AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) _ Maine is looking for citizen scientist volunteers in the state's northern reaches to help understand the rise and spread of spruce budworm populations.
The spruce budworm is a forest pest that destroyed more than a fifth of the fir trees in Maine during an outbreak in the 1970s and `80s.
Maine wants residents to help with the Budworm Tracker Program, which needs volunteers to help conduct research and monitor spruce budworm populations in backyards and woodlots.
Hundreds of volunteers have signed up in eastern Canada. The program wants to add about 30 or 40 volunteers in northern Maine. The research team wants volunteers from Bangor to the borders with Quebec and New Brunswick.