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April 29, 2008
News from the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research Headlines: 
Maine WRRI Program - Pre-proposal deadline May 2, 2008
The request for pre-proposals from the Maine - USGS Water Research Resources Institute (a program of the Mitchell Center) has been issued. This constitutes the FY09 Maine grants program as authorized by the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1984 as amended. This request for pre-proposals is for research and information transfer projects in the areas of water resources and related environmental sciences. The focus areas for 2009 are water economics and outreach (knowledge to action). Projects addressing these focus areas will be given priority, subject to peer review. Approximately $90,000 (depending on Congressional appropriations) will be awarded following external peer review and selection by a panel of Maine environmental specialists and researchers.
Pre-proposal deadline: Friday, May 2, 2008.
Complete guidelines are available from the Maine Water Institute web site.
Seminar - Penobscot River, Penobscot Bay: State of the Watershed
Friday, May 2 at 11am
354 Aubert Hall, UMaine, Orono
with Gayle Zydlewski
The Penobscot River is on the verge of many dynamic changes, not the least of which is a restoration effort involving removal of two major dams that have been in place for over 150 years. Additionally, land use and sense of place in this region are changing rapidly. In the face of these changes, stakeholders in the watershed have expressed a need for information that would be met, in part, by a “State of the Watershed” report. With an anticipated publication date of 2009, the report would represent the first comprehensive documentation of past and present environmental conditions of the Penobscot River watershed in over a decade. The first steps toward creating such a report are underway. Interested partners and stakeholders have been engaged to determine interest and commitment to pulling together a comprehensive report about the Penobscot River, Bay, and watershed. Early engagement of stakeholders has been used to ensure that the report is a useful tool. Scientific and community stakeholders have provided input on data sources, the focus of the report, and information to include such as the geologic origins, land use and land cover, fish, birds, wildlife, flora, threatened and endangered species, pollution history, and demographics, among others. Results from stakeholder meetings and preliminary maps will be presented along with a request for further input on content and data sources for reporting. The goal for the report is to have a comprehensive document representing the state of our knowledge of Maine’s largest watershed at a critical point in its history.
This seminar is sponsored by the School of Marine Sciences.
For additional information please contact 581-4381.
Additional information on the Penobscot River can be found on the Penobscot Synthesis Website.
Northern Maine Children's Water Festival - applications open
The Northern Maine Children’s Water Festival will take place on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at the University of Maine in Orono. This fun-filled, educational day of water-related activities is geared for 5th and 6th grade students and their teachers. The day is filled with hands-on classroom activities, an exhibit hall, entertainment, and quiz show and includes topics such as wetland habitats, lakes, wildlife, groundwater, and aquatic life. Free materials are available in a teacher resource room. There is no charge to send students to the Festival.
Students and teachers from Aroostook, Washington, Hancock, Piscataquis, Somerset, Penobscot, Waldo, Knox counties and the following northern Kennebec County towns: Clinton, Benton, Waterville, Winslow, Oakland, Albion, Rome, Belgrade, China and Vienna, are eligible to attend. A grant of up to $200 per school is available to help defray the cost of bus transportation.
Deadline for applications is May 23, 2008. Application forms are available at http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/docteacher/cwf.
Sponsorships are available for the festival, please contact Ruth Hallsworth at 581-3196 or hallsworth@maine.edu for additional information.
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