Planning for the Healthy Future of the Bowdoin Pines

Since 2021, the College has partnered with Maine Woodlands Owners, a statewide organization that advances stewardship of Maine's small woodland resources through the encouragement of good forestry practices. Bowdoin also engaged forestry consultant Two Trees Forestry to explore with the committee a variety of approaches to preserving the white pine dominance and improving the health of the forest.

After careful consideration of the options, and in recognition of the College's historic association with the Bowdoin Pines and their iconic place in Maine's landscape, the College has adopted a plan to preserve white pine dominance by undertaking selective cutting to open the forest canopy, remove diseased, non-native, and compromised trees, and create conditions favorable for natural regeneration on approximately seventeen of the Bowdoin Pines' thirty acres.

To provide for comparative study of forest succession and biodiversity, two areas of roughly thirteen acres will remain untouched. Other goals include improving access, signage, and trails for passive recreation and the creation of study plots for long-term data collection.

Later this spring, one may see the marking of trees and removal of some invasive species. The selective cutting operation is expected to begin in early June and conclude by the end of July. The public will be informed when trail closures are required.