SPRINGVALE

Camp director to speak about nature deficit

Ryder Scott, program director at the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center, will share his insights on the changing nature of childhood at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s annual meeting for York County at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The public is invited to attend the event at the Anderson Learning Center, 21 Bradeen St., in Springvale.

Scott will give a presentation titled, “No Child Left Inside: Understanding and Overcoming Nature Deficit Disorder.”

The evening’s program is free and open to the public. It includes a dessert social at 6:30, followed by a brief annual meeting of the York County Extension Association.

For more information, call the Cooperative Extension office at 324-2814 or 1-800-287-1535 (in Maine) or e-mail rebecca.gowdy@maine.edu.

PORTLAND

New 5K race next Sunday to benefit Bayside Trail

A new 5K trail race on Nov. 14 will benefit Portland’s new Bayside Trail. Preregistration is available through today at www.runreg.com.

This 1.2-mile-long urban trail will ultimately connect the Eastern Promenade trail to Deering Oaks and include pocket parks, an outdoor amphitheater, rain gardens and public art.

The Bayside Trail 5K will begin at 9 a.m. at the Eastern Promenade Trail in front of the Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal on Commercial Street.

The cost is $20 to preregister, $25 the day of the race. The first 200 registrants will receive a long-sleeve T-shirt.

Runners are encouraged to bring dogs on leashes. Every four-legged participant will receive a free dog toy, compliments of Planet Dog.

First-place male and female runners will receive a gift certificate for a new pair of running shoes from the Maine Running Company.

The top runner with a dog will receive a $150 gift certificate to Planet Dog.

For more information on the Bayside Trail, visit www.baysidetrail.org.

FREEPORT

Ocean wind energy expert to talk at Sierra Club event

Offshore wind expert Habib Dagher will highlight this year’s Sierra Club Maine annual dinner on Nov. 12 at the Harraseeket Inn.

Dagher is director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, which has received more than $25 million to develop floating offshore wind turbines and test them off Monhegan Island.

He will discuss that project, his vision of how offshore wind power can transform our current reliance on fossil fuels and the environmental impacts of offshore wind.

The Sierra Club annual dinner will also feature national Sierra Club president, Robin Mann, a special presentation to Gov. John Baldacci, a silent auction and a full-course dinner.

The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail and hors d’oeuvre reception.

The event is open to the public and the cost is $40. Reservations may be made by calling 761-5161 by Monday.

GRAY

Military members, veterans get in free to Wildlife Park

The Maine Wildlife Park on Route 26 will close for the 2010 season at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Since Thursday is also Veterans Day, the park will recognize and thank all past and present Maine military personnel and veterans for their service to our country by offering them an individual free adult admission.

The Maine Wildlife Park is owned and operated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and exists to promote an understanding and awareness of the wildlife, conservation and habitat protection programs and projects of the agency.

The park has more than 30 species of native wildlife on display. It is open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30.p.m, and visitors must leave the premises by 5 p.m.

Admission is free for ages 3 and under; $5 for ages 5-12; $7 for adults, and $5 for seniors. For more information, call 657-4977 or go online to www.mainewildlifepark.com.

HINCKLEY

L.C. Bates Museum program looks at animals in winter

The L.C. Bates Museum at Good Will-Hinckley will sponsor a program, “Amazing Animals in Winter,” from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

This indoor and outdoor program will explore the secrets of animal endurance and lives in winter.

Discover which animals migrate, hibernate or stay active during our Maine winters. Families and children will search the trail for animal signs, visit the pond to see the very busy beavers’ work, learn fun facts about the animals that roam our snowy fields, touch warm animal pelts, make track flash cards to bring home and more.

For more information, call 238-4250.

PISCATAQUIS COUNTY

State project reclaims pond for brook trout, charr

Big Reed Pond, a remote bosy of water in the North Woods, recently was chemically reclaimed to remove several invasive species of fish.

Sixteen Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologists carried out the week-long project so that native brook trout and Arctic charr eventually can be restored with restocking in 2011.

The project culminates a four-year effort that included support from the Nature Conservancy, which is the landowner around Big Reed Pond, the University of Maine, Maine Army National Guard, Mountain Springs Trout Farm in Frenchville, and the Bradford Camps on Munsungan Lake, and grant funding from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund.

Big Reed Pond is one of only 12 Maine waters to support wild Arctic charr (blueback trout) and these waters support the last remaining native charr, a close relative to the brook trout, in the lower 48 states.

Anglers can hike to the pond over a primitive path or fly-in via float plane.

The illegal introduction of several invasive fishes, most notably rainbow smelt and creek chub, during the late 1980s was the main target of the reclamation process.

Copy the Story Link