Most of the snow is now melted on our northern lands so that means summer is upon us. I hope you will be able to take some time this summer to enjoy Maine's beautiful and abundant forests. To help with that, we have updated our land map that serves as a guide to our more than 850,000 acres that are open for free public recreation, including camping, hiking, fishing and more. Those new maps are available at all of our Maine offices and online. I hope you can get out there and enjoy.

I also wanted to update you on the Moosehead Region Concept Plan . This land use plan for some of our property includes a large conservation easement and future residential and resort opportunities for northern Maine. Since the Plan was approved by the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) in 2009 it has been involved in legal reviews that continue today. I wanted you to know that we remain committed to the Plan and that we continue to implement the interim conservation easement on those lands in hope that the Plan proceeds and the permanent conservation easement is eventually put in place. The Concept Plan provides rural economic development opportunity, working forest land to support industry, and land and wildlife conservation, and we hope it can and will proceed.

Please continue reading for other updates from Plum Creek in Maine. Also, let us know if you prefer not to receive this email or if you know of others who would like to receive this email.

Regards,
Mark Doty, Community Affairs Manager

It may be summer break, but for six college students from across the country, the coming months will be spent working hard in Maine forests. Plum Creek’s internship program provides forestry students an opportunity to gain valuable working knowledge and skills by assisting our foresters in harvest operation layout and inspections, plantation assessments and reforestation, and tending of young softwood stands.

The six interns – Luke Harris from Virginia Tech; Jordan Peters from Paul Smith’s College in New York ; Todd Bertwell from Oregon State University; Mark McLellan from the University of Maine; Eric Olsen from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point ; and Paul Smura from S.U.N.Y. College of Environmental Science & Forestry – will gain experience in establishing property lines and stream protection zones, inspecting planting crews, and working with GPS to assist in constructing Geographic Information System (GIS) maps.

In addition to providing much needed forestry experience to students, the program also helps build a base of highly-educated and experienced future foresters who can strengthen the forest products industry. In fact, Plum Creek often seeks out former interns to bring on as full-time foresters. We hope that these students gain valuable work experience and training that they can use for the rest of their lives.

Recently, Plum Creek, science students from Jackman High School, and biologists from the Wildlife Management Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey , went to the woods to launch a conservation project for long-term management of the American woodcock. Staff from the Land Use Regulation Commission, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife , Forest Society of Maine and Plum Creek forestry offices joined the effort in May that resulted in capturing 14 woodcock and placing radio-tracking devices on their backs.

The woodcock is a common species on the east coast, and a popular hunted bird, but its population has been in decline for decades. The bird prefers young forests for its habitat and this project will aim to better understand how forest management practices affect the woodcock, and how it can benefit the bird and protect the species. Plum Creek will continue to monitor the birds in coming years as forest management practices are implemented in the 1,200 acre project area.

The students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, are part of a combined grade science class and used this opportunity to get hands-on biology experience right in their own backyard.

“The woodcock may be a common bird here in Maine, but this experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the students to see how what they learn in the classroom can have real-life applications” said Cori Cost, Jackman High School science teacher.

The goal of the tracking project is to learn about the birds’ habitat use while applying best management practices to keep this common species in Maine exactly that – common.

Nearly 90 percent of Maine is covered in trees, and the sustainable management of that vast resource helps support a diverse forest products industry that provides jobs, environmentally-friendly products, recreation, and environmental benefits. It also provides biomass for energy, which is an important use of forest resources for many reasons.

For example, the economics of forestry traditionally favors the growth of large trees to produce high value products, like lumber for homes and furniture. So forest owners will always be motivated to grow large trees where strong markets exist for those higher value products.

Energy production on the other hand, is one of the lowest value uses of the forest, so forest owners use smaller and inferior trees thinned from the forest, along with tree limbs, tops and other debris from harvesting for energy production. While at a lower value, this forest product is still crucial in many ways.

Forestry thinning and use of tree limbs and tops promotes forest health and productivity and reduces forest hazard. And because of the biomass market for these products, owners can cover their costs for thinning and site cleanup. It’s a win-win for the forest owners and energy buyers, and the environment due to the many benefits of using renewable biomass for energy.

Most people aren’t thrilled with the idea getting up close and personal with a squirrel. But Ray Ary would beg to differ. Ray has already helped identify and manage habitats on Plum Creek lands for spotted owls, marbled murrelets, salmon, trout and even flying squirrels during his six years with the company.

Since arriving in the Northeast in January, he has worked closely with federal, state and local biologists and ecologists on a number of projects, including habitat surveys and aerial flights of deer yards in an effort to create long-term management plans that will maintain Deer Wintering Areas on Plum Creek land. Ray also spends much of his time working on the interim plan for the Moosehead Conservation Easement to study vernal pools, loon nesting, bald eagles and lynx.

“Outreach is the best part of my job,” said Ray. “I enjoy the wildlife science that supports our forest management practices, and sharing this science with others to help them think about the forest as a whole. It is very rewarding.”

Before joining Plum Creek in 2005, Ray worked in Oregon helping control and prevent mountain beaver damage to planted seedlings. Ray is an Oklahoma native, and looks forward to having his fiancée – a graduate student at Oregon State University – join him in Maine in 2013.