Press Release

AUGUSTA, Maine – The director of the Maine Forest Service’s community forestry program has been awarded the 2011 President’s Award for the New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (NEC-ISA).

Jan Ames Santerre, director of Project Canopy, was presented the award last month during the society’s 45th annual conference and trade show held at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. She was one of three recipients who received the award from Tom Hoerth, chapter past president and arborist for the city of Bath.

The award is presented annually by the chapter president to those who have been inspiring professionally or personally during the president’s career. Santerre received a turned maple bowl made from wood from a Bath tree.

Hoerth said the President’s Award recognized Santerre's leadership in Maine's community forestry program and her outstanding contributions to the field. As one of Project Canopy’s most active communities, the city of Bath could not have afforded to do all that it does without the support of the state program, the past president said.

“Jan is very deserving of this award for all that she has accomplished regarding community forestry,” Don Mansius, MFS director of forest policy said. “We are very proud of her.”

“I am humbled,” Santerre said about receiving the award. “I work with a lot of really professional people, and to be among the list of others who have received this award is humbling and rewarding.”

NEC-ISA is a prominent organization with a mission of supporting and providing education in the field of arboriculture, or the cultivation, management, preservation and study of trees for landscape purposes. Internationally, nationally and locally, the organization offers educational events, publications, scholarships and Arbor Day grants. The New England Chapter, based in Massachusetts, has about 750 members.

Project Canopy, under MFS and the Maine Department of Conservation, works with communities throughout Maine to encourage good tree management for urban and suburban areas. The program offers annual grants to municipalities, works with communities on tree management plans and provides education and resources.

Santerre noted that the Bath tree program is “a model for other tree programs across the state and the country.” The municipality, which has received forestry grants almost annually, has developed several unique projects, including the mitigation of ice storm damage to municipal trees; use of harvested city trees for community art projects under the state’s Percent for Art program; and the purchase of a portable saw mill for use by the local technical school for public building projects.

Santerre joined the Maine Forest Service as Project Canopy director in 2008. She previously was community forestry specialist at the Pine Tree State Arboretum in Augusta. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in forest biology from the University of Vermont.

For more information on Project Canopy, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/projectcanopy/

For more information about the Maine Forest Service, go to: www.maineforestservice.org

For more information about the New England Chapter of the New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, go to: http://www.newenglandisa.org/