Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) invites the public to its Virtual Conservation Awards Celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m. Join us online from the comfort of your own home for this year’s awards, panel discussion, and District highlights.

This year’s awards go to:

Cooperator of the Year: Merryspring Nature Center, Camden for their multi-year commitment in identifying and managing invasive plants and their continued implementation and demonstration of conservation practices.

Conservation in Forestry: Barrie Brusila, Mid-Maine Forestry, Warren for her work spanning several decades with the District, Envirothon, her forestry work in Knox & Lincoln counties, and most recently her contributions to the Governor’s Carbon Task Force.

Conservation in Water Quality: David and Melissa Boynton, Whitefield for their efforts in conserving water quality on their land.

Awards presentations will be followed by our guest panel on forest carbon mitigation at 6:30 pm: Dr. Adam Daigneault, E.L. Giddings Associate Professor of Forest Policy & Economics at the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine; Barrie Brusila of Mid-Maine Forestry; and David (“Tracy”) Moskovitz, who helped established Hidden Valley Nature Center (HVNC). Moskovitz and Bambi Jones founded HVNC as a nonprofit educational organization on 1,000 acres of their land. In 2018, Midcoast Conservancy acquired HVNC and continues to operate the protected land as an educational resource for forest conservation practices.

Admission to the Awards Celebration is free, but participants must register to receive a link to this event. Please visit https://www.knox-lincoln.org/2021-annual-awards-banquet-1 to register for the event. Business organizations are showing their support for this event; our thanks this year’s sponsors: Viking Lumber and Sasanoa Brewing. For more information about attending the event or sponsorship opportunities, please call Julie at 596-2040 or email julie@knox-lincoln.org.