Vital Section in Western Maine Conservation Corridor Conserved
Permanent conservation of the 21,300-acre Grafton Forest promotes sustainable forest management, creates new wildlands, and safeguards a treasured recreation haven.
Bangor, ME – The Forest Society of Maine (FSM) and Northeast Wilderness Trust (NEWT) announce the completion of the Grafton Forest Conservation Project. An area that encompasses some of the most spectacular scenery and finest remote hiking in Maine has been permanently conserved. This result came from several years of working with Wagner Forest Management, the state Bureau of Parks and Lands, and many groups in the Bethel, Maine region. FSM now holds a conservation easement on 15,000 acres of sustainably managed forests, and NEWT now owns 6,045 acres of critical watershed and high elevation habitat to be passively managed as wilderness. The Project is adjacent to the state-owned Mahoosuc Unit, the Appalachian Trail, and Grafton Notch State Park. Together these lands fill what had been an unprotected gap in a conservation corridor and connect hundreds of thousands of acres in the western Maine mountains to New Hampshire conservation lands. Project success protects these lands, which are rated highly for their resiliency to climate change, from conversion to non-forest uses in an area experiencing strong development pressures.
The Forest Society of Maine, established in 1984, has helped landowners, families, and communities to conserve more than a million acres of forestland across the state for sustainable forest products, recreation, habitat for fish and wildlife, and historic and cultural values. More information about the Forest Society of Maine can be found at www.fsmaine.org.
Northeast Wilderness Trust conserves forever-wild landscapes for nature and people. Founded in 2002, the non-profit focuses on rewilding landscapes for biodiversity and climate resilience while also celebrating the benefits of wildlands to people. The Wilderness Trust safeguards more than 64,000 acres of wildlands in six states. Learn more at www.newildernesstrust.org.
Photography: Autumn aerial photography by Harry White | Summer photography by Jerry Monkman/Ecophotography