Getting the facts about the budworm to young people is a critical part of the overall effort to get the public to understand the impacts of a budworm population explosion, including damage to the forest and wildlife, economic impacts, and what actions are being taken to mitigate the damage and how the forest is recovering.
Teachers who have been on Maine TREE Foundation’s Teachers’ Tours during recent past summers have had the opportunity to hear first-hand about the recent increase in budworm population being experienced in our neighbors to the north, New Brunswick and Quebec. We expect to continue to provide information on this subject on future Tours.
Maine Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an award winning international environmental education program. It uses the forest as a “window on the world” to increase students’ understanding of our complex environment. PLT teaches not only about trees, but has informative lessons about land, the air, and the water. Preparing for the Next Spruce Budworm Outbreak and Spruce Budworm Community Outreach Program (along with the Spruce Budworm Community Outreach Rubric) are lessons for students and their communities developed by Maine teachers Don Sprangers and Susan Linscott.
Articles on the budworm suitable for students and the general public are available on www.forestsformainesfuture.org. Go under their Fresh from the Woods Archives to find topics such as What Is a Healthy Forest? and Spruce Budworm Population Tracked by Landowners.