Maine Forest Service Christmas Tree Care and Safety Tips

*It is not too late to grace the family living room with a Maine grown Christmas tree*

AUGUSTA, Maine - Governor Paul R. LePage and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) are again urging holiday shoppers to purchase natural Christmas trees locally. Maine-grown Christmas trees are freshly cut, support local tree farms and most importantly, visiting a Maine "Choose and Cut" Christmas tree operation can be a memorable family experience. The DACF's Maine Forest Service offers tree purchasing, care and safety tips.

"The Christmas season is an important time to give thanks for the many blessings we are given and show appreciation for the contributions of others," said Governor Paul R. LePage. "Nothing says Maine more than a locally grown fir tree that graces a family living room. The Maine people are truly fortunate to call this state home and to create products enjoyed beyond our borders."

Commissioner Walt Whitcomb reflected on the unique experience that tree buyers can have

Maine Forest Service Reports Fire Danger Very High

Portland, Maine - The Portland Fire Department wants to make the citizens and residents aware of the current high fire danger in the State of Maine.  As a reminder there is no burning of trash, construction materials, leaves, brush, deadwood and tree cuttings accrued from normal property maintenance in the City.  The Maine Forest Service is reporting that the fire danger in the entire State is Very High.  The daily report shows that all seven weather zones are considered to be Class 4 and that a Red Flag Warning is in effect from 12 pm – 8 pm.  As a result of the danger, all open burning in the City of Portland is suspended. Residents are reminded to be cautious with outdoor cooking fires.

Very High. Fires start easily from all causes and immediately after ignition, spread rapidly and increase quickly in intensity. Spot fires are a constant danger. Fires burning in light fuels may quickly develop high-intensity characteristics; such as, long-distance spotting and fire whirlwinds, when they burn into heavier fuels. Direct attack at the head of such fires is rarely possible after they have been burning more than a few minutes.

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Guidelines to the legal types of outdoor burning in the City of Portland can be found at www.portlandfire.com

The Main Forest Service issues a daily Wildfire Danger Report that can be viewed on line.

http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/wildfire_danger_report/index.html


Any questions call 207-482-LIFE or email at LIFE@portlandmaing.gov

Maine Forest Service: Project Canopy Offers Community Forestry Grants

Augusta, Maine - Project Canopy, the Maine Forest Service's community forestry program, will award $100,000 in grants to local governments and municipalities, educational institutions and non-profit organizations that support community efforts to develop and maintain long-term community forestry programs.

Project Canopy, a cooperative partnership between the Maine Forest Service, under the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, and GrowSmart Maine, a statewide organization, encourages communities to develop project proposals that support sustainable community-forestry management, increase awareness of the benefits of trees and forests, and increase the health and livability of communities through sound tree planting and maintenance, Jan Ames Santerre, Project Canopy coordinator, said.

Funded by the U.S. Forest Service, the Project Canopy grants are available in two categories: planning and education grants; and tree planting and maintenance grants. About $20,000 in grant funds also is available specifically for projects in the Presumpscot watershed, Santerre said.

"These grants not only support significant community forestry projects, but they also support and create jobs throughout the state in the green industry, including nurseries, landscapers, foresters and loggers," Santerre said. The total economic impact of the horticulture industry in Maine is $286 million annually, and the industry supports 7,826 jobs.

Since 2003, Project Canopy has awarded more than $1.2 million in funding for community forestry projects. The average grants range from $6,000 to $8,000 and require a 50-percent cost-share with cash or in-kind services, the program director said.

One project of note is the $7,940 grant awarded to the town of Monson in Piscataquis County, Santerre said.

"New shade and ornamental trees will complement other downtown improvements to make the main street more pedestrian friendly, increase safety through traffic calming, and enhance the business district by making it more attractive to shoppers, businesses, and residents alike," the project coordinator said.

"Tree-lined streets are good for business and the environment and can help foster a sense of community pride," she noted.

The planning and education grants have a maximum award of $10,000, while the planting and maintenance grants have a maximum award of $8,000. To be eligible to apply for a 2012 assistance grant, all applicants must attend a grant workshop before submitting an application. Grant workshops will be scheduled this month at various locations around the state. The workshops will cover such topics as grant writing, project development, sustainable community forestry management and grant administration.

