own energy consumption. The two districts are also

looking at some changes for the newsletter. It is an expen-sive production for the two dis-tricts but we continue to get fa-vorable and sometimes down-right enthusiastic support for the newsletter. We appreciate that support.

We have a very brief ques-tionnaire on page 3 and are hoping to make both this news-letter and other communica-tions we have with you more useful and efficient. Please take the time to complete the verrrrrrry brief questionnaire and return it to either the Som-erset or Kennebec office.

See page 2 for how you can order wreaths from us this year. ♣ Kennebec District News 10-11

New Farm Bill workshops 6-7

Information tid-bits 2

Guest Article on “sizzlewood” 4-5

Coming attractions—calendar 12

Somerset District News 8-9

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Fall 2008

Inside this issue:

If you receive more than one newsletter, or the address is wrong, please contact us and we will correct the error. Thanks.

Included in this issue of the Conservation Times is a number of forestry and wood related articles. Given the re-newed focus on Maine’s for-estry and wood product natu-ral resources, that seems to make sense.

The end of summer activi-ties for the districts have in-cluded the two day Maine Farm Days in Clinton. We had good weather this year at Misty Meadows. Next year the MFDays extravaganza is being scheduled for the Barker Farm in Leeds. I took the opportunity to volunteer at the district display at the Fryeburg Fair. This year’s theme was “Energy Options” and we were very busy. It was amazing the number of people focused on the issue of their own energy use, en-ergy policy and energy op-tions. There is clearly a role for Soil & Water Districts as objective and neutral sources of information and analysis of energy choices for farms and individuals interested in mak-ing some changes in their

Moving towards and into the winter months.

On the web at www.KCSWCD.org

Kennebec & Somerset County Soil &Water Conservation Districts

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District staff can provide additional information and assistance. We can usually identify other sources of information too. Give us a call at 622-7847 ext. 3 The following are a few items. . .

WAW (Women and the Woods) Women Only Events Kitchen Table gatherings - The topics for each one of these are setting ob-jectives, management planning, and working with professionals concerning your woodlot, as well as telling our woodlot stories. Patty Cormier will facilitate all of them and proba-bly have a couple of Facilitators In Training (FIT) with her, a couple of women foresters who are interested in helping out. To register email patty.cormier@maine.gov , or call 474-3499.

October 23, St. Albans, 4:30-7:00 pm November 5, Lexington, 4:30-7:00 pm November 12, Starks, 5:00-7:30 pm November 19, Mercer, 5:00-7:30 pm

Women and the Woods, Somerset Exten-sion, and SWOAM are hosting WAW - Women's Only - Chainsaw Training class and Firewood as a Fuel Source workshop on Sunday November 2nd, at the Extension office in Skowhegan from 8:00am - 4:00 pm. Forester Peter Tracy will be the instructor. The morning session will be on chainsaw safety and use, with demonstrations by Pete. The afternoon will include presenta-tions from Maine Forest Service on using firewood as a heat source, etc. Registration fee is $15.00, and lunch is provided. Call Somerset County Extension at 474-9622 to register.

For those who may not have seen the Cen-tennial Edition of the Maine Forest Services’ Maine Tree book, you need to take a look. This is a new publication with fully laminated pages and is for sale at the Maine Forest Service. It is a steal for only $7! This is a great publication for those who enjoy a good tree guide when you take a walk in the woods or just enjoy. See how to order one on Page 5.

