Macphail Woods – Celebrating 20 Years, will be the feature presentation at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the Environmental Coalition of PEI. The meeting will be held on Thursday, February 3 at the Colonel Gray High School lecture theatre in Charlottetown.

The business meeting begins at 6:30pm and will outline the year=s activities, including Macphail Woods and the renewable energy project. Elections will also be held for the 2011 board.

The Macphail Woods presentation by Gary Schneider and Eric Edward will start at 7pm. Through the Environmental Coalition of PEI, Gary started Macphail Woods from very humble beginnings and has watched it mature into a important resource in the areas of forest restoration, nature conservation and environmental education. Eric helps with all aspects of the project and carries out much of the teaching that Macphail Woods is involved in – everything from school visits to plantings to the summer children’s program.

The two presenters will outline the history of the project and also look at future directions. The first twenty years have seen an incredible growth in the scope of activities carried on at Macphail Woods, and the next twenty look to be equally exciting. There are plans to certify some of the public forest lands the project manages for the province, and to develop markets for a variety of native woods. There will be time for discussion on a variety of forest issues after the presentation.

This is an excellent opportunity to learn about both the Environmental Coalition of PEI and the Macphail Woods project, and how you can get involved in the work. There is no admission and everyone is welcome. Throughout the year, we will be having a variety of activities to celebrate Macphail Woods. For more information, contact Gary at macphailwoods@gmail.com