Maine Tree Farm Program Board Chair, Jesse Duplin, talks to Woodland Owner Appreciation Day attendees
Maine Tree Farm Program Stewardship Hubs foster networks of support for Maine’s small woodland owners through building relationships, distributing resources, and hosting community events. In this vein, the Sebago Stewardship Hub contributed to Lakes Environmental Association (LEA)’s Woodland Owner Appreciation Day this fall. Lauren Pickford of LEA shared the following with us about the event.
Written by: Lauren Pickford, Lakes Environmental Association
Healthy forests protect our lakes, ponds, streams, and drinking water, and in the lake region, Lakes Environmental Association (LEA), Portland Water District, and Sebago Clean Waters are working together to celebrate the landowners who own and protect the forests.
This fall, in the Jugtown Forest, LEA hosted the fifth Woodland Owner Appreciation Day. It was a day dedicated to the landowners who serve as stewards of the forests that act as a filter for our waters. The event brought together the community of forest enthusiasts, resource professionals, and nature advocates.
Hancock Land’s Jugtown Forest is 5,000 acres of privately owned working forest in Casco, Naples, and Otisfield and is open to the public for horseback riding, ATVing, snowmobiling, hunting, and some of the best nature trails in Maine.
Educational walks and talks were the heart of the event, offering attendees a deeper understanding of the connection between forests and water protection. Foresters Paul Larrivee and Jesse Duplin led a walk through the area that experienced a wildfire site in 2022, and explained the connection to managing for pitch pine. Colin Holme and Lauren Pickford from LEA led a walk to the recent stream restoration project on Burgess Brook. The project replaced an undersized and damaged culvert with an open-bottom bridge ready to handle trout spawning season, logging trucks, and 100-year floods.
Maine Audubon’s Sally Stockwell and LEA’s Mary Jewett led a walk on Forestry for Maine Wildlife. They showed the positive impact that certain harvesting practices can have on habitat for birds and wildlife. The group learned the importance of leaving the slash (the tree debris on the forest floor) after harvesting to provide a habitat for small mammals and birds that support the ecosystem.
The history of Jugtown Plains came to life in a presentation led by Lee Dassler from the Western Foothills Land Trust. Jugtown Road is one of the oldest roads in the region, and the talk highlighted the long-standing connection between humans and the land. John Gunn, from The Nature Conservancy, introduced attendees to the Family Forest Carbon Program. This program highlights the role landowners can play in mitigating climate change.
Attendees enjoyed a free lunch and beer brewed with Sebago Lake water (generously donated by Rising Tide Brewing Co.).
In the end, Woodland Owner Appreciation Day is a reminder that protecting our forests and water resources is a collective effort, with landowners at its core. Over 90% of Maine’s land is privately owned, and we can keep our waters clean by keeping those acres forested.
The day wouldn’t be possible without many partners including Hancock Land Company, and a grant from Casco Bay Estuary Partnership.
