BETHEL – The Androscoggin Watershed Institute is looking for people interested in learning firsthand about wildlife and habitat protection.

The institute, an educational program of the Androscoggin River Watershed Council, is offering two Saturday field workshops.

The first is titled “Wildlife and Fisheries Protection in Maine: A Field Workshop in the Western Mountains Region.” It is to be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, starting at the River House at Sunday River Skiway, which is at the end of Sunday River Road in Newry.

It is scheduled to include an afternoon Androscoggin River canoe field trip from Gilead to West Bethel.

Topics include wildlife habitat protection programs, fisheries management programs in the upper Androscoggin watershed, preventing shoreline erosion and sedimentation in Maine waterways, issues in New England’s northern forest region, and protecting the terrestrial and aquatic habitat of Maine.

The second workshop is titled “Wildlife and Fisheries Protection in New Hampshire: A Field Workshop in New Hampshire’s Northern Forest Region.” It is to be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16, at the University System of New Hampshire College for Lifelong Learning, at 66 Main St. (Route 2) in Gorham, N.H.

It will include a morning visit to White Mountains National Forest, and an afternoon pontoon boat trip into Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge.

Topics include habitat protection techniques, stream restoration methods, current land ownership and management issues in New Hampshire’s northern forest, and raptor, waterfowl and fisheries management in the upper Androscoggin watershed.

The $60 registration fee for each workshop includes lunch.

More information may be obtained by calling 603-466-3433 or on the Internet at www.androscogginriver.org.