Federal legislation, HR 1424, the Emer-gency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

had a number of provisions to support Solar en-ergy production via extension of a 30% tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations as well as other supports for solar energy production. You can contact the Solar Electric Power Assoc. via Josephine Mooney at 202-857-0898 x6 or jmooney@solarelectricpower.org for more infor-mation. Or check their website at www.solarelectricpower.org

Chainsaw Training at Lake George Regional Park, Skowhegan, Maine SATURDAY, 08 NOVEMBER 2008, HOURS: 9:30-3:00. Sponsored by the Up-per Kennebec Valley Chapter of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, the Maine Forest Service, the Somerset Soil and Water Conservation District, JT's Finest Kind Saws, and the Lake George Corporation. Pete Tracy, a Maine Licensed Forester and Certified Logging Professional will be your trainer. Pre-registration is required. Cost is $15.00 per person unless you are a SWOAM member, then it is $10.00. To sign up, please e-mail info@somersetswcd.org to receive pre-registration confirmation or call Carol at the Somerset Soil and Water Conservation District office at 474-8324, ext 102

WREATH SALES — We are offering wreaths again this year but will use a few lo-cal wreath makers. It allows us to offer more options but you will need to contact either of the two offices to learn the details. At that time we can discuss delivery dates and wreath sizes. We intend to offer wreaths be-tween the prices of $30-$45. Contact either Carol-Somerset [474-8324 x3] or Dale-Kennebec [622-7847 x3].

We apologize that some of the resources listed here only have internet connections. If alternative contact information is available we include it.

As you prepare for fall and winter, the districts still have a few of the composters and kitchen compost pails left for sale. Contact your local office if you want to get one or more set up for the winter.

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The Conservation Times is edited and produced by the Kennebec and Somerset County Soil & Water Conservation District staff with the assistance of various conservation partners and with the guidance of the Board of Supervisors. Most writing and editing is done by Dale Finseth and Carol Weymouth unless identified other-wise. Frequently information is used from other publications or media sources. The districts do not necessarily agree with nor endorse all opinions included in the newsletter. We try and offer a variety of viewpoints on conservation issues. If you take issue with an article or have suggestions and information for a follow-up or future article, please contact Dale at the Kennebec District. Either call at 622-7847 ext. 3 or e-mail him at Dale@kcswcd.org

As most of you probably realize, this newsletter is relatively expensive to produce and mail. While put-ting all the information into it and generating the arti-cles takes time, I must confess that the resulting product and the positive feedback we receive is very rewarding. We have discussed how to best continue producing the newsletter and want to consider some changes that may be useful for our readers while cutting some of our production costs. Please take the time to complete the very brief questionnaire below to help us in those efforts.

AND— If you are willing to receive the newsletter in electronic form so we can cut our copy and postage costs, please indicate that as well. Receiving your response back here at the office is an indication that you want to continue receiving the Conservation Times in some format. Take the time to also give your feedback to make our communi-cations with you more effective.

Name: Address: E-mail: I am willing to receive your Conserva-

tion Times via e-mail.

Changes to our newsletter.

In the next issue —

• 2009 tree sale information • Information about plans for next spring projects • Initial reports on end-of-year news. • Election results for both districts.

In what ways do you impact the local natural resources? __ forest and woodlot related __ farming (commercial, small or large) __ recreational use (including camps __ gardening or other Do you currently compost? __ Yes Are you interested in learning more __ Do you want to receive energy use and alternative energy information? __ Yes Do you want to have more workshops about conservation issues? __ Yes What topics are you interested in? Are you currently a “District Cooperator” __ Yes Or interested in becoming one? __ Yes We will have more information about Cooperators in the January issue. Other comments:

