Back to News & Press
Portland Press Herald: Groups Launch $62M Conservation Project in Western Maine
March 27, 2025
Magalloway featured in Portland Press Herald, Sun Journal
By Penelope Overton, climate reporter
Four environmental groups are kicking off a one-year $62 million fundraising campaign to conserve 72,000 acres of forests, lakes and rivers in the Magalloway region of western Maine, including 11,000 acres of prime brook trout habitat set aside as a wilderness preserve. The groups – Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, Forest Society of Maine, Northeast Wilderness Trust and The Nature Conservancy – have already collected millions in donations, and has millions more promised, but still have a long way to go, said Northeast Wilderness Trust spokesman Richard Knox.
The deal would preserve 4,000 acres for recreational use and wildlife habitat, turn 11,200 acres into a wilderness preserve and establish a permanent conservation easement on the rest of the parcel, prohibiting development but allowing it to remain a working forest under Bayroot’s ownership.
Keeping the entire 72,000-acre parcel forested and allowing the growth of old forest in a wilderness preserve would support Maine’s big-picture climate goals of sequestering and storing carbon in its forests and conserving 30% of its lands by 2030.
Project organizers have not calculated how much carbon is stored or sequestered in this parcel, but Maine’s forests as a whole store about 2 billion metric tons of carbon, which is 400 times the amount of heat-trapping emissions released to the atmosphere each year in Maine. Any large conservation project – the last one of this size was the 87,500-acre Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument established in 2016 – will help Maine’s flagging effort achieve its goal of conserving 5.9 million acres by 2030.
Read the full article online at Portland Press Herald
Partner Details
Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust
Since its inception in 1991, Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) has conserved over 125,000 acres in western Maine. RLHT’s mission is to sustain the ecological, economic, and social vitality of the Rangeley Region by conserving, restoring, and stewarding its lands and waters for present and future generations. RLHT works on the ground to restore habitats, build climate resiliency in the region, and conserve biodiversity in one of the most ecologically significant landscapes in North America. RLHT also supports and practices sustainable forestry and connects the community to conservation through a broad network of public-access trails. Learn more at rlht.org.
Forest Society of Maine
Forest Society of Maine, a statewide land trust established in 1984, assists landowners, families, and communities to conserve forestland across the state for sustainable forest management, recreation, wildlife habitat, and historic and cultural values. Over the past 40 years, FSM has helped conserve more than one million acres, making it the seventh largest land trust in the country by conserved acres. More information about the Forest Society of Maine can be found at www.fsmaine.org.
Northeast Wilderness Trust
Northeast Wilderness Trust is a regional land trust that focuses exclusively on protecting wilderness areas—lands permanently protected as forever wild, where natural processes direct the ebb and flow of life. With its headquarters in Vermont, staff in multiple states, and board members across the Northeast, the Wilderness Trust (www.newildernesstrust.org) protects more than 93,000 acres in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. TNC is working to make a lasting difference in 81 countries and territories and uses a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, tribes, the private sector, and other partners. The Appalachians are one of four current global focal areas for TNC. Co-founded in 1956 by Rachel Carson, TNC Maine has helped protect almost 2.5 million acres and currently owns and manages around 300,000 acres in the state. To learn more, visit www.nature.org/maine or follow @TNCMaine on social media.
Media contacts:
Molly Shaw
Director of Communications, Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust
mshaw@rlht.org | 207-615-6659
Richard Knox
Director of Communications, Northeast Wilderness Trust
richard@newildernesstrust.org | 207-242-5578