Volunteers sought for “Landowner Appreciation Cleanup Day”

12 years ago

Volunteers sought for

“Landowner Appreciation Cleanup Day”

     AUGUSTA — Maine Forest Rangers, as they did last year, are organizing a “Landowner Appreciation Cleanup Day” to be held next month.

    The second annual cleanup day, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 15, has been set aside for those people who recreate outdoors in Maine to show their appreciation to landowners who allow free access to their land. Participants will help properly dispose of illegally discarded items at dump sites and discourage further dumping on these sites.

    “Our Landowner Appreciation Cleanup Day held last year was very successful, and a lot of work was accomplished, for which landowners were very appreciative,” Regional Ranger Jeff Currier, Maine Forest Service Incident Management Team commander, said. “We are asking for volunteers to again step forward and help with this rewarding project.”

    The MFS Incident Management Team, under the Maine Department of Conservation, is organizing the event, and forest rangers will be working in cooperation with the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine (SWOAM), Maine Snowmobile Association and the Landowners Relations Program under Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

    So far, more than 50 illegal dump sites on private land throughout Maine have been identified, according to Currier.

    Most of the illegal dump sites identified resulted from calls to the Maine Forest Service. MFS forest rangers have investigated more 275 litter complaints so far in 2012.

    The Maine Forest Service will supply trucks and trash bags to haul away the discarded materials to nearby transfer stations. Many of those transfer stations have offered to waive fees for these materials.

    Volunteers are urged to call 1-800-750-9777 to offer their assistance. In 2011, several ATV and snowmobile clubs, firefighters and Boy Scout troops helped clean up these sites.

    For more information on the Maine Forest Service, go to:  www.maineforestservice.gov