Are you burning “sizzle wood” in your stove? It’s a new species of hardwood that is intro-duced to the not too knowledgeable wood burning public every late summer and fall by some of the slick wood suppliers who advertise that they have “seasoned” wood for sale even though the stems hadn’t been cut to length or split till last week. They think that because the stem, lying in a pile 20 feet deep, tree length, has been there for the spring and even the summer, that the wood in the stems has somehow “seasoned”. They haven’t learned their lessons about the hydroscopisity of wood. Come to think of it, if the wood burner understood hydroscopisity, they wouldn’t be buying any of this “seasoned” wood to burn this winter. So…, what is hydroscopisity? Hydro-sco-pisity (you won’t find this one in Webster so don’t bother checking. Just listen to the common sense!) is the ability of an object to absorb moisture. Or, in the case of firewood, the ability of “dry” wood to re-absorb water. Trees, from which most firewood is produced are 50% moisture content while standing and growing in the woods. [Except White Ash which can be as low as 35% m.c.] If the trees from which your firewood dealer processed the load he just delivered to you were just cut and delivered to him, then your firewood has a moisture content of about 50% or green wood. Voila – “sizzle wood”. Wood has a heat value of about 8,000 BTU’s per pound when absolutely dry. So at 50% m.c., your 5,000 pound cord of hard-wood could have as much as 2,500 pounds of water in it. That’s about 300 gallons of water! The trick to getting the most heat out of your firewood is to get it as dry as you can before burning it. You don’t want to see moisture bubbling out of the end of the sticks in your stove, with the accompanying “sizzle”. With Red Oak, steam can be seen coming out of the end grain along with brownish foam and the familiar “sizzling” sound. If you don’t have the money to buy truly dry or seasoned wood, then you will probably air dry it in your backyard as I do. The local assessor wants to tax a firewood shelter. That is why I dry my wood out in the open in the backyard. Air drying your firewood outside is governed by the “3 T’s” rule – Time, Temperature, and Turbu-lence. The air temperature must be above 40 ° F to accomplish any drying at all. Below 40 °, cell moisture movement is un-noticeable. Below 32 °, it be-comes ice (clear frozen Oak splits unusually easy!). So if 40 ° and above is drying weather, then drying outdoors limits you to the months where the ambi-ent temperature is 40 ° or above day and night. Next we need turbulence, or air flow, to help remove the moisture from the ends and sides of the split pieces. Splitting the wood helps allow for added air flow. Round wood usually still has the bark on the piece. What is the function of the bark? Many; but most important to the wood burner is its waterproofness, especially the bark of White Birch. Unless the bark is re-moved, the wood under the bark can’t release the moisture during the time it is supposed to be drying or seasoning. Some fuel wood dealers still cut their wood four feet long and “cleave” it and put it in a pile on skids 52” high. Later in the year after the cleft wood has had at least 3 months of air drying, when orders are filled, they measure 8 foot lengths of the pile

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Are You Burning “Sizzle Wood”? A Guest Column reprinted from our Feb-Mar, 2002 newsletter. It seems most appropriate for the coming wood season.

Forestry Changes that have occurred in the State of Maine since 1908:

Year 1908 2008

Forested area (%) 75 89 Human Population 694,466 1,274,923 Harvest volume (in cords) 2,879,807 6,742,351 Stumpage price (spruce/MBF) $5.49 $135.00 Forestry students @ UMaine 31 50 Total students @ UMaine 884 11,800

[Excerpt from an article on the Forests for Maine's Future web site.]

