Members of the public are invited to attend a series of woods walks through the Forest Climate Resilience Program that will focus on forest health and climate resilience. Walks will be led by a Mass Audubon ecologist, a local forester and a member of the Ohketeau Cultural Center.
Events include:
■Pelham Lake Park, Town Park Road in Rowe — Saturday, April 29, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at bit.ly/3mRhOC9.
■Town Farm Forest, Cricket Hill Road in Conway — Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at bit.ly/3oHS4by.
■Forest Brook Reservoir in the Shelburne Falls Fire District — Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at bit.ly/3LoZIRe.
■Heath (details to be announced).
The Forest Climate Resilience Program is led by Mass Audubon in partnership with the Woodlands Partnership of Northwest Massachusetts, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, The Nature Conservancy and the New England Forestry Foundation. The integration of traditional ecological knowledge into the program is led by the Ohketeau Cultural Center in Ashfield. The program assists municipalities in the Woodlands Partnership of Northwest Massachusetts’ 21-town region with planning and implementing practices that help forests cope with climate extremes while also locking away greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
For more information about the woods walks, contact Mass Audubon Forest Ecologist Andrew Randazzo at arandazzo@massaudubon.org or 413-252-9534.
GREENFIELD — The CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information)/Re-entry Project of Community Legal Aid, a nonprofit civil legal aid program serving low-income and elderly residents of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester counties, will hold a free CORI Sealing Clinic on Friday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hayburne Building, 55 Federal St., Suite 250, in Greenfield.
Residents with a felony conviction that occurred at least seven years ago or a misdemeanor conviction that occurred more than three years ago may be eligible to have their record sealed. People with convictions related to marijuana may now be eligible for expungement. Anyone attending the clinic should bring a state ID (such as a driver’s license), Social Security card or birth certificate.
The clinic is made possible by funding from the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program. The funding supports Community Legal Aid’s work to assist residents of central and western Massachusetts overcome barriers to housing and employment due to the presence of a criminal record.
Civil Air Patrol Cadet Theo Martini, 12, of Greenfield, took to the sky on April 20 as part of the program’s hands-on aerospace education.
It was Theo’s first Civil Air Patrol orientation flight, popularly known as an “O-Flight.” He and a squadron mate from Amherst flew to Nashua, New Hampshire, landed and switched seats, giving each cadet a chance to be at the controls of the Cessna 172.
“It was very fun,” Theo, a student at Greenfield Middle School, said in a statement. “I was scared the first part and the second part was really cool. I want to do it again!”
O-Flights bring to life the concepts studied in the cadet’s aerospace education program, according to Civil Air Patrol. Cadets are entitled to five powered flights and five glider flights. The flights follow a syllabus with carefully crafted learning objectives designed to increase their knowledge of aviation fundamentals and inspire a love of aviation.
Cadets take the controls often during O-Flights, but an experienced pilot remains in command at all times. Only the pilot will fly the airplane during takeoff, landing and other critical moments. Before leaving the ground, Lt. Morgan Hall of Petersham walks cadets through a checklist inspecting various components of the aircraft, from its electronic instrumentation to its fuel and oil.
Civil Air Patrol is the civilian, volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. One of its main missions is to encourage civil aviation in community aerospace education programs. Including its adult leadership, the local Brig. Gen. Arthur J. Pierce Cadet Squadron has 27 members, with cadets ranging in age from 12 to 18. The squadron meets on Mondays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Dickinson Hall at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.