Contributed by Dave Rochester
Forester, Maine Forest Service
Community forestry creates and maintains green spaces in communities and the right tree in the right place will benefit you, your home, and your community now and long into the future.
Contributed photo
Students of the Caribou Tech Center’s agriculture and natural resources course put the finishing touches on trees planted in front of the Ski Building at Caribou High School. They include, in foreground left, Joe Ketch and Jared Doody, right. Tim Shaw is working in the background left. Tyler Raymond is on the tractor.
Living trees create a sense of place and pride within communities. Trees growing in small parks and commons, along streets, and in yards and gardens of neighborhoods provide a mosaic of green landscapes within communities.
Maintaining a community landscape is a long-term commitment that depends on the people that reside in that community. Trees require periodic maintenance to identify and remove hazards out of our community parks, streets and schoolyards. As our trees age or are sometimes damaged by the somewhat difficult urban environments they must be replaced periodically in order to maintain the aesthetic qualities we enjoy.
In order for communities to maintain their urban forests it is critical to have a long-term forestry plan. Some communities have developed management plans for long-term planning, but many communities in Maine have not developed a long-term management plan for their community forests.
Project Canopy is a program from the Department of Conservation’s Maine Forest Service and Grow Smart Maine can help communities get on track to maintaining a beautiful attractive community for years to come. The Maine Forest Service has an incredible reservoir of knowledge and expertise.
Project Canopy helps us share that knowledge with the people that can use it. We do that by sending technical experts into your city or town to lend hands-on assistance. For example Project Canopy can help recruit and organize volunteers, train tree stewards, provide training and software for street tree inventory, help develop long-term community tree plans, and much more.
Project Canopy also raises awareness about the values and benefits of trees to our communities such as aesthetics by adding colors, flowers, beautiful shapes forms and textures. Trees also help our air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and particulate pollutants (dust, ash, pollen and smoke) that can adversely affect people’s health. Trees also help to cool our environment by providing shade and evaporation while helping reduce winter heating costs by acting as a windbreak from those biting winter breezes. Trees provide visual barriers, privacy, prevent soil erosion and protect water quality by absorbing nutrients and pollutants before they reach our watersheds.
The fundamental goal for Project Canopy is to raise awareness and knowledge among the community and we accomplish this through education as well as small Project Canopy assistance grants that can help communities and non-profits get projects started within a community. Project Canopy assistance grants are available to state, county, municipal governments, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations for developing and implementing community forestry projects and programs.
Contributed photo
Taking part in the Project Canopy project at Caribou High School were, from left, front row: Dave Rochester, Maine Forest Service; Tom Hale, Ag instructor/FFA adviser; Sophia Malle, Tyler Martin, Marcus Marte, Austin Caverhill, Brooke St.Peter, Alex Scott, Tyler Hewitt, William Rossignol, Colby Johnson, and Joe Ketch, all students of Ron Bouchard’s horticulture class. Back row: students Veronica Michaud, Justin Napalapalai, Paul Flick and Tim Shaw.
There are two basic categories of grants:
• Planning and Education grants support sustainable community forestry management and efforts to increase awareness of the benefits of trees and forests.
• Planting and maintenance grants which are for projects that increase the health and livability of communities through sound tree planting and maintenance.
One recent local planting grant was awarded to the Caribou High School to teach the students about the proper tree planting methods, the value of trees, and to help beautify the new tennis courts built at the school and enhance the building at the ski facility. Students planted a variety of 6- to 8-foot tall trees that will enhance the facility for many years to come. Perhaps their children will enjoy the benefits of those trees when they attend Caribou High.
For more information about the opportunities available in Project Canopy, contact your local Maine Forest Service District forester — Dave Rochester, 441-3817, in central and northern Aroostook County, or Dan Jacobs, 441-4128, in southern Aroostook County — or visit their website www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/projectcanopy.