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for every cord ordered and cut the “clefted” sticks to the length the customer ordered. The pile compacts to 48” high over the summer as the wood shrinks in size due to drying. You can see these long piles of “clefted” wood snaking around hillsides with plenty of space left between the rows. This space allows air to blow along, over and, if piled according to prevailing wind flow, even through the piles. It also provides space to drive the truck alongside the pile as it is cut to length for orders. Now we can discuss the third “T”, or the time factor. If the air temperature is 40° or higher but there is little to no air flow, then the drying will take an entire summer. And that is if you cover the pile so that not one drop of rain is allowed to re-wet the wood! If the air flow is 5 mph or more and the air is dryer than the wood, then the wood will quickly dry down to the moisture content of the air. If the temperature is 90° and there is no air flow, then you grow mushrooms and fungi on the wood! If the tempera-ture is 90° or more and the air flow is 25 mph or greater, then you are standing in front of a big Cat diesel or are inside a dry kiln. Either place is a great choice to dry wood! To recap - split wood dries slowest when it’s cold and little or no wind is blowing. It dries quickest when the piles are single tiers wide covered and the temperature is 70° or above with 15 mph plus wind blowing along the ends of the sticks. Have you ever wondered just what is growing inside of those old beehive shaped piles you see in some older wood burners yards? When do the latter conditions occur in Maine? According to my old wood tech Professor Greg-ory Baker at UMO, these drying conditions of warm temperature and relatively dry winds above 15 mph, can occur during the months of April through early July. In the latter part of July, the higher daily humidity can slow down the drying process or even reverse it if there is lots of rain. Remember, hydroscopisity! So, if you would like to eliminate the “sizzle wood” next winter, get your wood cut, split, single tier stacked at least 4” off the ground and covered before the drying winds of spring help the mud disappear. A side benefit to burning dryer wood is that you won’t burn as much (if you burn green wood you are spending 50% of its heat value to dry it out so the other 50% will actually burn – that’s the sizzle you’re hearing). Also your chimney liner will appreciate the dryer wood by accumulating less creosote than it does when you burn green wood. This is especially true in an airtight stove. Oh yeah, airtight stoves … well, that’s another story!

Your old friend Pinot Pete; maker of fine wood ash since 1954.

If you are someone who fertil-ized their lawn, you may still have time. DO NOT DO IT IN THE SPRING! And, if you do fertilize, only fertilize as much as the soils need for your plants. Check out the information and resources regarding smart yard care at www.yardscaping.org or call the Board of Pesticides at 207-287-2731

Maine Forest Service TREE IDENTIFICATION BOOK $ 7.00 ea

To order your tree book, call ARLENE

at Maine Forest Service (207) 287-2791

Conservation and Commodity Titles of 2008 Farm Bill To Be Discussed —

Farmers, forest landowners, land managers and others interested in the Conser-vation and Commodity Titles of the 2008 Farm Bill are invited to attend an infor-mation workshop on this topic. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Ser-vice (NRCS) and the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be providing up-to-date information on the Farm Bill and what assistance may be available to you, followed by questions and answers.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill), which became law on May 22, 2008, increases funding for conservation programs by 38%. This meeting will provide you the opportunity to hear about changes made from the 2002 Farm Bill and how it will benefit Maine farmers and forest landowners. Detailed information on the forestry as-pects of the new Farm Bill will be further highlighted and discussed at separate meetings in 2009.

Somerset County SWCD will host a work-shop on November 7th at the Skowhegan Community Center, 39 Poulin Drive from 10:00 am to 12:00 n. Call 474-8324 x 3 or email info@somersetswcd.org to register or request any accommodation by Oc-tober 31, 2008. The Kennebec District will host a similar workshop on Monday, December 15th from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. That workshop is scheduled for the USDA Service Center conference room at 21 Enterprise Dr. Suite 1. Call to register or request accommodations by December 10th.

If you are interested in attending such a meeting but are not available on this

Public meetings scheduled to learn about the New Farm Bill

Twelve information meetings are scheduled throughout the State. They are on different days, times of day and locations so you have a better opportu-

nity to work them into your busy life. Take advantage of the opportunity.

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Photo from this summer’s Maine Farm Days with the State Conservationist, Joyce Swartzendruber answer-ing questions at the NRCS display booth.

date, meetings are also scheduled in the following neighboring locations: (1) November 5th from 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm at University of Maine, Farm-ington; contact the Franklin County SWCD at 778-4767; (2) November 14th from 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm at Penquis Higher Education Center in Dover-Foxcroft; contact the Piscataquis County SWCD at 564-2321; (3) November 6th from 10:00 am—12:00 n at Holy Trinity Parish, 67 Frost Hill Ave., Lisbon Falls; contact the Andy Valley SWCD at 753-9400 x3; (4) December 16th from 10:00 am—12:00 n at Waldo Town Office; 127 Savage Rd, Waldo; contact the Waldo County SWCD at 255-3995 x3.

