Late last year, the Conservation Fund, an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit with a Maine office in Freeport, bought a 44,000-acre swath of mountain and forestland along the Canadian border in northern Maine.
In March, the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, Forest Society of Maine, Northeast Wilderness Trust and the Nature Conservancy launched a campaign to raise $62 million to conserve 78,000 acres in Oxford County along the New Hampshire border.
The projects are part of an overall push by Maine’s 80-plus land trusts to conserve land, which supports the outdoor economy, land-based industries, climate resilience goals and public infrastructure.
To date, that’s resulted in 2.93 million acres conserved — nearly 15% of Maine’s land base, according to a recently published report by the Maine Land Trust Network, a program of Topsham-based Maine Coast Heritage Trust led by a steering committee of land trust leaders from across the state.
“This year’s survey confirms that Maine land trusts are providing public access at a scale unmatched in most parts of the country, while protecting working forests, farmland and coastal access points essential to our economy,” said Jeff Romano, public policy director at Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
The conserved acreage is a combination of 2.53 million acres of working forests and 40,000 acres of active farmland. It includes 3,450 miles of hiking, biking, ATV and snowmobile trails, considered a major tourism driver.
The lands also provide 239 beaches and swimming areas, 232 boat launches and 2.76 million acres open to hunting, or 94.2% of all land trust conserved lands.
The report, “Land Trusts Work for Maine,” is the result of a five-year statewide census.
Tax contributions
The report notes that most land trust conserved lands remain on local tax rolls:
- 92.6% of all land trust conserved land remains taxable
- On 97.8% of land trust conserved lands, the local government receives either property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes
- $1.53 million in tax or payments were made last year
Little public land
At 6.9%, Maine has one of the lowest percentages of public land ownership in New England, the report says. Public lands are defined as conservation properties owned by federal, state or local governments.
That compares with other states:
- New Hampshire: 20.5%
- Massachusetts: 14.9%
- Vermont: 14.7%
- Rhode Island: 11.6%
- Connecticut: 12.8%
“Other states rely more significantly on government to ensure their citizens can enjoy the physical and mental health benefits associated with quality access to outdoor places,” said Romano. “In Maine, on the other hand, we not only benefit from beautiful state parks and national treasures like Acadia, but are also able to explore hundreds of other wild places across the state thanks to a network of more than 80 land trusts that are not dependent on taxpayer funds.”
Working landscapes
According to the report, Maine has one of the most active land trust communities in the nation, with more land trusts per capita than any other state.
The conserved lands represent:
- 2.53 million acres of working forests (86.3% of all land trust conserved acres)
- 40,703 acres of farmland
- 10 working waterfront sites
- 53 access points for clamming
Land trusts around the state are working to restore marshes, improve fish passage and enhance climate resilience by sequestering carbon and protecting intact migration corridors for wildlife.
To read the full report, click here.