Robbins Lumber and Pleasant River Lumber Headline Growing List of Supporters
Maine TREE is proud to announce that Robbins Lumber and Pleasant River Lumber, two Maine-based family-owned companies, are the lead underwriters for 2021 Forests of Maine Teachers’ Tours. The nationally acclaimed Teachers’ Tours, emulated by several other states since its creation, is entering its 24th year.
A fifth-generation family-owned and operated business, founded in 1881, Robbins Lumber now has over 180 employees. In announcing its investment in this year’s program, Business Manager Catherine Robbins-Halsted stated, “Robbins is a proud continuing supporter of Maine TREE’s Teacher Tours. We believe investing in education is critical. Sustainability is important in the forests and the classrooms”.
Another Maine-based multi-generation business, Pleasant River Lumber, with 15 locations and over 500 employees, joins Robbins Lumber as a lead underwriter for the 2021 Tours. Jason Brochu, Co-President of Pleasant River Lumber, shared that “as a family-owned business with employees across Maine, we invest in this program knowing it supports professional development for teachers statewide. As a multi-generation forest products business, this program helps introduce the sector and its career opportunities to those on the frontlines educating the next generation.”
“Maine TREE’s mission includes a focus on the economic, ecological, and social health of Maine’s forest communities. We are proud to have two companies, Robbins Lumber and Pleasant River Lumber, known for investing in their businesses, their people, and their communities, join us in this work of supporting educators in our state,” stated Jonathan LaBonte, executive director for Maine TREE.
Founded in 1989, Maine TREE’s mission is to educate and advocate for the sustainable use of the forest and the ecological, economic, and social health of Maine’s forest community. The four-day, three-night Forests of Maine Teachers’ Tour is a professional development program focused on immersing Maine educators in the northern forests of Maine. Opening with a Project Learning Tree workshop, an award-winning, standards-aligned curriculum that uses forests as a teaching tool, the tour explores sustainable forest management through the eyes of many stakeholders including landowners, foresters, loggers, mills, and community members.
Underwriters
Teacher Scholarship Providers