At the time of this edition of the Conservation Times, the 2008 Farm Bill, while it is officially law, there are still a number of details which need to be “fleshed out.” Questions about how the various programs, both Farm Service and Natural Resource Services haven’t yet been officially an-swered. This last summer when Maine’s Soil & Water Conserva-tion Districts gathered for their Summer Meeting, we had the discussion and made the commitment to our USDA partners that we would host this series of 2008 Farm Bill workshops. This current schedule of workshops is our effort to provide USDA staff the opportunity to explain the 2008 Farm Bill and answer questions. We remain optimistic that they will have enough information to answer your questions.

However, we also recognize that some parts of the new Farm Bill have major changes from the previous edition. In particular, the opportunities for forestry and woodlot man-agement and the related conservation will be different since those programs will now be managed directly through USDA and NRCS and not the Maine Forest Service. Given that substantive change, the various districts will also be hosting public meetings this winter in order to more specifically focus on forestry questions.

Page 7 Information from USDA press release and discussions with USDA personnel.

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E l e c t i o n B a l l o t

Deadline for voting November 11, 2008

To qualify to vote, you must sign your name on the return envelope, not on the ballot. Ballots must be in the District office no later than 4:30 PM on November 12, 2008

Listed below is/are the eligible candidate/s for the Supervisor position with the Somerset County Soil and Water Conservation District. The 3 year term begins January 1, 2009, and terminates December 31, 2011. Please put a check mark in the space provided to cast your vote. Place your ballot in the ballot box at the District Office or send your ballot by mail to the Somerset County SWCD 12 High Street, Skowhegan, Maine, 04976. You must be a land occupier and registered voter in Somerset County to be eligible to vote.

We will be tracking registration by your return address and signature on the envelope. The ballots will be sepa-rated from the envelope and held in a ballot box. Your vote will be anonymous. The candidate receiving the most votes will be elected. Please exercise your right to vote.

The following ballot is to fill a full THREE YEAR TERM _____ Gabe Clark , North New Portland Gabe Clark is seeking a second term on the Somerset County SWCD Board of Directors. Gabe and his wife, Amanda, currently own and operate Cold Spring Ranch, 240 acres of pastures and woodlands, in an environmen-tally friendly manner raising the highest quality grass fed and grass finished beef. Visit www.coldspringranch.com .

_____ ________________, _______________ (Write in candidate) Name Town

Once you have voted, either bring this ballot to the Somerset County Soil & Water Conservation District office OR place the ballot in an envelope, sign the back of the envelope, and mail it to the Somerset County SWCD, 12 High Street, Skowhegan, Maine 04976 by the deadline.

Somerset County Soil & Water

Conservation District

NRCS Somerset County field of-fice is happy to welcome new

Soil Conservationist Peter Abello. Formerly with the Kennebec County NRCS field office, Peter is eager to work more with wildlife and forestry practices. "I look forward to expanding my field experi-ence in Somerset County, and working with the farmers and land-owners in this area."

Peter Abello moves to join NRCS in Somerset

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The Somerset County Soil and Water Conservation District (SCSWCD) has been working on the Unleaded Loons educational project since the fall of 2007. Thus far SCSWCD has purchased an underwater metal detector specifically for use in lake lead dives, created an Unleaded Loon display that has provided outreach and has been shown at various events, and created a PowerPoint presentation on the topic. In May of 2008, the SCSWCD sponsored their Technical Director's participation in the inter-national "Spent Lead Ammunition" conference held by the Peregrine Fund in Boise, ID. This was an unprecedented presentation of current research on the effects of lead on a wide range of wildlife species. Seeking to expand our efforts, the SCSWCD has applied for grant funding through the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. The next phase of the Unleaded Loons educational project will include several tasks all designed to educate Central Maine's lake users and general public about wildlife lead poisoning through the use of lead fishing tackle and to increase angler's demand for non-toxic fishing tackle. The project has received backing and support from Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife, Center for Conservation Medicine at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, US Fish and Wildlife, Biodiversity and others. Project tasks will include: Set up a pilot Lead Tackle Ex-change Program for members of the general public. Six of our central Maine Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD's) have agreed to host the pilot Exchange program for their county. Provide educational presentations and displays for at least two area lake association meetings and/or other public venues such as fairs and festivals. At least two presentations/displays will be given at local sports group meetings. Hold at least one SWCD-sponsored, non-toxic tackle fishing derby day. Emphasis will be placed on loon/other water bird lead poisoning education as well the availability and ease of use of non-lead alternatives. Perform more lake dives for general lead assessment and public education. Provide handouts for lake association outreach to other lake owners and users.

