Nearly 29,000 Acres Purchased in Maine’s North Woods to Expand Appalachian Mountain Club’s Maine Woods Initiative
Partnership between The Appalachian Mountain Club and The Conservation Fund significantly expands the nation’s most important multi-use recreation and land conservation project
Editor’s Note: This article is condensed and edited from an Appalachian Mountain Club press release dated September 14, 2023.
GREENVILLE, Maine
On September 14, 2023, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) partnered with The Conservation Fund to purchase and permanently protect nearly 29,000 acres of forestland, known as Barnard Forest, in Piscataquis County, Maine.
“The acquisition of Barnard Forest expands AMC’s holistic approach to land management,” says Nicole Zussman, President and CEO of the Appalachian Mountain Club. “Public recreation, habitat restoration and responsible forestry can—and should—work together to create healthy and resilient ecosystems.”
Working together, the two nonprofits purchased the 28,873-acre property—which abuts AMC’s current Maine Woods Initiative property—from Elliotsville Foundation for $15.2 million. Assistance came from the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the EJK Foundation, and private donors.
Appalachian Mountain Club map of the 29,000-acre Barnard Forest addition to the AMC Maine Woods Initiative.
“The Barnard Forest addition is an outstanding example of creating opportunities for public recreation, forest restoration, and sea-run fish passage at a landscape scale. The benefits to people, the economy, and the climate of the combined conserved lands are unparalleled in the northern forest of New England,” said Tom Duffus, Vice President and Northeast representative for The Conservation Fund in Maine.
Prior to this acquisition, AMC’s Maine Woods Initiative had permanently protected over 100,000 contiguous acres of forest and fish habitat in Maine’s famed 100-Mile Wilderness—more than twice the acreage of Acadia National Park. With the permanent protection of the Barnard Forest, the land under the Maine Woods Initiative’s protection now totals nearly 130,000 contiguous acres.
Through its ownership of the Barnard Forest, AMC will bring its fish habitat restoration efforts, which benefit threatened species such as native brook trout and endangered Atlantic salmon, to waterways farther south within the West Branch of the Pleasant River and to the greater Penobscot River drainage.
That work has reopened 110 miles of stream habitat by removing over 100 culverts and restoring natural stream channels, by adding woody debris to rebuild in-stream structure, and by supporting Atlantic salmon egg planting.
AMC also intends to restore public access for recreation for the first time in nearly 20 years.
About the Appalachian Mountain Club
The Appalachian Mountain Club is the nation's oldest conservation and recreation organization, committed to fostering the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the outdoors. Since 1876, AMC staff, members, and volunteers have encouraged generations to deepen their passion for the outdoors and helped protect some of the most precious natural environments in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. The Maine Woods Initiative is one of its many conservation projects.
About The Conservation Fund
The Conservation Fund protects the land that sustains us all. We are in the business of conservation, creating innovative solutions that drive nature-based action in all 50 states for climate protection, vibrant communities, and sustainable economies. We apply effective strategies, efficient financing approaches, and enduring government, community and private partnerships to protect millions of acres of America’s natural land, cultural sites, recreation areas and working forests and farms.