FARMINGTON — Families and volunteers who would like to help map local trails using GPS units are invited to an informational meeting at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Healthy Community Coalition.
The coalition has already enlisted 40 young people and about 20-plus adults but would like to find some families interested in something fun to do with kids, Nate Morse said.
They are also looking for people with local knowledge or historians to share information and seek out pieces of property that are open to the public. It could be land that used to have a mill or something historical on it, he said.
The coalition received a $75,000 grant from the Environmental Funders Network to partner with the Center for Community Geographic Information System to map local trails and historical sites, train volunteers and create a public Web site.
The Center for Community GIS is doing a great deal of work behind the scene in the development of the Web site and housing and organizing all the data being collected.
The reason for the project is to share the beauty and opportunity of Franklin County with the world.
“The project will allow us to develop and market the quality of place we call Greater Franklin County by exposing both youth and adults to the region’s natural resources, revealing our cultural heritage and promoting physical activity,” said Heather Davis, coalition executive director.
There is an added health bonus for families and individuals.
“This is an excellent project for community groups and families. It gets you outside walking, hiking and enjoying all the beauty of Western Maine. And it’s free,” said Lorri Brown, program coordinator.
A limited amount of data collection is being done over the winter, although some is being done on snowshoes. The coalition is using the time to get students involved to write descriptions of the places they’ve visited, Morse said. The writings will give their perception of what they learned while they were there or something about the natural environment they observed, he said.
More information is available from the coalition at 779-3136.
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