Overstory: Ecosystems Are Intertwined
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Over STORY Timber Research Environmental Education Volume 1 Number 2 Fall 2019 Newsletter of the Maine Tree Foundation President’s Message Connections! By Marcia McKeague, President By Henry Whittemore, Executive Director In reflecting over a busy year at the Maine TREE As I prepare to make my annual donation to Foundation, I find myself considering what makes the Maine TREE Foundation, I think about this organization special. For me, the answer is the whether our programs are still relevant to our connections this organization creates between Maine’s times. Climate change is far and away the forests and the communities and economy that derive so most serious environmental issue of our times much of their own identities from the forest. If you read and it is clear that the next generation wants our mission statement: “The Maine TREE Foundation meaningful action from the generations who are educates and advocates for the sustainable use of “in charge”. Trees and forests are and can be a key the forest and the ecological, economic and social health part of the solution. With our programs aimed at of Maine’s forest community,” this seems obvious, but educating teachers, students, landowners, loggers, the connections that come to mind since taking on the foresters and recreational users and our advocacy leadership of this organization extend well beyond the for sustainable use of forests, we are part of the mission statement. solution. Maine TREE is closely connected to nearly every aspect I also think with great appreciation of the people of Maine’s forested landscape. Through our programs who have come before me and who stand beside we link Mainers to a broad array of topics such as forest me in leading and supporting this endeavor ecology, forest management, silviculture, the forest particularly with this being the 30th year of the products industry, sustainable timber harvesting, safe organization’s existence. A sincere thank you to all of you! Let’s keep it going. logging practices, recreation, forest measurements, climate change considerations, and more. This is I hope you will feel encouraged to read about the especially important in a rapid-paced world where so successes we’ve had and how we are fine-tuning many of us – and our children – are better connected to our programs thanks to our thoughtful, energetic technology than they are to the natural world around employees and associates who spear-head these us. Maine TREE forges strong ties to our forests for efforts. all Mainers and brings our communities to a closer awareness of the natural environment that defines who we are. We help folks remember that all parts of healthy Inside this Issue of OverSTORY: ecosystems are intertwined. PLT Update 2 Forests of Maine Summer Teachers’ Tours 4 In this issue of OverSTORY you will read about our Maine’s New Next Gen Science Standards 5 Teachers’ Tours that were held in northern Maine 65th Annual Forestry Field Day 6 and the Rangeley Region this summer. I am always Mechanized Logging Operations Program 8 Keeping Maine’s Forests Update 8 impressed how a group of 30 folks who have never Holt Forest Interns 9 before been together becomes a community after four Happenings at Holt Forest 10 Continued on Page 10 PLT Update (or Three Months in the Life of a New Maine PLT Coordinator) By Christine Anderson-Morehouse I joined Maine Project Learning Tree as its new state coordinator in mid-June. A few fun facts about my work reveal the great variety of educational opportunities and activities of Maine PLT and the Maine TREE Foundation over this period. Counties in which PLT The Maine TREE Foundation educates workshops will have been and advocates for the sustainable use of the forest offered by publication date: and the ecological, economic and social health of Maine’s forest community. • Washington- Beatrice Rafferty School (teachers); York- University of The New England (undergraduate science education public values and supports Maine’s healthy forest students); Cumberland- Lakes Environmental ecosystems, forest professionals, scientific forest Association (university professors); management, and sound public policies that Androscoggin- Spruce Mountain school district sustain Maine’s forest-dependent people and (teachers); Franklin- Grants Kennebago Camps communities. (Summer Forest Teachers’ Tour); Aroostook- Libby Camps (Summer Forest Teachers’ Tour); Penobscot- Lee Academy (Penquis and southern Ethan Bessey; Barrie Brusila, Secretary; William Aroostook teachers), Waldo- Unity College Cole; Beth Cushman; Charles Hall; Alexander (university professors) Ingraham, Vice-President; Keith Kanoti; Katherine Manende; Marcia McKeague, President; Sarah • Forestry Teachers’ Tours planned and Medina; Frederick H. Morton, Jr. Treasurer; Brian supported: 2 E. Roth, Ph.D. • PLT workshops planned to incorporate new NGSS strategies: 5 Dwain Allen; Ted Asherman; Sue Aygarn; Keith • Meetings with Maine Forest Service and other Bisson; John Bryant; David Field; Wes Hedlund; foresters to co-plan: 5 Ted Koffman; Ron Lovaglio; Matt Polstein; • Meetings with