Grant applications are due at the Maine Forest Service by 5 p.m., Monday, Oct. 22.

The Presumpscot Watershed Project grants require the same workshop and application process, Santerre said. Organizations interested in learning more should contact Project Canopy specifically about those grants.

"The Presumpscot Watershed Project grants are the same projects only slightly different in that they focus on the value of trees and forests in providing clean water for the Presumpscot River and Sebago Lake," Santerre said.

To learn more about the Project Canopy Assistance program and to sign up for a grant workshop in your area, contact Project Canopy at (207) 287-4987.

More information is available on the web at http://projectcanopy.maine.gov.

Maine Forest Service: Forest Ranger Crew Leads Fire Tower Removal

Augusta, Maine - A joint crew from the Maine Forest Service, under the Maine Department of Conservation, and the Army National Guard today moved an old fire tower from Norway Bluff for installation at the Ashland Logging Museum in Ashland.

The crew worked close to eight hours, placing the 24-foot-tall, metal fire tower and its wooden cab, on Guard trucks for removal to the Garfield Road museum. The detail was organized and led by MFS Forest Ranger Amanda Barker, with help from MFS Forest Ranger Todd Weeks. It took two flatbed trucks to deliver the fire tower to the museum.

The 1136th Transportation Co. based out of Calais provided the vehicles and crew. The tower was lifted on to the trucks by an excavator provided M. Rafford Trucking Co. of Ashland. It was unloaded by a self-loader log truck provided by Robert Flint Trucking of Ashland.

Malcolm Milligan, 13, of Ashland, Boy Scout Troop 179, will take on the restoration of the cab as an Eagle Scout project.

“We wanted to do this to remind the younger generation of the importance of these fire towers in protecting our Maine forests,” Barker said.

The Norway Fire Tower was in place on the bluff, located in Township 9, Range 9 WELS, since 1914. The Maine Forest Service, Protection Division, no longer uses fire towers for forest fire observation, but instead uses air patrol flights. The site will be used for the installation of a new state radio tower.

For more information about the MFS Forest Rangers, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://www.maineforestservice.com

In photo above provided by the Maine Forest Service: A self-loader log truck, provided by Robert Flint Trucking of Ashland, moves the wooden cab of an old Norway Bluff fire tower off the vehicle at the Ashland Logging Museum, Garfield Road, Ashland. The entire fire tower is being installed at the museum as an historic exhibit. The removal project was led by the Maine Forest Service Forest Rangers.

Maine Forest Service and Army National Guard to Move the Norway Fire Tower to the Ashland Logging Museum, Ashland

WHAT: Maine Forest Service and Army National Guard to Move the Norway Fire Tower to the Ashland Logging Museum, Ashland;

WHERE: 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Wednesday, June 13; the crew should be out of the woods by 3 p.m.;

WHEN: Ashland Logging Museum, Garfield Road, Ashland, Maine.

Earlier this May, a Maine Forest Service of eight Forest Rangers removed the 24-foot-tall Norway Fire Tower that sat on Norway Bluff, Township 9, Range 9 WELS. The crew also used a MFS Huey helicopter based out of Old Town to remove the fire tower, which consists of a metal tower and wooden cab.

On Wednesday, MFS Forest Rangers, led by Forest Ranger Amanda Barker, and an Army National Guard detail will remove the tower, now in two pieces. Using Guard trucks, the crew will take the tower to the Ashland Logging Museum for installation.

The Norway Fire Tower was in place on the bluff since 1914. The Maine Forest Service, Protection Division, no longer uses fire towers for forest fire observation, but instead uses air patrol flights. The site will be used for the installation of a new state radio tower.

For more information about the MFS Forest Rangers, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://www.maineforestservice.com

Maine Forest Service: Winter Moth Invasive Found in Harpswell

Maine Forest Service: Winter Moth Invasive Found in Harpswell


Augusta, Maine - A new invasive pest has been discovered in Harpswell, one that can damage Maine's hard wood, fruit trees and blueberry bushes and possibly affect the state's associated industries from wood products to agriculture to tourism, according to Maine Forest Service (MFS) entomologists.

