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BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer 09/12/2008

BY MECHELE COOPER

Staff Writer

Maine's fall foliage season began this week with the first foliage report from the state Department of Conservation.

Officials are forecasting a colorful season based on the current health of Maine's forest.

"With a few localized exceptions, the forest statewide is in good health, thanks to the abundant and relatively well-distributed rain we've had since spring," said Bill Ostrofsky, a forest pathologist with the Maine Forest Service.

"The great majority of hardwood trees have carried a full complement of healthy foliage, and appear to be on typical schedule for changing. I expect leaf coloration to be magnificent once again for this season."

Currently, rangers throughout the state are observing very low leaf color, or less than 10 percent toward peak, along with very low leaf drop. Just recently, overnight temperatures in far northern Maine began dropping to the low 40s and high 30s. Those cool nights and sunny days will spark the gradual change in leaf color from north to south.

Maine's fall foliage conditions will be updated each Wednesday through Oct. 15 at http://www.mainefoliage.com.

Maine's weekly public foliage reports began in 1959 under former Forestry Commissioner Austin Wilkins.

Department of Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan said in the early years of reporting, rangers simply took notes from their post and phoned or snail-mailed their observations to forestry headquarters.

"Today, rangers use e-mail to share their observations and to send photographs of changing foliage that are posted on the official Maine foliage Web site," McGowan said.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com

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