Know Your Parks – Portland’s Forested Treasures. A morning dedicated to learning about Portland City Parks

Portland, Maine - Maine Project Learning Tree (PLT) Coordinator, Pat Maloney; Jeff Tarling, Portland City Arborist;  Ken Canfield, forester with the Maine Forest Service and Jan Santerre, Project Canopy will present information and stories about Portland City Parks on Thursday, August 23 from 9:00 to noon at the Portland Public Library; 5 Monument Square. We’ll have maps, history of the parks, and information about tree types and animals that live in and depend on the parks – and more. Educators, after school providers, school volunteers, students, city walkers and neighborhood leaders will find this first of two three-hour offerings to be informative and fun. We’ll address the importance of urban forests and talk about the myriad of benefits provided by city parks.  The afternoon will conclude with a guided walk in one of your city parks with a fall follow up presentation about the relationship between Baxter Woods and Baxter State Park.

Maine PLT is a program of the Maine TREE Foundation and the American Forest Foundation with support for this program from the City of Portland and Project Canopy.

Cost of the event is $20, which includes attendance at both the August & fall sessions, receipt of hand outs, and the National Project Learning Tree PreK-8 Activity Guide. Visit www.plt.org and www.mainetreefoundation.org websites to learn more about this environmental education program and curriculum and join us on August 23 to enjoy and learn about Portland’s Forested Treasures. Registration is required no later than August 20 by contacting Pat Maloney at 626-7990 or meplt@gwi.net  for further details.