An area of about 400 acres in the small coastal town was found last month to be infested with winter moth, a small tan moth that lays eggs that develop into a voracious caterpillar that causes the leaves on trees to look like Swiss cheese. The green inchworms can be seen in trees this time of year, according to the forestry entomologists. It is the first time that the insect infestation has been found in Maine.

While the state's entomologists have a plan to deal with the winter moth, this latest invasive find nonetheless brings home the same message surrounding all invasive species that threaten Maine's natural resources: Don't move it; whether it's firewood or landscape plants,

"Please leave your hostas at home - it's a really important message," warned Charlene Donahue, MFS entomologist under the Maine Department of Conservation, who discovered the winter moth infestation. "We're warning people not to move plants out of Harpswell or from Massachusetts to Maine, because you might bring the problem with you."

Winter moth, which is native to Europe, first arrived in North American in the 1930s in Nova Scotia, where it was a serious problem before being controlled by parasitic flies. More recently, it has been found in the eastern section of Massachusetts for the past 20 years, and it is spreading into Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The insect gets its name because the male moths appear in the late fall and early winter months. Female moths, which don't have wings, lay eggs on the trunks and branches of trees. Those eggs hatch in the springtime into hungry inchworms that feed on the buds and entire leaves of trees, Donahue explained. They also produce silken threads that can carry them on the wind, a dispersal method called "ballooning." After the inchworms get about an inch long, they pupate, or form a cocoon, in June and spend all summer and fall in the ground.

"That is why it important to not move plants from areas infested with winter moth," said Donahue.

The inchworms attach themselves to the leaves of a large number of tree species, including oaks, maples, elm, ash, birch, apple, crabapple, cherry and blueberry. The invasive insect can kill trees by causing defoliation and weakening over a number of years. Other stressors, such as another type of insect, a disease or a drought, then can add to tree mortality, Donahue said.

"In Massachusetts, they are now seeing a lot of tree mortality across tens of thousands of acres," she said.

Massachusetts had a "huge moth flight last winter," Donahue said. Last December, the MFS received a call from a landowner in Harpswell who "wondered what she was seeing." The landowner sent in moths to the MFS, which in turn sent them to Massachusetts for DNA testing. They came back as winter moth.

What wasn't certain, however, was whether there were any female moths around or these were just the male moths from the big moth flight. Donahue went back to the town, and on May 18, she found the inchworms eating in the local trees, indicating there was a full infestation.

The MFS entomologist thinks the winter moths got to the area most likely on landscape plants moved from Massachusetts, as eggs on trees or as cocoons in soil around plants. The winter moth is not regulated in Massachusetts, and there currently is no quarantine in place in the area.

A parasitic fly that was released in Nova Scotia helps keep the winter moth population under control there. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, are rearing and releasing the same fly in Massachusetts and hope that it will soon be at high enough numbers to reduce the winter moth populations there to manageable levels.

The Maine Forest Service is working with the UMass researchers to establish the same control agents in the Maine infestation before it gets much bigger. As currently planned, Maine will be receiving parasitic flies from the UMass colony next year, Donahue said.

"We have found this invasive insect relatively quickly due to an alert landowner," Donahue said. "Hopefully, by using the flies as bio-control agents, we will be able to get the problem under control quickly, and it will not spread further."

For more information about the winter moth, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/InvasiveThreats.htm#wm

Or: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/winter_moth.pdf

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://maineforestservice.org

Maine Forest Service Warns of Fire Safety for Memorial Day Holiday Weekend

Maine Forest Service Warns of Fire Safety for Memorial Day Holiday Weekend


Augusta, Maine - Maine residents are urged to use caution while celebrating the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend and when doing any outdoor activity that can cause a spark or fire.
The Maine Forest Service (MFS) warns that it doesn’t take much to ignite a potentially devastating wildfire. MFS Forest Rangers will be aggressively enforcing Maine’s open burning and fireworks laws this weekend and into the summer season.

“Always check with local government, fire department or Maine Forest Service officials to make sure fires are allowed in your area, and be sure to comply with all restrictions,” MFS Chief Forest Ranger Bill Hamilton warned.