teachers to co-plan: 5 Jonathan Pottle; Lucy Gardner Quimby; Steve Sloan; G. Bruce Wiersma • Meetings with professors to co-plan: 3 Executive Director: Henry L. Whittemore • Organizations met with to attend board or Office Manager: Cathy Jo Herlihy committee meetings: Maine PLT steering PLT State Coordinator: committee, Maine PLT strategic planning sub- Christine Anderson-Morehouse committee, Forest Inventory Growth (FIG) (207) 626-7990; E-mail: [email protected] steering committee, Maine TREE Foundation board, Maine Sustainable Forest Initiative implementation committee, Maine Tree Farm Jill Brigham; Barry Burgason; Kenny Fergusson; steering committee, Nature Based Education Laurie Haines; Kayla Higgins, PhD; Sarah Medina; Consortium steering committee Anita Smith, Chair; Timothy Surrette; Shari • Organizations partnered with as a collaborator: Templeton; Warren Whitney Environmental Changemakers (MEEA), STEMscopes (MMSA), Friends of Katahdin 2 OverSTORY | Maine TREE Foundation Woods and Waters, Nature Based Education A Hearty Round of PLT Applause to the Consortium following facilitators extraordinaire: • Meetings with leaders from National PLT: 3 Colin Brown Michael Jensen • Reports to national PLT: 5 Jason Cyr Laura Audibert • Grant applications worked on for PLT or for Cameron Sutton Walker Day Maine TREE Foundation: 4 Oliver Markewicz Rob Taylor • Maine TREE Foundation 30th anniversary celebrations: 1 Shane Duigan Susan Linscott • PLT coordinator retirement parties: 1 Morten Moesswilde Tom Mullin • Mornings awakened between 4:30-5:00 with Alanna Doughty Terri Coolong wonderful ideas about the work of PLT: Almost Tim Surrette all of them! PLT Next Steps: Sincere and special PLT thanks to: On the horizon, I look forward to continuing the collaborative planning that gives me such joy in this Pam Dunphy and Renee St. Peter (Old Town position including co-planning two online workshop Elementary School forest and garden tour) follow-ups; co-planning and facilitating a PLT workshop at the UMaine School of Forest Resources Jim and Sandra Pottle Tree Farm (PLT workshop at for undergraduate forestry students and another Sipayik) workshop series in January for Maine Tree Farmers Ken Laustsen, Jack Witham, Sarah Morriseau and to support them in sharing their stories within local Alex Brasili (FIG survey and website) schools and communities. The new year will see us offering professional development for PLT Kala Rush (Friends of KWW), Krysten Gorrivan (UNE) facilitators including a networking event for “PLT Me PLT Steering Committee veterans” to share and learn new strategies and a training for new PLT facilitators, particularly ones in Me PLT Strategic Planning Committee regions of Maine that are currently under-served. Conversations have begun about the ever-popular Laurie Haines (PLT 20 Year History Book) Teachers’ Tours and an off-shoot from last-year’s Everette Rufolo-Roger, Esther Cowles, Susan Cox tours is a goal to identify forestry career learning (Project Learning Tree) opportunities for students, teachers and guidance counselors. CJ Herlihy (Woman for All Seasons) SAVE THE DATE CLP BANQUET December 6, 2019 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Jeff’s Catering, Brewer, Maine Teachers visiting Bob Vigue’s Tree Farm in Mapleton Maine TREE Foundation | OverSTORY 3 Forests of Maine Summer Teacher Tours (Bringing Our Working Forests and Mills into the Classroom) interconnected network of private logging roads Teacher: “This was the best professional was the first indicator that Maine’s classroom development I’ve had in years. I’ve learned educators were in a different world, one where a great deal to use in my classroom!” abundant natural resources provide both beauty Forester: “When a forester enters a stand to create and recreation while at the same time drive Maine’s a management plan, their first question is forest based economy. A tour bus history lesson not ‘What should we cut?’, but rather, ‘How set the stage for understanding the evolution of the did this stand get to be in this condition and industry from log drives to budworm outbreaks to what might we retain in order to meet our legislation (including Maine’s Forest Practices Act management objectives?’” and Outcome Based Forestry) to today’s practices. July, 2019 found two groups of Maine classroom After hearing about and experiencing firsthand teachers gathering at two different Maine sporting the “prescriptions” for a range of treatment camps for the professional learning experience of areas (including clearcuts, pre-commercial a lifetime. Long drives over gravel logging roads and commercial thinnings, etc.) teachers came brought them to their home base for the week in away knowing the relationships and differences rustic, lake-side lodges and cabins at Libby Camps between forestry (growing trees for the future) (outside of Ashland) or Grants’ Kennebago Camps and logging (a tool used to practice forestry) and (in the Rangeley area) where their tour planners why Maine’s abundance of naturally regenerating this year were foresters from Seven Islands Land species often precludes the need to plant trees in Company. order to regenerate the forest.