The Western Oxford Foothills Cultural Council has received a $5,000 grant from New England State Foresters Association, using funds available from the U.S. Forest Service to produce the prototype of a cultural map of western Maine.

Some funding for the map’s printing has already been pledged by the state Office of Maine Tourism, Department of Agriculture and Denmark Arts Center. More fund-raising will be conducted once the prototype has been completed.

The WOF cultural council received official nonprofit designation in 2004 and began working to develop a map.

“These maps have been created in other parts of the state,” said Executive Director Toni Seger. “We know they have been very effective at stimulating economic activity through cultural means. That’s something this region could benefit from, a lot.”

The map will cover the more than two dozen towns and villages of SADs 17, 39, 44 and 72.

During the summer of 2003, the cultural council printed a collection of its database along with local history and folklore for the first edition of a print directory called “Welcome to the Western Oxford Foothills.” The directory was well received by libraries, schools, chambers and other locales. A cultural map is seen as a logical next step for the council’s efforts at providing exposure for local cultural resources.

Research for the map is well under way. In addition to theatres, museums, galleries and some historical sites, the map will also include farms, mines and some heritage businesses.

“Agriculture was the area’s original culture, so there’s a lot of history there, but the new face of western Maine agriculture includes a remarkable range of fiber farms as well as many formally exotic animals like buffalo.”

Seger says there is so much history in the region, they can only touch on it. She is being assisted by historian, Peter Lenz. Lenz who recently published two collections of “Literary Treasures from the Western Maine Foothills” going back more than 200 years, also contributed articles on history and folklore to the council’s print directory.

“The Oxford County bicentennial is 2005,” said Seger. “What a perfect opportunity to celebrate the rich indigenous culture of this county.”

For more information, phone 928-2712.