Hamilton offered the following Memorial Day safety tips:

·         When barbecuing, never leave a grill unattended. Locate the grill away from your home and any combustible materials.

·         Clear away grass, leaves and other debris within a 10-foot perimeter of any campfire.

·         Ensure all campfires and barbecue coals are completely extinguished before leaving.

·         Never use gasoline to start a campfire.

·         Have water on hand just in case. If a fire does start, call 911 immediately.

·         Remember you are responsible for any fire you start and any associated cost or damage that fire may cause.

Hamilton pointed out that Maine residents can use Maine Forest Service resources to make their home or camp survivable should a wildfire start.

For more information, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/fpd/pages/wui/wui.html

The MFS chief ranger also stressed that the Maine Legislature has banned all out-of-state firewood. This is part of an effort to stop the spread of invasive insects which can have devastating effects on Maine’s forests.

People carrying imported firewood will have their wood seized and may face a law enforcement action by MFS Forest Rangers. For more information on keeping insect pests out of Maine, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/InvasiveThreats.htm

For more information about the Maine Forest Service Forest Rangers, go to:
http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://www.maineforestservice.gov

Maine Forest Service: MFS Forest Rangers Organize Houlton Cleanup

Maine Forest Service: MFS Forest Rangers Organize Houlton Cleanup


Augusta, Maine - Maine Forest Service Forest Rangers, under the Maine Department of Conservation, this week collaborated with several Houlton area groups to conduct a roadside cleanup effort throughout the Aroostook County town.

Houlton High School students and Houlton Police Department officers spent the day on Tuesday picking up litter in what they called "Houlton Community Cleanup Day," according to MFS District Ranger Joe Mints.

"It was great to be part of a communitywide effort that had a positive impact on the town of Houlton," Mints said. "To have the students and staff from the high school involved and doing something positive for their community was an added bonus."

The collaborative event was organized by MFS Forest Ranger Jeremiah Crockett and Dee Butler, a job specialist with Houlton High School. Students who are part of the school's mentoring program as well as members of the student council participated.

The groups assembled and collected 80 large bags of garbage, six tires, old mailboxes and other junk from five road systems in Houlton. Two forest rangers, two police officers and nearly 40 students and staff worked a good part of the day on the effort.

MFS Forest Rangers regularly assist in clean-up efforts like this and also investigate complaints of illegal dumping.

To report illegal dumping activity, call the Maine Forest Service at 1-800-750-9777.

For more information about the Maine Forest Service Forest Rangers, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://www.maineforestservice.gov

Maine Forest Service: Forest Ranger Discovers Bomber Crash Ejection Seat

Maine Forest Service: Forest Ranger Discovers Bomber Crash Ejection Seat


Augusta, Maine - A Maine Forest Service forest ranger out hunting last fall came across a strange object he found right in the middle of an old, overgrown logging road on Elephant Mountain. That object has been identified as an ejection seat from the infamous B-52 Stratofortress-C crash that killed seven airmen almost 50 years ago north of Greenville.

Maine Forest Service District Ranger Bruce Reed, who found the ejection seat, will lead a recovery team on Thursday to retrieve the seat from Elephant Mountain southwest of the crash site and take it to a local snowmobile clubhouse.

The ejection seat from the B-52 most likely is the seat that saved the life of either the jet’s pilot or its navigator, according to officials.

“The seat was lying upside down in the middle of that road,” Reed recalled about finding the object. “I had a pretty good idea of what it was, and it was kind of eerie finding something like this in the middle of the wilderness, knowing what happened almost 50 years ago.”

Reed returned to the logging road this past Saturday, once again found the ejection seat, marked the GPS location, took photos, and took down all identification numbers. He confirmed the information with Pete Pratt of the Moosehead Rider’s Snowmobile Club, which has spearheaded the creation of a permanent memorial for the crash remains.

Later this week, Reed will lead a four-person carry operation with MFS forest rangers using a cargo net to bring the seat down the mountain.

The ejection seat has held up “remarkably well for being there for 49 years,” the MFS forest ranger said. There is some damage to the top part of the seat around the head rest, he said.

“Once we get it off the mountain and in the presence of those who know its true history, it will generate significant interest,” Reed said.

