Maine

The Trust for Public Land is working in partnership with state agencies and maple syrup producers to protect the Big Six Forest, among the largest sources of maple syrup in the United States, with a 23,000-acre conservation easement.

For over 80 years, the Fenn family owned more than 1,100 acres spanning 3.5 miles of shoreline along Branch Lake, the singular source of drinking water for Ellsworth, eastern Maine's largest coastal city.

Located just 20 minutes outside downtown Portland, the Clark Farm and
Forest is a natural gem in an increasingly developed setting. 

A stone's throw away from Sugarloaf Ski Resort, Maine's most popular ski area, the Crocker Mountain property buffers more than ten miles of the Appalachian Trail, making it a prime location for second home residential development. 

Our projects in the Gulf of Maine Watershed range from small but essential coastal access properties to the top priorities of our National Wildlife Refuge System.

Less than nine miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Highland Farm offers panoramic views of the upper reaches of the tidal York River and its pristine salt marshes. In 2008, a plan emerged to subdivide Highland Farm into 37 housing lots.

When a developer proposed subdividing this pristine,
one-mile stretch along the Saco River into a dozen high-priced house lots,
residents of Hollis banded together.

Pristine and scenic Katahdin Lake has been coveted by conservationists for generations. Since 1921, when Maine Governor Percival Baxter identified the Lake as a critical piece of the Park that bears his name, this parcel of old growth forests and dramatic vistas had eluded all conservation efforts.

Our Maine CommunityScape Initiative seeks to break down barriers that have traditionally kept neighboring towns and cities from working together to protect and enhance the state's "quality of place."

In March 2011, The Trust for Public Land protected two working forest properties totaling more than 7,000 acres in the Millinocket region of Maine, just east of the iconic Baxter State Park, where TPL protected Katahdin Lake in 2006.

We helped protect the 6,000-acre Orbeton Stream property with a conservation easement ensuring a continued source of sustainably managed and certified forest products and safeguarding public access for fishing, hiking, paddling, and hunting.

Between March 2007 and June 2009, twelve Penobscot Valley communities collaborated to address land use and conservation on a regional scale.

Located along 50 miles of coastline in York and Cumberland counties, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most significant networks of conservation land in southern coastal Maine.

The Sebago Lake Region Community Greenprint identifies the places most important to quality of life in Bridgton, Casco, Denmark, Harrison, Naples, Raymond, and Sebago.

By helping protect land around the south section of Seboeis Lake, The Trust for Public Land has protected  99 percent of the 45-miles of lakeshore and created an anchor to Maine's largest contiguous block of conservation land—more than half a million acres.

Think of community forests as rural New England’s neighborhood parks, they serve as places of inspiration, community gatherings, experiential learning, active stewardship and creative economic endeavors. In the summer, Sebago, Maine and the surrounding towns swell with thousands of tourists visiting Sebago Lake. It’s become a popular place for second homes. The increased population growth and tourism presents challenges to protecting the town’s natural beauty and sense of community.

With help from The Trust for Public Land, Maine's Department of Conservation permanently protected roughly 11,800 acres around Tumbledown Mountain in December 2002.