NORWAY – The Western Foothills Land Trust, which has raised more than $30,000 since May toward the purchase of Witt Swamp, has scheduled a fund-raising tour of the swamp on July 22.

Dr. Charlie Cogbill, a plant ecologist and professor at Sterling College in Vermont, will lead an on-site walk from 2:30 to 5 p.m. July 22 through the hemlock and pine uplands and white cedar wetlands of the 141-acre swamp on the lower portion of Pennessewassee Lake.

Cogbill will help participants read the natural aspects of the landscape and search for clues relating to significant weather events and land-use changes. The trust is requesting a $25 donation.

People may preregister for the program by sending $25 to WFLT Witt Swamp, P.O. Box 107, Norway, ME. Participants are advised to bring comfortable clothing, insect repellent and sensible shoes, and will meet at 2:15 p.m. in the public parking lot behind the Fare Share Coop on Main Street in Norway.

Cogbill will also give a talk at 6:30 p.m. July 22 on the nature of New England’s forest vegetation at the time of European settlement. The free talk will take place after the annual meeting of the Western Foothills Land Trust in the barn of the McLaughlin Foundation at 97 Main St. in South Paris. He will discuss the distribution patterns of major tree species across the region, and the environmental factors at play.

By collecting witness tree data from early surveys from towns across the region, Cogbill and fellow researchers have been able to develop a detailed map of tree species abundance and distribution, and major forest vegetation patterns. The data has been analyzed in relationship to environmental factors and has been compared with data emerging from regional paleoecological studies, as well as historical studies of forest and landscape change to the present time.

Additional information about either of the Cogbill programs, or about the Witt Swamp Campaign, may be obtained by calling 743-9019.