UMaine Research Scientist Jack Witham with one of the interpretive panels recently installed at Holt Research Forest. Contributed photo

In a partnership with The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Timber Research and Environmental Education Foundation (Maine TREE) recently installed a series of interpretive signs at its Holt Research Forest on the coastal island of Arrowsic. The program is the continuation of an effort to integrate the educational programming of Maine TREE into the Holt Research Forest, which it acquired in 2014 through a merger with the Holt Woodland Research Foundation.

According to a news release, Maine TREE, the sponsor of the Project Learning Tree program within the state, sees a growing opportunity for the Holt Research Forest as a base of outdoor learning for southern Maine students and families and for owners of forested land to convene to share best practices and learn from the on-going research activities sponsored there.

“While COVID-19 has put a hold on hosting students and groups at the Holt Research Forest this year, Maine TREE continues to invest in improvements to the learning environment there, just as we have pivoted to creating virtual tools to support educators statewide at the same time,” said Executive Director Jonathan LaBonte in the release.

The four interpretive panels, installed along a footpath from the designated visitor parking area to the outdoor classroom constructed in 2016 by volunteers from Maine’s forest community, highlight the history, ecology, research projects, and forest management activities at Holt Research Forest.

Maine TREE owns the 350-acre Holt Research Forest in Arrowsic, the site of a long-term forest ecosystem study conducted through a contract it funds with the University of Maine. The Nature Conservancy holds a conservation easement on approximately 285 acres of the Holt Research Forest and owns and manages the 51-acre Mill Pond Preserve, which borders it to the north. Funding for the project was provided by the Ed Meadows Conservation Fund.