaw the recovery of approximately one acre of their farm to enable the reconstruction of their home. Bobbie’s persistent efforts to reach out for assistance and solutions, ultimately led her to Governor John Lynch’s office. The Governor’s office felt that they could be instrumental in helping the Wilson Farm obtain additional fill and topsoil and contacted the Department of Agriculture on Bobbie
Wilson’s behalf. A representative from the Department of Agriculture familiar with the topsoil
program run by Resource Management, Inc. (RMI) contacted Charley Hanson of RMI to discuss
possible solutions and sources of assistance.
As a result of the commitment from both Governor Lynch and Executive Councilor Ray Burton to help the victims of the October 2005 floods in their recovery efforts, an unprecedented meeting was held on March 26, 2008 that brought together Executive Councilor Ray Burton, Commissioner Tom Burack of NH-DES and his staff, Commissioner Lorraine Merrill of NH-
Dept. of Agriculture, Resource Management, Inc. and Cornerstone Construction to develop a solution to the Wilson’s struggle to restore their farm fields.
The solution required collaboration and cooperation from every party at the table, and resulted in
the use of Manufactured Topsoil to restore the farm fields. The plan called for a public-private
partnership to beneficially use biosolids, short paper fiber, and wood ash to create an approved
blend of Manufactured Topsoil. The ingredients for the Manufactured Topsoil were delivered by RMI to a private gravel pit in Langdon, where they were blended using a local contractor and subsequently delivered to the Wilson Family Farm. Resource Management, Inc. oversaw the deliveries, blending, transportation, placement and seeding of the Manufactured Topsoil and worked closely with representatives from the NH Department of Environmental Services to monitor and report on the activities.
The restoration efforts began last summer and the results this fall are outstanding. The destroyed
fields have been restored to productive farmland once again, finally closing a chapter on the terrible flooding of 2005. A tour of the Wilson Family Farm is being hosted by RMI on October 19, 2009 for representatives from the Governor’s Office, Executive Councilor Ray Burton, NH Department of Environmental Services, and NH Department of Aagriculture to view the success of the restoration project. Anyone interested in this historic project, or attending the tour, is encouraged to contact Resource Management, Inc. for more information. at 603-536-8900 or email at sharon.trudel@rmirecycles.com.
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