FCCI Webinar & Field Tour Series: Massabesic Experimental Research Forest

Year 3 logoMassabesic Research Forest

Webinar: December 14, 2022
1 Cat 1 SAF CFE eligible
Field Tour: December 16, 9:30am-1pm 
4 Cat 1 SAF CFE eligible

Webinar Recording

The 1,497-ha Massabesic Experimental Forest consists of two units (North and South) with a number of special ecological features, including one of the largest Atlantic white-cedar wetlands in New England, many vernal pools, and numerous plants and animals that are rare or uncommon. Eastern white pine-northern red oak dominates the upland sites, along with eastern hemlock and red maple. Following years of drought, in October 1947 1,214 ha of the Massabesic forest burned (80% of the timber was destroyed or salvaged) during a fire event that consumed entire villages in southwestern Maine. On the Massabesic, the fire was a stand-replacing disturbance in some places, while in other areas only part of the forest floor was consumed, or skipped entirely.

Massabesic: Forests & Fire: Community Wildfire Protection Plan StoryMap

A Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) takes partners coming together. Scoping meetings involve key partners, including fire departments, federal agencies, state agencies, county government, non-profits, wildlife groups, lake associations, large private landowners, and user groups. Many action items for the Massabesic CWPP have developed in preliminary conversations. The plan is developed collaboratively and prioritizes hazardous fuel reduction treatments to protect at-risk communities and essential infrastructure from wildfire.

Resource Links

Webinar: US Forest Service panelists Mariko Yamasaki,  John Neely, Kevin Dodds, and Isabel Munck, along with Chuck Lubelczyk, of the ME Medical Center Research Inst. and Katie Glover of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute discuss landscape context, pests and forest health threats, long-term bird observations, and fire & fuel at the Massabesic.

Panelists: Mariko Yamasaki, USFS-NRS, Jon Janelle, USFS-R9-FHP, John Neely, USFS-R9-WMNF, Chuck Lubelczyk, ME Medical Center Research Inst., Kevin Dodds, USFS-R9-FHP, Isabel Munck, USFS-R9-FHP, Katie Glover, U Maine Climate Change Inst.

Field Tour: Our panelist team will guide attendees around exotic species detection, oak thinning, wildfire plans and considerations, shelterwood, group selection, hemlock regeneration, and pests/forest health. Time permitting, there will also be a visit to kettle bogs/paleo sites.