The crash took place Thursday, Jan. 24, 1963, as the B-52 Stratofortress-C was practicing routine low-level navigation, part of its training to avoid Soviet radar technology, in bitter winter weather.

The huge, unarmed jet left Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts and was carrying nine crew members. The jet was traveling at about 500 feet about the ground when it encountered turbulence, and pilot Lt. Col. Dante E. Buli tried to climb to avoid it.

A loud noise like an explosion was heard, and the jet went into a 40-degreee right turn, its nose pointing down. Buli tried to level the plane, but when he couldn’t, he ordered the crew to eject.

Three crew members, including Buli, the navigator, Capt. Gerald J. Adler, and the co-pilot, Maj. Robert J. Morrison, had time to eject.  Six crew members were killed in the crash; Morrison was killed when his parachute hit a tree.

Numerous rescuers went to the scene and saved the two survivors, Buli and Adler, who had endured serious injuries and frigid temperatures reaching minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the night. The crash later was found to be caused by a structural problem.

The crash site since has been turned into a memorial, and it is undergoing improvements for the anticipated 50th anniversary of the accident. A salvaged jet engine and one ejection seat can be viewed at the Moosehead Rider’s Snowmobile Clubhouse. The tail section of the jet, which fell off the aircraft before it crashed, still can be seen at the mountain site.

For more information about the crash, go to: http://www.moosehead.net/history/B-f2.html

For more information about the MFS Forest Rangers, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm

Maine Forest Service: New French edition of "Best Management Practices" Now Available

Maine Forest Service: New French edition of "Best Management Practices" Now Available


Augusta, Maine -  In the latest publication from the Maine Department of Conservation, loggers are called "bucherons," the Maine Forest Service is "Service de la foret du Maine," and the term "Best Management Practices (BMPs)"-- which describes how loggers can protect water quality at harvest sites - is "Pratiques exemplaires de gestion."

That's because the latest publication is the French version of the Maine Forest Service's notable logging manual, "Best Management Practices for Forestry: Protecting Maine's Water Quality."

Responding to requests from loggers, land managers and timber companies around the state, the Maine Forest Service (MFS) published the new version just this month and already is getting a positive response from the forest-products industry, according to MFS officials.

"Over the past year alone, we have had at least three requests from landowners working with French-speaking loggers for a French book," said Keith Kanoti, MFS water resources forester. "French-speaking loggers were a set of clientele we weren't able to serve with our BMP manual until we got this done."

The federal Clean Water Act came about in 1972 to regulate the discharge of pollutants into water bodies in the U.S. Silviculture activities, such as timber harvests, are exempted from getting required permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if "Best Management Practices (BMPs)" are used, Kanoti explained.

BMPs are voluntary logging techniques designed to protect water quality on timber harvests developed through practical experience and research. Not only does their use protect Maine's water quality, they are cost effective and inexpensive to use, particularly in comparison to the cost of pollution clean-up, according to the MFS.

"BMPs are a toolbox of practices people can use to protect water quality when harvesting timber and with all related activities, such as road construction, stream-crossing construction, etc.," Kanoti said.

The state agency first developed a brochure on BMPs in 1992, which was replaced in 2004 with a new, comprehensive manual, Kanoti said. That edition, published in English, had two printings of several thousand each, he said.

"We've distributed at least 10,000 copies to loggers, foresters and landowners over the years," Kanoti said, adding that the publication and the specific information about BMPs also has been picked and used by other New England states and Canadian provinces.

The new French version is intended not only for French-speaking Canadian loggers who come into Maine, but particularly for those woods-industry workers in Maine who have French as their first language, Kanoti said.

The 2010 U.S. Census lists 7.1 percent of the state's population as speaking a language other than English at home, and 25 percent list their ancestry as French or French-Canadian. The largest number of French-speakers by county is found in Aroostook County at 22.4 percent and Androscoggin County at 14.3 percent.

"There probably are not as many French-speaking loggers as there used to be, but there is enough of a French-speaking workforce that it seemed worthwhile to produce manual," Kanoti said.

New Brunswick province has a bilingual version of a BMP manual, while Quebec province has a completely French version, Kanoti said. "They're different from ours, and we've pointed people to them in the past, but we really wanted our own version in French," he said.

