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Teens “Give Back” to Great Pond Mountain Wildlands
Thursday, June 14, 2007 from Ellsworth American ORLAND — Every Tuesday afternoon, Sean, Chris, Josh, Tyler, Nick and Cliff and two staff members from KidsPeace in Ellsworth journey to the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands in Orland to restore wildlife habitat under the guidance of forester Jake Maier.  A KidsPeace volunteer installs a birdhouse in the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands. Teens from the KidsGiveBack group and KidsPeace staff members have been working to restore wildlife habitat under the guidance of forester Jake Maier. Since KidsPeace started its KidsGiveBack project in February, the teens have thinned more than two acres of dense hardwood saplings with bow saws and clippers, creating nesting sites and hiding places for ground-dwelling birds and mammals. They built 40 bluebird and swallow nesting boxes and are installing them at former log landings. They even spent one recent afternoon flagging hazardous spots on the road system after heavy spring rains. “KidsGiveBack is basically a community service program for kids at all KidsPeace campuses nationwide,” said Hans Krichels, KidsGiveBack coordinator at the Ellsworth campus. The volunteer work gives the teens “a sense of being involved in the community and a sense of helping others.” Krichels saw Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust’s Wildlands property as a perfect opportunity for a community partnership.  “Our
kids are from Maine, and the Wildlands are part of their heritage.
What better way to involve them in a future for themselves?” he
asked.Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, a nonprofit land trust, purchased the 4,200-acre Wildlands property in 2005 to create a sanctuary for native plants and animals, and to provide the community with outdoor recreation experiences in a breathtaking natural setting. The KidsPeace group is helping to fulfill goals set by the group for management of the property — and helping to supply the vital volunteer-power needed to keep this large public use area running smoothly. “The mission of GPMCT includes being a good steward of the Wildlands,” said GPMCT forester Jake Maier of Brewer. “The work of those kids is good stewardship. The forest thinning the boys are doing is so important because trees which have good growing conditions when young will grow up much healthier. Those trees will provide more seeds and more food to the animals. Working with the boys on a weekly basis will make them into forest-thinning experts.” “The boys also are a great quick-response team in crisis situations, as they already proved when we needed someone to flag danger spots on roads after snowmelt,” added Maier. “There are so many other necessary tasks a good land steward should tackle, and without the KidsPeace kids we would not have the people power to accomplish them. I wouldn’t want to be without them.” The KidsPeace team at the Wildlands is working out so well, members of the group are looking to double their time spent there to two afternoons a week. “We are so grateful to the KidsPeace kids and staff for all they’ve done to make the Wildlands a better place for wildlife and visitors,” said GPMCT’s Administrative Director Cheri Domina. To learn more about the KidsGiveBack program, contact Coordinator Hans Krichels at 479-0307 or hans_krichels@kidspeace.org . For more information on volunteering for GPMCT, call 469-7190 or e-mail greatpond@midmaine.com . |
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