SCARBOROUGH—While the Scarborough Land Trust (SLT) is perhaps best known for conservation and stewardship of local land, the organization also runs several free programs aimed to connecting people with nature such as guided walks, snowshoe hikes, birding, and more.

Upcoming, on Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. is a Contemplative Winter Walk at the Pleasant Hill Preserve. “(The contemplative walks) are kind of a new idea for us,” said Andrew Mackie, executive director of the Scarborough Land Trust. “To get out there and connect on a different level to nature and to help maybe see things in a little bit different way.”

Another contemplative walk is scheduled for April 30.

On Feb. 4 there will be a Winter Wildlife Tracks program at 10 a.m. at Libby River Farm Preserve. Sami Wolf, the stewardship director of the Scarborough Land Trust, runs this event. The program features an introduction to wildlife tracking and application of these skills in the field. Participants learn how to identify tracks based on parts of the track, overall shape, gait, pattern, and size. Participants will learn to identify common species including the fox, bobcat, river otter, turkey, coyote, and more.

On Feb. 18 there will be a Snowshoe Tour of Fuller Farm. This event is run by Diane Neal, a board member of the SLT and chair of the Communications, Education, and Outreach Committee.

“During the winter, snowshoeing is a great way to get people out on the property,” Neal said. “And the other thing about the winter and snowshoeing is that you can get to places on the property that you can’t get to other times of the year.”

Due to the land in Scarborough being very wet, winter snowshoeing provides the opportunity to show people parts of Fuller Farm they might not get to see other times of the year.

It is recommended that in the winter, visitors of SLT properties prepare for ice by wearing boots with sturdy traction and to bring ice traction for the boots such as micro-spikes, yak trax, nanospikes, etc. “Even if there isn’t snow on the ground it doesn’t mean that there can’t be some ice on the trails where water has frozen,” Mackie said.

Spring programming will start being advertised towards the end of January. There are plans for lots of programming in May in particular, due to the possibilities of the spring season such as bird migration and plant life.

“We have slowly been increasing programming,” Mackie said. “Each year we do a little bit more … we are doing more especially with youth.”

The Scarborough Land Trust has activities for all ages. Some programs are geared more for certain demographics. For example, Winter Wildlife Tracks is a family program, while the contemplative walks and snowshoe walks are more geared for adults.

SLT programs are usually run in one of three ways: either by an SLT member, a volunteer, or sometimes a paid instructor who is an expert in their field. Sometimes the SLT will partner with other groups to create programs, such as Friends of Scarborough Marsh and the Scarborough Public Library.

The trust generally has a lot of variety when creating programs. The trust has done programs on wildflowers, ferns, birds, and more. The trust welcomes ideas for more programs. Additionally, the trust is also open to individuals that have certain expertise and want to propose a program. For example, their past astronomy programs were created due a member of the local astronomy club coming to the trust. Individuals or organizations that want to work with the trust are welcome to contact them.

“We try to run programs that are good for everybody,” Neal said. “You know, some are focused on kids, some are better for adults, but in general we run programs where a wide variety of people can get out on our properties and learn more about the properties.”

There are limited spots for programmed activities; people are urged to sign up in advance. To learn more and sign up, visit https://scarboroughlandtrust.org/events/

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