2012 Arbor Week Planting Project

It is beginning to feel like spring, and soon the ground will thaw and the buds will swell. Arbor week is fast approaching and we need your help to celebrate trees in Maine! The third full week in May is set aside to increase awareness about the benefits of trees, learn how trees grow and to plant trees!  ProjectCanopy, a partnership between the Maine Forest Service and GrowSmart Maine, is looking for Maine's best tree planting projects and your school could be the one we're looking for!

Project Canopy will be accepting applications for planting projects on your school grounds or in your local community.  We want your students to learn about how to plant trees, how they benefit a space and how to find the right tree for the right space.  Then show us how they can put this knowledge into use with a planting event to occur during Arbor Week 2012.  The more the students participate in planning the project the better!  The top ten projects will receive up to 50 free evergreen seedlings (typically cedar, spruce and pine species), a visit from your District Forester and classroom copies of the Forest Trees of Maine, Centennial Edition.  We will be accepting applications through March 30. Awards will be announced April 16th.

Download the application

The Arbor Day Foundation has an array of resources available to educators to help you plan your lessons and help you and your class create your project. Visit http://www.arborday.org/explore/ for all you need. Project Learning Tree has free lesson plans related to tree planting and forest management. Check out the lesson plans to compliment the upcoming release of Dr. Suess’ The Lorax at http://www.plt.org/

Green Downtowns 2012

The Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center, Project Canopy and GrowSmart Maine are pleased to announce the Green Downtowns Grants. $25,000 in funds made possible by the Environmental Funders Network will match an additional $25,000 set aside by Project Canopy to allow the plans and designs created by the Green Downtown project to be implemented and managed. Urban trees provide enormous benefits and are essential to any sustainable community. This opportunity is available to all Main Street Maine and Maine Downtown Network Communities and will utilize Project Canopy criteria and technical guidelines. For information, contact Ryan Neale, Program Director, MDF’s Maine Downtown Center, at rneale@mdf.org or 207.626.3119

Helpful Green Downtowns Grant Links:

• Guidelines (pdf|Word)


• Application (pdf|Word)

In all its programs and activities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Those with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202)720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202)720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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