Summer Light on Branch Pond, China, Maine

by Leigh Macmillen Hayes
As a lakefront property owner in the China Lakes Region of Maine, you have the unique opportunity to learn about the surrounding forest and wetlands in the China Schools’ Forest.

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As you enter the forest, you’ll notice a large outdoor shelter. Pay attention to the sign, which congratulates those involved for a “job well started.” The shelter was constructed by volunteers who used donated materials including poles from the local phone company. Leftover poles were used to create benches.
While the 50-acre town-owned, certified tree farm is located behind China Middle and Primary Schools, it is open to the public for educational and recreational purposes. As the brochure states, “The area features several habitats and provides a snapshot of the Maine forest.”
This demonstration forest was created in the ‘90s by teachers trained through Project Learning Tree. As an on-going project, today there are seventeen outdoor classrooms. At each classroom is an interpretive sign explaining what you should notice.
A local forester helped design the outdoor classrooms. Classrooms include the Red Pine station, with red pines planted by students in 1998. A Silviculture classroom features four different types of forest management: clear cut; left alone; best timber harvested and less desirable left; poor logging job. Another classroom is actually a huge treehouse called the reading tree.
At the Forest Measurement classroom, you can learn how to measure a cord of wood and board feet. When students visit it, they are also instructed in the use of a clinometer, a hand-held instrument used to measure ground slope, road grade and tree height, plus a biltmore or woodland stick used to estimate tree height and diameter.
There’s a geology station, bird blind, animal tracking pit, seed tree area and a wildlife pond with an expanded deck in the center to accommodate a group.
When the China Schools’ Forest was being created, a forest inventory was conducted, which included identifying trees, measuring them and uploading data to the Project Learning Tree Web site.
Today the trails are maintained by students, the school personnel and general public. The 1.4-mile trail system is well marked and level. Community activities and interpretive hikes are offered periodically. Check out the China Schools’ Forest Facebook page to learn more.
Any time of the year, it’s well worth a visit to the China Schools’ Forest and may help inform you about any landscaping you are considering at your lakefront property.
To learn more about lakefront property for sale in the China Lakes Region of Maine, click on the green box above.
To learn more about the China Lakes Region, check out the blog links below.
Branch Pond, Palermo and China, Maine: Lakefront Getaway for All Seasons
Beautiful Sunrises and Sunsets Await at Threemile and Webber Ponds in the China Lakes Region of Maine