Join MOFGA to learn about wood banks and how heating insecurity affects Maine residents. This panel presentation features wood bank leaders from around the state who will share their stories of organizing and running wood banks. The event is taking place on May 9, 2024, 6- 8 p.m. at 294 Crosby Brook Road Unity, ME 04988, with online attendance also available.
Wood banks operate similarly to food pantries; they provide firewood free of charge to neighbors facing heating insecurity and have a long history in Maine. Wood banks are grassroots, volunteer organizations that use locally sourced wood to help meet community heating needs. Recent federal funding, and ever-increasing demand, has tripled the number of wood banks in New England in the last ten years.
“Here in Maine, wood stoves can be found in many households — if you don’t have one, you know someone who does,” says Maddie Eberly, MOFGA’s Low-Impact Forestry specialist. “We are the most forested state in the country, making this heating source readily available and ingrained in our state culture. Supporting your local wood bank through volunteering, donating, or spreading the word helps to meet the needs of those in your community facing fuel insecurity.”
The Low-Impact Forestry (LIF) program at MOFGA consists of a group of loggers, foresters, landowners, farmers and interested persons to educate about, practice and advocate for ecologically-based and economically-sound forest practices. LIF program practices and endorses forestry that seeks to reduce the known harmful impacts of logging, and promote the social and ecological benefits.
This wood bank presentation is one of many programs that the LIF program hosts year-round covering a diversity of forestry related topics from logging with draft animals to home firewood production. Snacks and hot beverages will be provided to those attending in-person. Learn more and to register here.
MOFGA has sliding scale registration designed to make workshops as accessible as possible by providing a range of pricing options, with a goal of ticket sales averaging in the middle. The recommended price for participation in this event is $5 for MOFGA members and $10 for non-members. Participants are encouraged to pay what feels reasonable for them.
Learn more about MOFGA’s Low Impact Forestry program here.
