Environmental Film/Discussion

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Past Event ....... June 2^nd, 2009 — 7:00 pm

Painted turtle Tuesday, June 2, 7 p.m. in Callahan Hall, a screening of the acclaimed environmental film Division Street, followed by a discussion of how urban sprawl is impacting Maine’s shrinking wilderness areas. Free. Co-sponsored by Maine Audubon, Androscoggin Land Trust and the Stanton Bird Club.

Further details:
The Lewiston Public Library will host a free screening of the acclaimed environmental film Division Street at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2.

An official selection by the national Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, the Florida panther higher contrast one-hour documentary takes viewers from pristine forests to concrete jungles as filmmaker Eric Bendick explores terrain throughout North America, dodging grizzles in Yellowstone and taxicabs in Miami in his quest to find sustainable road projects and wildlife corridors to serve as standard-bearers for the 21st century.

“Roads are the largest human artifact on the planet; they have fragmented wild landscapes, ushered in suburban sprawl, and challenged our bedrock sense of community,” says Bendick. “But as the transportation crisis appears to be spiraling out of control, a new generation of ecologists, engineers, city-planners, and everyday citizens are transforming the future of the American road.”

Division Street has been described as a portrait of both ancient wilderness and new technologies as well as a call for connectivity, innovation, and solutions to shape the emerging green transportation movement. A preview of the film is available on-line at www.divisionstreetmovie.com

The presentation of the film at LPL is jointly sponsored by Maine Audubon, the Stanton Bird Club and the Androscoggin Land Trust. Following the showing, the audience will be invited to join in a discussion, led by Maine Audubon wildlife program assistant Jessie Mae MacDougall, on the the impact that roads have on wildlife in Maine. MacDougall will also provide details on a bill involving this issue which is currently pending in the Maine Legislature, “Maine Climate and Energy Planning Act,” LD 1333.

Part of the Audubon Society’s ongoing work to promote a healthy symbiotic relationship between natural habitat and modern infrastructure, the June 2 program, says MacDougall, “highlights the need to plan for green space in addition to gray.”

Androscoggin Land Trust director Jonathan LaBontÃ© points to the local relevance of this issue. “In Lewiston a major highway was once planned to bisect the ecologically important Garcelon Bog,” he said, “but local efforts by activists have finally set the stage for the permanent conservation of the bog and the closing of that chapter in the city’s development.”

The Androscoggin Land Trust (ALT) and Stanton Bird Club (SBC) are both membership-supported conservation organizations.

ALT is dedicated to protecting, through land conservation and stewardship, the important natural areas, traditional landscapes, and outdoor experience in the Androscoggin River watershed. The group currently conserves more than 3,600 acres of land, including over nine miles of riverfront along the Androscoggin.

The Stanton Bird Club owns and manages the Thorncrag Sanctuary in Lewiston and the Woodbury Sanctuary in Monmouth and offers free monthly natural history programs and field trips throughout the state.

For more information on these organizations, consult their Webpages at www.stantonbirdclub.org and www.androscogginlandtrust.org .

The film screening and discussion are part of the Lewiston Public Library’s ongoing “Cornerstones of Science” program, a national science literacy initiative. LPL is located at 200 Lisbon Street at the corner of Pine Street in downtown Lewiston. More information on the June 2 event here is available by contacting Jessie Mae MacDougall at Maine Audubon: 781-2330, ext. 235; or the library at 513-3135.

Posted: Thursday, May 21st, 2009 in Discussion, Film