The new French version took about two months to prepare. Translation was done by a state contract vendor, Kanoti said. "Then we had it reviewed by a French-speaking industry forester to make sure it made sense," he said.

Some 200 copies have been published, and the manual also can be found on line in a .PDF format. The French manual is being used by the forest-products industry, in logger education, and as a reference tool, Kanoti said. It also has been offered to other states, such as New Hampshire, which took and republished the English version, the MFS forester said.

"I don't think it's on the best-seller list, but people have been requesting it," Kanoti said.

Individual copies of the manual are free, or can be downloaded from this link: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/pubs/pdf/bmp_manual/bmp_manual_french_final.pdf

Copies bought in bulk are $5 each. To order, contact: Jen Wright, Maine Forest Service, at (207) 287-4980.

For more information, contact Keith Kanoti, Maine Forest Service water resources forester, at: 1-800-367-0223 (in-state only) or 207-287-1073 email: keith.kanoti@maine.gov

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://www.maineforestservice.org

Maine Forest Service: Local Cases Heard in Maine District Court in Houlton

Maine Forest Service: Local Cases Heard in Maine District Court in Houlton


Augusta, Maine - A Oakfield logger has been ordered to pay more than $5,000 in restitution for failing to pay a landowner for harvested trees.

Jason Siltz, 38, was ordered to pay a total of $5,058.37 to a Massachusetts resident for trees harvested between June 2010 and February 2011 on a 90-acre lot in Linneus.

The case was one of several heard by District Judge Bernard O'Mara on Tuesday in Maine District Court in Houlton. The cases were investigated by the Maine Forest Service Forest Rangers and brought to court by Ranger Investigator George Harris and Ranger Chris Beyer of the Houlton office.

According to Harris, some 475 cords of wood was harvested, but the defendant paid the landowner only $3,422.05 out of $8,480.42 brought in. The timber harvest was overseen by a licensed forester, and several attempts were made by the landowner and the forester to work out a payment plan. The logger was making payments, but then stopped.

The Maine Forest Service received the complaint in July 2012, and following an investigation, the matter proceeded to court. As a result, the outstanding amount of $5,058.37 will be collected through the court and paid to the landowner.

In a second case, Dwight Osgood, 64, of Macwahoc Plantation, the local deputy town fire warden, was fined $100 and ordered to pay restitution amounting to $1,050 for damage done to a neighbor's house for an uncontrolled fire.

Osgood wrote himself a fire permit on March 21 to burn grass. The fire escaped, however, and damaged to a vacant home owned by a Florida resident. The Kingman Fire Department responded to the fire, as did the Maine Forest Service, with a total crew of eight and two engines. The fire burned cedar shingles on side of the house.

Osgood reportedly burned his hands in an attempt to extinguish the fire and refused care, receiving medical care at a later date. The State Fire Marshal's Office was notified.

In two other cases, Thomas Small, 29, Smyrna, was fined $100 for burning without a permit in an organized town. Small was burning brush and pallets on April 1 when the fire escaped into tall grass. Harris, aided by Small, had to suppress the fire, using a newly installed 100-gallon tank on a MFS ranger truck.

Jay Holck, 50, of Hodgdon, was fined $100 for criteria for allowable burning after the Maine Forest Service received a complaint about burning plastic on April 15.

On inspection, Harris found cloth, cans, glass, and household garbage being burned in an outdoor grill at Holck's residence. Holck extinguished the fire at Harris' request.

In a case handled by MFS Ranger Chris Beyer, a Merrill man was summoned and fined for burning prohibited materials.

Towbi Martinez, 31, pleaded guilty and was fined $100. Beyer received a complaint in April from a neighbor that prohibited materials were being burned. On investigation, Beyer found that Martinez had a burn permit, but was burning a mattress, trash and household items.

To reach the Maine Forest Service, call:

1-800-750-9777 for general inquiries, law enforcement complaints;
1-888-900-3473 for emergency wildfire reporting;
1-800-987-0257 for wildfire arson hotline.

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: http://maineforestservice.gov

For more information about the Maine Forest Rangers, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm