The Wrack

Earlier this week, over thirty people convened for a dedication of the Yankee Woodlot Trail & Demonstration Forest. After tree-themed refreshments and remarks from several Wells Reserve at Laudholm staff, there was a ceremonial watering of a newly planted American Chestnut seedling and a guided hike along the trail.

A timber harvest in fall 2012 removed one-third of the trees in this 36-acre parcel, and a series of concurrent workshops trained small landowners in planning, designing, and carrying out sustainable harvests on their own properties. Four interpretive signs were added early this summer and an educational booklet was released in August. The reimagined woodlot also features a bench crafted from Yankee Woodlot timber, a piled cord of wood, a Picture Post, and electronic links (QR codes) to informational videos. The Yankee Woodlot is back in the spotlight for the long term.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune and Making It At Home Sunday editions, 3/2/2014.

The home we purchased last spring came with a wood stove, but up until last month, we hadn’t used it. Just in time for January’s second polar vortex, we got our chimney re-lined and, just like that, we had a cozy living room.

The only problem was that, by this point in the winter, seasoned firewood was scarce. We went through the small poplars I’d cut down in our yard last March within two weeks and then had to rely on those $5 kiln-dried bundles from Home Depot and Hannaford. Soon, even those were hard to find.

What burned me up even more than their price was that I had enough firewood stored up for the next five winters — 200 miles south of here.

WELLS, Maine, July 25, 2012 — A 34-acre woodlot in Wells is seen as a testing ground for managing timber for long-term gain while maintaining its value for wildlife, clean water, and recreation. The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve will complete a partial harvest of its Yankee Woodlot this fall while hosting a series of four workshops that will encourage participants to get involved in the process.

The Reserve recently received 12 trees from a nursery in midcoast Maine, thanks to the Maine Forest Service's "Project Canopy." This week, Charles, volunteer Mark Klys, and the AmeriCorps team planted them along the entry road, where they will serve as a wind break and visual buffer.