Events

Chainsaw Safety and Maintenance

Spring Session: April 27th-29th
Fall Session: November 2nd-4th
$250

Burning firewood can be an affordable and potentially carbon neutral way to heat your home. However, the vast majority of fuelwood is harvested from clearcuts and even homeowners cutting their own wood can damage forestland.

This three-day course will introduce participants to many aspects of sustainable fuelwood harvesting: chainsaw safety, plant identification, forest ecology, tree extraction, pruning, felling and workplace safety.

The three-day course runs from 9am till 4:00pm each day. Participants should bring their own lunch and snacks, as well as clothes suited to the weather. It will take place at the Macphail Woods Nature Centre. Registrations can be done online through our booking system or by phone (902)651-2575 or email (danielmcrae@macphailwoods.org).

Location

We use our very own Nature Centre, located on the Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead property, as a home base for all of our outdoor activities. Located just 20 minutes east of Charlottetown, the Macphail Woods Nature Centre has a variety of teaching spaces and is surrounded by 140 acres of forest and field. Winding through the property are four trails, a stream and one of the province’s finest remaining examples of our native Acadian forest.

Click here to find us on google maps!

Cancellations and Refunds

All campers are to be prepaid. However, refunds are accepted up until 2 weeks before the camp date. You will receive a full refund up until a month before the class date. Half the class cost will be refunded if you cancel between a month and 2 week before the class. If you would like to cancel within  two weeks of the class no refund will be issued.

Registrations

All registrations are made online through Active Network’s Camp and Class manager. If you have any difficulties or would prefer to register with us directly, please contact us at danielmcrae@macphailwoods.org or by phone: (902)651-2575.

Come out and help with our work on our Native Plant Arboretum. We’ll have lots of tools and compost and mulch, and a variety of native shrubs, wildflowers and ferns to plant. This is already a beautiful area and will continue to improve over the years as we add more plantings of both rare and common species. Come out to help anytime between 1pm and 4pm.

Basic Chainsaw I: Safety and Felling

Spring Session: Saturday, April 11th
Fall Session: Saturday,November 7th

When trying to manage a forest, being informed about the specific composition of species, soils, water and light is a must. This day-long course will give you practical experience assessing a variety of forest types, continuing to develop the skills introduced in course one.

Learn More About our School of Woodland Ecology

Basic Chainsaw II: Maintenance and Felling

Spring Session: Sunday, April 12th
Fall Session: Sunday,November 8th

This course will continue to build on skills learned in Basic Chainsaw I. The morning will be devoted to learning how to properly maintain your saw and sharpen your chain with precision. The afternoon will once again be spent in the woods learning how to limb, buck and deal with spring poles.

Learn More About our School of Woodland Ecology

Backyard Botanist I: Native Botany

Participants of this half-day course will learn about the types of plants that can be found on PEI, from liverworts and mosses to trees and ferns. Using our native plant nursery and arboretum as well as forest trails, we will have hands-on examples to demonstrate how plants grow, how roots systems connect, strategies for survival and propagation and more.

Bundle this course with Backyard Botanist II for only $100

Learn More About our School of Woodland Ecology

Backyard Botanist II: Pruning

This course will focus on learning hands-on skills that you can take home to your yard to help ensure the vigour and beauty of your trees and shrubs. Over the four hours, participants will learn proper pruning techniques to help maintain healthy, attractive and safe trees.

Bundle this course with Backyard Botanist I for only $100

Learn More About our School of Woodland Ecology

Plant Identification I: Native Trees

The course provides outdoor hands-on experience looking at leaves, buds, branches, bark and the basic patterns of native tree identification. We’ll also walk the Macphail Woods grounds to look at specimens of all the native species of trees as well as some of the preferred habitats of these beautiful organisms.

Bundle this course with Plant Identification II for only $100

Learn More About our School of Woodland Ecology

Plant Identification II: Shrubs and Beyond

Shrubs provide habitat and food for wildlife as well as a staggering number of ecological benefits from nitrogen fixation to shoreline protection. This four-hour course will take us into the Macphail Woods Arboretum which showcases many of the native shrubs you can find across the province. We’ll also introduce a selection of ferns and wildflowers.

Bundle this course with Plant Identification I for only $100

Learn More About our School of Woodland Ecology

Young Ecologists: Session One

This camp will begin to introduce the campers to the amazing complexity of our native Acadian forests. They will dissect owl pellets, take part in forest restoration planning and plantings and develop their understanding of how we can take positive environmental action.

Learn More!

Nature Discovery: Session One

This camp will introduce the children to the woods, stream and native tree nursery that surround our Nature Center. The campers will delight in learning to use all their senses to understand the natural world, as well as create crafts, tell stories and play games designed to give them a foundation for further inquiry and exploration.

Learn More!