Maine's indigenous plants help economy, Native Americans

Rocky shorelines teeming with lobster and dense pine and spruce forests often come to mind when thinking of Maine, yet the state is full of other natural resources of great value to those who live there. Muskrat root, highbush cranberry, sweetgrass and goldthread: Michelle Baumflek knows them all well. The Ph.D. student in the field of natural resources recently contributed to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report and online resource cataloging some of the 120 wild plant and fungus species gathered in the St. John River watershed of northern Maine. Baumflek found that nontimber forest products make substantial contributions to the economic viability and cultural vitality of the state. Maple syrup and conifer wreaths contribute more than $50 million to the northern forest economy annually, for example, while seasonal harvesting of species such as fiddlehead ferns often provide supplemental income for rural populations. Baumflek works with two Native American tribes in northern Maine - the Houlton Band of Maliseets and Aroostook Band of Micmacs - who depend on local plants as part of their livelihoods.