BELFAST — Jan Ames Santerre, Project Canopy director for the Maine Forest Service, will talk about managing Belfast’s legacy trees in a free Belfast Garden Club program Tuesday, January 16.

The one-hour public program will be presented at noon in the Abbott Room at the Belfast Free Library, 106 High Street. Those who wish to join from home may attend via Zoom. For more information and to register, visit belfastgardenclub.org.

Project Canopy is a federally funded program aimed at protecting and improving urban canopies. Santerre helps cities and towns across Maine with grants for tree planting, technical assistance for tree management, and training for municipal staff, commissions, and volunteers on tree management and forestry in general.

The Belfast Garden Club is participating in a new citizens’ initiative to better manage Belfast’s urban canopy as a natural resource.

Santerre – a native of Dover-Foxcroft, with a bachelor’s degree in forest biology from the University of Vermont – also manages the state Big Tree registry, the Tree City USA program in Maine and the Community Forest and Open Space land-acquisition program, and related initiatives for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

Belfast has three trees on the state’s Big Tree registry and legacy trees at sites such as City Park.

Founded in 1928, the Belfast Garden Club promotes the knowledge and love of gardening, the protection of native flora and fauna, and the importance of civic beautification.