We are hopeful that the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund grant will be awarded to this impor-tant project. With these on-going educational efforts, we sincerely hope to be able to re-duce the amount of lead entering Maine's lakes, helping loon populations, one of our state's greatest treasures, for generations to come.

For those of you who are still raking leaves, this is also a great time to do a final lawn mowing which will both chop of the leaves and grass. Or… collect the combination of chopped leaves and grass [a great mixture of carbon and nitrogen] and use in to start or add to your compost pile. DF

Somerset County SWCD Employees— Board of Directors— Carol Weymouth, Executive Director Kerry Hebert, Chairperson Laura Suomi-Lecker, Technical Director Alan Haberstock, Vice-Chair Jeff McCabe, Education Coordinator John Ackley, Treasurer Gabe Clark, Supervisor Rob Rowbottom, Supervisor Contact Information— (207) 474-8324 x 102 info@somersetswcd.org www.somersetswcd.org

Unleaded Loons: Update on Somerset County SWCD Loon & Lead Project By Laura Suomi-Lecker

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The following are just a few suggested conservation topics that we have recently heard of. The District does not necessarily endorse or plan to support these. We only provide these ideas as means to help people think “outside the box”. . .

I really hate to harp on an issue [actually I really enjoy it], but as we move into what is referred to as the “heating season” there are a couple observations that need to be made.

In the past couple months we have seen some unusual advertisements. The full page newspaper ads are particularly interesting. One has Paul Harvey seem-ing to endorse a portable heater, another references an “Amish man’s miracle idea”, and yet another claims that a particular furnace will cut up to $1.60 per gal-lon off your fuel bill. PEOPLE… DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WORKS FOR YOU! Question every claim and review the evidence and data that is used to sell the service.

For instance - I was unaware that Paul Harvey had become an energy con-sultant. The “miracle idea” seems to be an electric space heater type of item. Per-haps very effective but what is the “amish” connection?. And the $160/gal or 40% savings claim; the list of twelve examples in the advertisement averages less than 30%. Still not bad, but the examples don’t even support the claims.

Snake Oil . . . It is one of the few things I haven’t yet seen sold in order to ad-dress the “energy crisis”! Honestly, it is remarkable how some products have been promoted in order to prey on our anxiety about energy costs.

Due to a timing problem the Kennebec District Election ballot is not in this

newsletter. The closing date for submitting nomination papers is October 24th. If some-one wishes to run for a position of Kennebec District Supervisor they may still contact the District and get nomination papers. Those nomination papers with 25 signatures must be back at the Kennebec District no later than October 24th. This notice has been in the newspaper a couple of times. People who live in Kennebec County and who want to vote for a Kennebec District Su-pervisor candidate can request a ballot from the District office after October 31st. By that time the ballots will be produced for people to use. This year’s elections will have one position for a 3 year term starting January 1, 2009 and running through December 31, 2011 and a 1 year term starting January 1, 2009 and being completed on December 31, 2009.

