Project Canopy
YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — A massive elm tree nicknamed Herbie is long gone, but it is going to live on, thanks to cloned trees that are being made available to the public.
At 110 feet and more than 200 years, Herbie was the tallest and oldest elm in New England and survived 14 bouts of Dutch elm disease because of the devotion of his centenarian caretaker, Frank Knight, the late tree warden of Yarmouth, Maine.
The duo became famous after Knight spent half of his life caring for the tree, which he referred to as “an old friend.” Knight realized he couldn't save the town's elms as they succumbed by the hundreds to Dutch elm disease. So he focused his efforts on one of them: Herbie. Read more...
MEDIUM - Name a carbon capture technology that is fully proven, used the world over, pumps out oxygen, and improves your wellbeing at the same time? There’s only one answer: trees. As trees grow they feed on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and trap it in the form of wood: as long as the wood exists, the carbon is captured and not released back into the atmosphere. This makes wood not just carbon neutral, but carbon negative, as a building material. Read more...
Do your students want to find a job they can be proud of? To feel like they are making a difference in the world? Green jobs are not just in the renewable energy, manufacturing, or technology sectors. Some of the greenest jobs involve forests and Project Learning Tree has a new resource for helping youth ages 12-25 explore green careers in forestry and conservation.
PLT’s new Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers unit introduces youth to the array of career options in this field. Designed for adults working with youth, the activities can be used indoors or outdoors, in settings ranging from school classrooms to community youth programs, field tours, and college and career prep programs. Get the Guide.
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 THE HILL - Nearly 80 percent of Americans live in cities and metropolitan areas. Increasingly, those cities are challenged by aging water and transportation systems that are nearing or exceeding their designed capacity. A new focus on flood and other natural disaster resilience is driving city planners to leverage mixed-use infrastructure, including parks, to address civic needs while taking advantage of cost savings and other social benefits.
City parks can be designed to act like sponges, holding water during rain events and slowly filtering stormwater after the event has passed. Cities are using that natural capacity as green infrastructure to complement the traditional alternative of building and maintaining large underground networks of pipes and tunnels. And parks do this all while improving air quality, reducing the heat-island effect and creating close-to-home opportunities for outdoor recreation and experiences with nature. Read more...
…The Maine Forest Service (MFS) has 10 District Foresters who can speak with you, answer questions, and visit your land to provide free advice on woodland conditions, management options, and program opportunities. MFS provides workshops, field demonstrations, informational handouts, reports on forest conditions, and media presentations. Find your local District Forester here, or call 207 287-2791.
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Community Forestry Grants Available - Planning and education grants have a maximum award of $10,000, while planting and maintenance grants have a maximum award of $8,000. To be eligible to apply for a 2020 assistance grant, all applicants must attend a grant workshop before applying. The grant workshop will be held on February 12, 2020, via the web. The workshop will cover such topics as grant writing, project development, sustainable community forestry management, and grant administration. Grant applications are due by 5:00 p.m., March 6, 2020. To learn more about the Project Canopy Assistance program and to sign up for a grant workshop, contact Project Canopy Director Jan Ames Santerre at (207) 287-4987. More information is available on the web at http://www.projectcanopy.me.
Jan. 23 - Webinar: 2020 i-Tree Online Roundtable, 1pm EST.
Jan. 29 - Webinar: Ecosystem Management in Towns and Cities, 10am EST.
Feb 26 - ISA Certification Exam, Worcester, MA
Mar 25 - New England SAF Annual Meeting, Springfield, MA
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