School of Forest Resources to Open at UMaine
Contact: Contact: Charlene Herrick (207) 581-3204; David Munson (207) 581-3777
ORONO, Me. — UMaine’s Department of Forest Ecosystem Science and Department of Forest Management will come together this summer to form the new School of Forest Resources. Scheduled to take place just weeks after the nationally-known forestry programs bid farewell to their 100th graduating class, the transition promises to provide new opportunities for communication and collaboration with the many people and organizations that depend on Maine’s forests.
“Maine is the most heavily forested state in the nation, percentage-wise, and the University of Maine has played a key role in managing the state’s forestry resources for more than 100 years,” said UMaine College of Natural Science, Forestry and Agriculture Dean Bruce Wiersma. “By consolidating the two departments, we are creating a single point of contact for forest resource information and education.”
In addition to the formation of the school, a new Center for Sustainable Forestry Research will be created. An independent research center with close ties to the School of Forest Resources, the center will be the new home for UMaine’s forestry-related research programs, improving upon a long tradition of forestry and forest ecosystems research at the university.
UMaine officials hope to open both the School of Forest Resources and the Center for Sustainable Forestry Research on July 1, 2006