WINTHROP — Laurie Lachance, Maine Development Foundation CEO and president and former state economist, and Tom Wessels, noted landscape historian, will be the featured speakers Oct. 21 to 23 at a three-day conference sponsored by the Kennebec Woodland Partnership.

Planned for the public, the conference will focus on issues of interest to land owners and others who work and recreate in the woods of Kennebec County. The three-day program will feature field trips, presentations and workshops focused on forest resources and land management tools and strategies. Participants can register for any or all of the events through the Maine Forest Service website: www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/fpm/projects/kwp/

Lachance will speak on Thursday, Oct. 21, at Camp Mechuwana, followed by presentations and workshops that explore a variety of approaches to woodland stewardship and highlight case studies of local success.

On Friday, Oct. 22, the conference program will feature programs at working woodlots, forest preserves and businesses dependent on Kennebec County’s working woodlands. Schoolchildren from Leeds and Monmouth Elementary Schools will watch a timber harvesting demonstration where trees will be turned into boards at KLT’s Curtis Homestead Demonstration Forest in Leeds. The public is invited to attend.

Wessels will speak from 9 to 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Winthrop High School Performing Arts Center. He is expected to discuss methods for observing and understanding the history of the forested landscape. Wessels also will lead a woods walk through the Readfield Town Forest and KLT’s Macdonald Conservation Area. Advance registration is required for the woods walk.

For more information, contact Amanda Mahaffey, project manager, Kennebec Woodland Partnership, at [email protected] or call 449-3070.