Folks 'from away' can keep an eye on Maine's stunning fall foliage on a variety of online platforms, due to efforts of the Maine Department of Conservation and the Maine Forest Service.

The Department of Conservation’s official fall foliage website, www.mainefoliage.com, launches on September 14 and will include data on the changing trees throughout seven regions. The beautiful images will also be sent out via social media to sites like Facebook and to the more than one thousand people who have signed up for fall foliage emails, according to Gale Ross, the Maine foliage spokeswoman.

The Maine Forest Service (MFS) forest rangers, who have been tracking foliage on the ground for 53 years, are also adding new technologies to the mix. They will be collecting data using mobile devices as well.

“These devices come in handy during the foliage season, as the forest rangers can submit their observations to me on a daily basis,” Ross said. The info is then posted online for the leaf peepers.

Hopefully this entices many city people to come to Maine and spend lots of money!

Image credit: Maine Department of Conservation