TEMPLE — The April Upper Kennebec Valley chapter of the Maine Woodlands Association will meet from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 22, at the woodlot of Chuck Hulsey in Temple.

Hulsey is a regional wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and a forester. He has been managing a wooded nine-acre home site intensively for the past 18 years. His focus has been wildlife, aesthetics, and timber. The property was part of a much larger parcel which was once a field but planted to red pine in 1962.

Hulsey will cover what to cut for the wood stove, and what should be retained for high quality saw timber in the near-term and long-term. He will explain the difference between a weeding, a thinning, and a regeneration cut. Attendees will also see and discuss cavity and snag tree management for wildlife, plus the management for future hard mast trees. There will be examples of techniques for propagation of natural cavities and snags, as well as the use of nest boxes. Nearly 60 species of wildlife in Maine need snags or cavity trees.

Assistant state regional biologist Bob Cordes will teach about the game cameras out there, and how and when to use them to get the most out of them.

Hulsey’s property is 1.9 miles down Varnum Pond Road from Route 43. There are four mailboxes opposite the driveway which are in sequence: green, blue, black, and black. Number 391 is on the green mailbox. There will be a SWOAM sign marking the starting point to start parking on the right side of the road only. Use the driveway only to turn around. There is also a bus turnout 100 yards on the left before the mailboxes which is useful for turning around.

Coffee and doughnuts will be served in Hulsey’s garage. This event is open to all and free to all, and no need to pre-register.

FMI: 207-592-2238, patty.cormier@maine.gov.

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