Kennebec District Elections

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Kennebec District Staff:

Dale Finseth Josh Platt John Blais Art Grindle (part time)

Kennebec District Supervisors: Rob Mohlar; Chair took office 4/2001 (re-elected starting 1/2006) Marianne Hubert; Vice-Chair took office 1/1999 (appointed starting 1/2005) Clif Buuck took office 1/2008 (elected starting 1/2008) Dan Tibbetts took office 1/2000 (appointed starting 1/2003) Linda Leotsakos took office for P Hanley’s position until 12/2008

Associates currently active: Chad Arms Ted Sparrow Tom Doore Judd Thompson Melissa Laser

The Kennebec offices also have a number of new faces. The Soil & Water District has seen the departure of Jeff Fredenburg who was our ArcGIS guy for the past couple of years. Jeff took a position with TRCSolutions here in Augusta as GIS Analyst. They now have both of our past GISer’s working for them. Fortunately we have been able to move Art Grindle over to that position. Art has previous experience with GIS mapping and is now providing the mapping services here at the District. We are working to generate the needed workload to make that a bigger position. In addition we are now providing some work-space for Peter Wilkins who works for the China Re-gional Lakes Alliance. Since we provide a great deal of Technical Assistance to that group’s conservation work it seemed like a good fit and it gives Peter a place to work other than the passenger seat of his car or from the kitchen table at home. At NRCS there have also been a number of changes. We had reported Ron Derosiers move to RC&D earlier. He is still in our work area but not here in our shared space. In September Ken Blazej came to work here in Kennebec as Resource Conservationist. Ken has worked for NRCS for a number of years but in the Bangor office in Penobscot County. He has a great history with NRCS and brings all that experience with him to apply to con-servation work here in Kennebec County. Shortly after Ken started, Peter Abello took a new job with NRCS but he will be located at the Somerset office in Skowhegan. Peter is now a Soil Conservationist for the Somerset NRCS office. We do still have Amanda Burton and Xandy Brown here in the NRCS office. As you might guess we are not the same group of familiar names and faces. When you stop into the offices next time, make sure you stop by and meet all the new people.

Kennebec District news —different names and faces

Art Grindle is the Kennebec Dis-trict’s new GIS mapping person.

Kennebec District Board meetings—The 2nd Tuesday of each month. Contact the District to confirm the time and place. If special accommodations are needed at the meeting, please call to arrange them two weeks in advance at 622-7847, extension 3.

Somerset District Board Meetings—The 3rd Thursday of each month. Contact the Somerset District to confirm time and place.

November 7 - Farm Bill workshop at Skowhegan Community Center. Call 474-8324 x3 by October 31 in order to register.

November 11 — Somerest Supervisor Election. The ballot is in this newsletter. Either complete and mail as indicated or come to the Skowhegan office.

November 21 — Watershed Roundtable at the Maine State Arboretum from 8:30 to 3:15.

Upcoming Events

Kennebec County Soil & Water Conservation District Central Maine Commerce Center; 21 Enterprise Drive; Suite #1 Augusta, Maine 04330 (207) 622-7847 ext. 3 www.KCSWCD.org CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

November 25 - Kennebec Supervisor Election. Ballots will be mailed out upon request or come into the office to vote.

November 27 & 28 - Thanksgiving holiday for the Kennebec District. If you plan to come to the office on Friday call ahead to make sure there will be someone in the office.

December 15 - Farm Bill workshop in Augusta, Call 622-7847 x3 by December 10 to register.

December 25 - Christmas holiday. Offices closed. If you plan to visit the offices on the 26th, please call to make sure someone will be in the office.

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID AUGUSTA MAINE PERMIT NO. 92

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Alternate format available. Call the District office to re-quest enlarged type, cas-sette or computer disk.

All programs and services of the Soil & Water Conservation Districts are offered on a non-discriminatory basis, without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation or marital or familial status.

Another issue of the Conservation Times Brought to you by the Kennebec & Somerset County Soil & Water Conservation Districts

October 24, 2008