Rangers seek volunteers for cleanup day

AUGUSTA — Maine Forest Rangers are organizing a “Landowner Appreciation Cleanup Day” to be held next month.

The second annual cleanup day, scheduled for Saturday, September 15, has been set aside for those people who recreate outdoors in Maine to show their appreciation to landowners who allow free access to their land. Participants will help properly dispose of illegally discarded items at dump sites and discourage further dumping on these sites.

The MFS Incident Management Team, under the Maine Department of Conservation, is organizing the event, and forest rangers will be working in cooperation with the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine (SWOAM), Maine Snowmobile Association and the Landowners Relations Program under Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

So far, more than 50 illegal dump sites on private land throughout Maine have been identified, according to Currier. Most of the illegal dump sites identified resulted from calls to the Maine Forest Service. MFS forest rangers have investigated more 275 litter complaints so far in 2012.

The Maine Forest Service will supply trucks and trash bags to haul away the discarded materials to nearby transfer stations. Many of those transfer stations have offered to waive fees for these materials.

Volunteers are urged to call 1-800-750-9777 to offer their assistance. In 2011, several ATV and snowmobile clubs, firefighters and Boy Scout troops helped clean up these sites.

For more information on the Maine Forest Service, go to www.maineforestservice.gov. For more information on the MFS Forest Rangers, go to http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/ffchome.htm. Find the Maine Forest Rangers on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maine-Forest-Rangers/236154706462544?ref=t....