Dover-Foxcroft, Maine–Members of the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) attended a two day event at Hollywood Slots, Bangor, Maine on December 2nd and 3rd, 2009. The Maine Association of Conservation District's (MACD) Winter Meeting supported an atmosphere for Soil and Water Conservation Districts around Maine to gather and share information regarding the health of Maine's economy, funding sources, Natural Resource Conservation Service programs, Department of Environmental Protection Programs, and plans for Maine's “green” future.
One informative speaker who presented at the Winter Meeting was Gary Fish. He introduced “Yardscaping” as a greener way to care for your yard. PCSWCD currently has plans to host a Yardscaping Workshop on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. You may visit our website, www.piscataquisswcd.org and follow the link to an informative Yardscaping site. You will find that the philosophy of planting depicted in their site closely resembles PCSWCD's ongoing plans for the Williamsburg Demonstration Forest. Creating a new Wildlife Habitat for 2010 is the district's intent. Creation of a field began in July of 2009 and plans are in place to plant with warm season grasses and fruit bearing shrubs, which should benefit grassland birds, reptiles and many other wildlife species through upland wildlife habitat improvements. In addition to providing a great wildlife habitat, the project will serve to re-establish the old fields which existed on the Larson and Decker homesteads in the early 1900s. Assistance for this project is being provided by a grant awarded through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) through Natural Resource Conservation Service. We hope to have shrubs and grasses established by June of 2010. Volunteers and Master Gardners looking for volunteer hours are encouraged to give us a call and join in this planting project that will enrich wildlife habitat areas.
An awards luncheon was held on the second meeting day. Well deserved awards were presented to: PCSWCD's Board Chairman, Stephen Hobart for his 15 years of service; Lazy W. Farm of Industry, Maine for the 2009 Conservation Farm of the Year; and China Regional Lake Alliance for the 2009 Conservation Organization of the Year.
MACD raised $2,878 through their Annual Envirothon Fundraising Auction for the 2010 season. This auction is made possible by contributions from many of the fine folks from Piscataquis County.The Envirothon is a program that meets the criteria of the Maine Learning Results and promotes environmental awareness through hands on learning at the high school level. This program creates a heightened opportunity for these students to go on to the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture, at the University of Maine.
Please contact Shelia or Lynn at PCSWCD (207) 564-2321, with any questions or if you have an interest in becoming a volunteer. Don't forget to check their website: www.piscataquisswcd.org for upcoming information.
A well deserved award was presented to PCSWCD's Board Chairman, Stephen Hobart for his 15 years of service, by MACD President, Daniel LaBrie.