McCormack receives forest stewardship award, WABI reports
WABI (Channel 5) reported on a Blaine House ceremony to present Maxwell McCormack Jr., a professor emeritus in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine, with the prestigious 2016 Austin H. Wilkins Forest Stewardship Award. The award recognizes excellence in furthering forestry, forests or forestland conservation in Maine. Started by the Maine TREE Foundation in 2004, it is the only award in the state that recognizes stewardship of the working forest, according to the report. McCormack has devoted six decades of his life researching international forests and educating generations of students on the importance of forest stewardship, the report states. The UMaine alumnus said he believes that despite mill closures of recent years, Maine’s future in forestry is solid. “I’m very upbeat. I’m optimistic in the long run because we have a resource that as the world goes on, will become more and more important. And I believe we are going to see a turnaround where Maine is in an outstanding position, because we will have forest resources there that can benefit society,” he said.