Since 2019, Maine’s legislation has proclaimed that the third week of May each year be commemorated as Maine Arbor Week, “recommending its observance by the public in the planting of trees, shrubs and vines, in the promotion of forest growth and culture, in the adornment of public and private grounds, places and ways, and in such other efforts and undertakings as harmonize with the general character of the week.”
As the Community Tree Steward at Maine Audubon, I have been busy with hundreds of baby bare-root trees. Over the past two weeks, with the help of students from Washington Academy in East Machias, United Technologies Center-Region 4 in Bangor, and Portland Arts & Technology High School, around 500 native trees have been potted across the state. These trees will be cared for by the students until the end of the school year.
These trees are a part of Maine Audubon’s Community Tree Nursery project and will eventually find homes in our nurseries. Our tree nurseries grow native wild-type trees to be used by municipalities as park and street trees and overall increase urban canopy cover. Maine Arbor Week is a perfect time to celebrate the importance of street trees and urban trees in general. Street trees make cities more walkable, decrease ambient temperatures, improve air quality, and provide ecological benefits. By growing native trees we are able to provide greater ecological benefits to native fauna and have trees that are specifically adapted to the environment in Maine.
Other projects have been going on all around Maine this week in celebration of Maine Arbor Week. On Tuesday, May 19, Michael Otzwirk, Community Tree Steward for the City of Ellsworth, ran a volunteer day with the help of myself and other Maine Conservation Corps individual placement members. The event was hosted at the Ellsworth Tree Nursery located at the Jordan Homestead Preserve where all of the 2nd graders from the public elementary school came to help plant trees and take a guided walk through the woods. During the event, 80 trees were planted in the nursery, and students were able to learn about and build relationships with trees that will one day be planted in their city. Watch the coverage from WABI-TV here >
Maine Arbor Week is a great time for all of us to be community tree stewards. We hope that you check out or join Maine Audubon’s tree planting partners in Portland (Facebook link), Bangor (Facebook link), Lewiston, Auburn, and elsewhere around the state this week.
