MAINE LAKES CONSERVANCY INSTITUTE RECEIVES $1,800 PLUM CREEK FOUNDATION GRANT FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

FAIRFIELD, Maine--July 28, 2009--The Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute (MLCI) was recently awarded a $1,800 grant from the Plum Creek Foundation to help fund lake and watershed stewardship education programs in the northern forest of Maine.

The education programs will be offered for adults and families at Maine sporting camps.  Topics include ecology, watershed hydrology, water quality, invasive species and basic stewardship practices.  Programs will be designed to use the facilities available at each sporting camp, as well as the MLCI “floating classroom,” a pontoon boat with high-tech equipment for collecting, testing and viewing the plants, animals and water in the lakes.

“We believe that people who visit Maine lakes through sporting camps want to increase their understanding of lake ecology and stewardship,” said Bill Ferdinand, board chairman.  “We are grateful to the Plum Creek Foundation for helping our organization spread the overarching message to protect lake water quality and maintain working forests to help sustain the economy and ecology of northern Maine.”

The MLCI is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to understanding, protecting and sustaining the health and values of Maine’s lakes and the communities dependent upon them.  The organization conducts programs on the floating classroom for middle school students throughout Maine.  MLCI also invites all persons in lake communities to participate in their on-lake education programs to become more informed about Maine’s freshwater resources.  For more information on the MLCI, please visit www.mcli.org.

The mission of the Plum Creek Foundation is to provide philanthropic contributions to support and improve the general welfare of life in the communities that Plum Creek serves.  The Foundation board meets quarterly to review applications submitted from organizations in the company’s operating communities.  Visit the Community Involvement page on Plum Creek’s Web site at www.plumcreek.com to download an application.

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Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest.  For more information, visit www.plumcreek.com.