LEWISTON – The Lewiston Public Library will host a free screening of the acclaimed environmental film “Division Street” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 2.
An official selection by the national Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, the one-hour documentary takes viewers from pristine forests to concrete jungles as filmmaker Eric Bendick explores terrain throughout North America. He dodges grizzles in Yellowstone and taxicabs in Miami in his quest to find sustainable road projects and wildlife corridors to serve as standard-bearers for the 21st century.
“Roads are the largest human artifact on the planet; they have fragmented wild landscapes, ushered in suburban sprawl, and challenged our bedrock sense of community,” says Bendick. “But as the transportation crisis appears to be spiraling out of control, a new generation of ecologists, engineers, city planners and everyday citizens are transforming the future of the American road.”
After the showing, the audience will be invited to join in a discussion, led by Maine Audubon wildlife program assistant Jessie Mae MacDougall, on the impact that roads have on wildlife in Maine. MacDougall will also provide details on “Maine Climate and Energy Planning Act,” LD 1333, a bill involving this issue currently pending in the Maine Legislature
Androscoggin Land Trust director Jonathan LaBonté points to the local relevance of this issue. “In Lewiston a major highway was once planned to bisect the ecologically important Garcelon Bog, but,” he said, “local efforts by activists have finally set the stage for the permanent conservation of the bog and the closing of that chapter in the city’s development.”
The film screening and discussion are part of the Lewiston Public Library’s ongoing “Cornerstones of Science” program, a national science literacy initiative. The library is at 200 Lisbon St. in the downtown.
A preview of the film is available online at www.divisionstreetmovie.com. For more information, call JMacDougall at 781-2330, extension 235; or the library at 513-3135.