BRIDGTON — Loon Echo Land Trust has announced the three local schools and three libraries that are the recipients of its 2012 Environmental Educational Grant Program.

This year the organization funded six programs with the Bridgton, Casco and Raymond public libraries, as well as the Lake Region High School and Sebago and Harrison elementary schools.

The awards help Lake Region children learn about the environment and the importance of protecting natural resources and land.

Loon Echo Environmental Education grants are made possible through the Helen Allen and Polly Bartlett Education Endowment. In late fall of each year, schools and libraries in Denmark, Bridgton, Harrison, Naples, Casco, Raymond and Sebago are invited to submit grant applications to Loon Echo Land Trust for environmental programs.

Once again, Bridgton Public Library’s Storybook Walks in Pondicherry Park will be a sponsored series.

Polly Bartlett, a former class educator, will be honored when the Sebago Elementary third-grade class will again take the annual winter walk with Maine Audubon in her memory.

Additionally, Loon Echo leads the Mayberry Hill Forest Field Day with Lake Region High School, Project Learning Tree and Maine Forest Service where students inventory and measure trees and other vegetation over time to study forest plots at the preserve.

Loon Echo Land Trust protects land in the northern Sebago Lake region of Maine. Visit www.lelt.org for more information about the grant program, land protection efforts, group hikes and walks or to become a member.