Join us for a walk and talk with our Maine Forest Service district forester and a wildlife ecologist from Maine Audubon to learn about how a warming climate is affecting our forests and how we can manage them to be more resilient and adaptive to those changes. The stunning Rines Forest in Cumberland will serve as our laboratory as we gain an understanding of trends in tree health, invasive plants, and wildlife populations. Our walk leaders will also provide information for landowners on how they can manage their forests to enhance fish and wildlife habitat, store more carbon, and be more resilient in the face of climate change.

Our guides:

Shane Duigan is the District Forester for Maine Forest Service serving Cumberland, Androscoggin, and Sagadahoc counties. He has a B.S. in Land Use from the University of Maine at Orono and an M.S. in Forestry from the Yale School of Forestry. Shane has worked in the woods in some capacity (forester, environmental consultant, and logger) for 25 years. 

Sally Stockwell is a wildlife ecologist who serves as Director of Conservation at Maine Audubon where she works on restoring endangered bird populations, engaging citizen scientists to collect data, community land use planning, aquatic and terrestrial habitat connections, and climate impacts to wildlife. She has additional experience as an interpretive naturalist, environmental education instructor, and outdoor adventure leader. Sally holds a Ph.D. in wildlife ecology and an M.S. in wildlife management from the University of Maine and a B.S. in biology from The Evergreen State College. Sally serves on numerous state committees and has been actively involved in town planning, open space planning, and forest management and recreation in her hometown of Cumberland. 

About the series: Weathering Climate Change: Understanding Shifts in Our Local Landscapes is an educational series of walks and talks aimed at informing, engaging, and uniting community members of Cumberland and Chebeague Island around local climate issues that impact us all. The series is offered in collaboration with Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust (CCLT).