At Maine TREE Foundation, forest-based education and workforce development were key themes in 2023. With a dedicated and creative staff, we accomplished a great deal toward our mission of educating and advocating for the sustainable use of the forest and the ecological, economic, and social health of Maine’s Forest communities. We can’t do this alone, and we worked with countless collaborators to reach students, teachers, foresters, loggers, landowners, and the general public with programming in 2023.
Forest-based Education for Students & Teachers
2023 was a pilot year for many events with Maine TREE while continuing to deliver our high-quality staple programming.
Teachers
The Forests of Maine Teachers’ Tours held two sessions, bringing 37 educators on an immersive experience in Maine’s Forest, meeting more than 40 Maine forest professionals along the way. We also concluded the Window to the Woods virtual professional development series, provided multiple Forest Ecology Research Network workshops for educators, presented at conferences in Maine, and shared our ideas with collaborators in other states.
Students
With an emphasis on career exploration, Maine TREE staff worked across the school-age spectrum, introducing students all over Maine to forest careers. At the first grade level, the team did forest activities with students at Old Town Elementary. Third graders from Old Town Elementary and other schools in the area attended the Northeast Logging Association’s Expo to see (and touch) equipment and learn about Maine’s Forest Heritage. An increased interest in the Forest Ecology Research Network (FERN) at the Middle School level, got more students outside to collect data from the forest around their school. Working with the Piscatquis Environmental Education Collaborative, we co-hosted the first Piscataquis County Green Jobs Fair, where each student got hands-on experience at the five career stations. Students from Next STEP High School joined us for a Roots-to-Retail program at Higmo’s Tree Farm and Lumber Mill in Brunswick. We attended numerous career fairs throughout the state to introduce forest-based careers to students and co-hosted a Conservation Career Expo at the National Association of Conservation Districts Northeast Regional Meeting for High School and College students. We also provided college students at the University of Maine Orono with a Project Learning Tree Workshop and welcomed incoming first-year students at Bowdoin to introduce and raise their awareness of Maine’s Forests.
The Forestry Immersion Program, a collaboration with the Brewer School Department, brought nine students for an immersive experience in Maine’s woods near Katahdin Ironworks. These students camped four nights a week for six weeks during a transformational program that included opportunities from hiking Katahdin to operating logging equipment while earning credit.
Forest Professionals & Landowners
Maine TREE expanded our professional development programming for forest professionals in 2023. The Certified Logging Professional Program, in its 33rd year, welcomed 64 new loggers to the program, recertified 337, and conducted 173 site visits. The team at Maine TREE spent the year assessing the current state of CLP and explored how the program can evolve to better serve the current and future generations of logging professionals.
As a collaborator with the Forest Climate Change Initiative with the University of Maine Center for Research on Sustainable Forests and the Forest Stewards Guild, four webinar and field tour sessions brought over 200 forest professionals from around the state together to discuss climate change topics, including Caring for Brown Ash in the Face of Emerald Ash Borer, Appalachian Mountain Clubs Research Forests, Burning as a Management Tool, and Long-term Watershed Research. We also hosted a Maine Division of the Society of American Forests Field Tour at Holt Research Forest and delivered three Tree Farm Inspecting Forester Trainings.
In addition, we helped plan for the 2023 Maine Tree Farm and Maine Woodland Owner Forestry Field Day to Celebrate the 2023 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, and presented at other landowner-focused events.
Celebrating Our Community
On October 19, Maine TREE hosted its first Forest Awards Night, bringing together Maine’s Forest Community to celebrate the accomplishments of those who received awards from Maine TREE and our collaborators. The event recognized the 2022 Certified Logging Professionals Conventional Logger of the Year Bud Philbrook of Broken Arrow Logging, and the 2023 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year, Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust. The Brewer School Department’s Forestry Immersion Program received a certificate of appreciation for their collaboration during their pilot program. The Maine TREE Board of Directors selected Sarah Medina to receive the inaugural Sherry Huber Forest Champion Award for her decades of service to Maine’s Forest Community. The Austin Wilkins Forest Stewardship Award was presented to the University of Maine School of Forest Resources to conclude the evening. Continuing a long-standing tradition and honor of receiving the Austin Wilkins Award, Governor Janet Mills also presented the award to the School of Forest Resource at the Blaine House in a later ceremony.
None of this work would have been possible without the strong support of a network and community dedicated to advancing forest-based education and workforce development initiatives to students, teachers, and professionals throughout Maine.
As we look ahead to 2024, we are inspired by the work we accomplished in 2023 and look forward to building upon the success. We will continue to advance forest-based education initiatives with a priority focus on workforce development while creating and delivering additional resources centered on climate change education for students, teachers, professionals, and landowners.
