BRIDGTON – Anyone interested in forests, forestry, wood, wood products and forest farming is urged to help start a new cooperative.

A meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22, in Bridgton’s Municipal Complex to gauge interest in starting an areawide cooperative forest project.

The overall goal of a local cooperative is to get everyone talking and working together. Landowners could band together and buy machinery to add value to their lumber products. Growers could work with landowners to begin production, then form a marketing cooperative.

Nonprofit landowners, such as towns, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Kennebec Girl Scout Council, could look at their land through different eyes. Forested parcels, improved and managed sustainably, might turn into cash cows.

Paul Miller, the official forester for the Small Woodlot Owners Association of Maine, has expressed interest in helping any sort of forestry co-op take its first steps. He will join the discussion on Monday. For the co-op to succeed it’s vitally important that local SWOAM members express interest and eventually participate in at least one aspect of the co-op.

Educational opportunities abound. Only recently, for instance, did researchers discover giant globe-girdling mycorrhizal fungi. These organisms attach to tree roots helping them to absorb nutrients.

There will be a second opportunity for growers and foresters to get together from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 27. A walk through a high-graded, mixed forest will provide ample opportunities for brainstorming. Phone or write for directions to the lot in Sweden, off Knights Hill Road.

Anyone interested in participating in this open-ended cooperative effort is urged to contact George Bradt for more information and detail: 647-2389.