AUBURN — A discussion about the politics behind efforts to improve protection of the Canada lynx and its habitat in New England will be presented Monday, Nov. 1, at the monthly meeting of the Stanton Bird Club. The presentation will be by Jym St. Pierre, who has been Maine Director of RESTORE: The North Woods since 1995.

St. Pierre, a Maine native, earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Professional Studies degree at the University of Maine. He has held senior positions in Maine within the Maine Department of Conservation, The Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club.

He has also served in many public interest positions, including the Maine Development Foundation’s Leadership Maine Program, Maine Public Lands Policy Advisory Committee, Citizens to Protect the Allagash (founding chair), Northern Forest Lands Council Advisory Committee, Maine League of Conservation Voters (founding director), Maine Forest Biodiversity Project (Steering Committee), Kennebec Land Trust (founding president) and Capital Area Camera Club (president).

St. Pierre has spent a good deal of time exploring the mountains and waters in the Maine woods visited by Thoreau. His illustrated PowerPoint talk will cover the historic range of the Canada lynx in the northeastern United States, including remote areas in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. However, existence of the elusive wildcat became precarious throughout the country due to habitat loss and over-trapping. By the end of the 20th century, Maine had the only breeding population of Canada lynx in the entire eastern U.S.

The Stanton meeting and St.Pierre’s talk will take place at 6 p.m. at the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St. The meeting is open to the public. Those attending should note the new start time of 6 p.m. for the Stanton monthly meeting.

For more information, call 782-5238, visit www.stantonbirdclub.org or e-mail questions to [email protected].