It started with a shared concern
In 1959, a handful of Maine organizations who shared the same worry about the state’s environment joined forces. NRCM was born and quickly became a voice lawmakers couldn’t ignore.
Finding our voice
Through the 1960s and ’70s, NRCM helped shape Maine’s biggest environmental fights, protecting the Allagash, opposing the Dickey-Lincoln dams, cleaning up the rivers, and creating the commission that still guides land use today. We hired our first staff attorney in the mid-1970s and helped write some of the landmark environmental laws of the decade.
Growing stronger
The 1980s brought a string of wins: stopping the Big A Dam on the Penobscot, passing the Growth Management Law, and securing Maine’s solid waste and recycling law. As membership climbed, NRCM grew from a volunteer group into a professional force for Maine’s environment.
Defending what we’d won
In the 1990s, NRCM kept winning and started defending. We passed the Toxics Use Reduction law, beat back a plan to widen the Maine Turnpike, and, with local residents, blocked a coal plant that would have fouled Acadia’s air. We also became a watchdog over the agencies and lawmakers whose decisions shape Maine.
Rivers set free
Two of our proudest moments happened on the water. The Edwards Dam came down on the Kennebec in 1999, and the Fort Halifax Dam followed on the Sebasticook in 2008, reopening rivers that had been blocked for generations.
Standing guard over the North Woods
NRCM was among the first to speak out against a developer’s sweeping plans for the Moosehead Lake region, and the plan was eventually abandoned. And when mining companies eyed the North Woods, we helped pass the toughest mining laws in the country in 2017.
The work today
Today, NRCM is Maine’s leading environmental advocate, with 24 staff and more than 30,000 members and activists. We’re working on the state’s most pressing issues: climate change, plastic pollution, runaway development, and the health of our lakes, rivers, and streams. The challenges are real, and so is the community meeting them.
Six decades, one mission
- 1959 — NRCM is founded as a volunteer-led coalition of Mainers worried about the state’s environment.
- 1966 — Helps secure lasting protection for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.
- 1976 — Maine passes its landmark Bottle Bill.
- 1978 — Maine’s billboard ban takes effect.
- 1981 — The Dickey-Lincoln dam project on the St. John River is defeated.
- 1986 — The Big A Dam on the Penobscot’s West Branch is stopped.
- 1987 — The Land for Maine’s Future program is created.
- 1988 — Maine’s Growth Management Law passes.
- 1989 — Maine adopts its solid waste and recycling law.
- 1990 — The Toxics Use Reduction law is enacted.
- 1991 — Voters reject widening the Maine Turnpike.
- 1993 — A proposed coal plant in Bucksport is blocked, protecting Acadia’s air.
- 1999 — The Edwards Dam is removed, freeing the Kennebec River.
- 2004 — NRCM helps found the Penobscot River Restoration Project.
- 2005 — Maine passes the Cleaner Cars law.
- 2008 — The Fort Halifax Dam comes down on the Sebasticook River.
- 2009 — NRCM marks its 50th anniversary.
- 2016 — Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is established.
- 2017 — Maine enacts the nation’s strictest metal mining law.
- 2019 — Maine becomes the first state to ban foam food containers, then bans single-use plastic bags.
- 2021 — Maine passes the first-in-the-nation Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging law.
- Today — 24 staff and more than 30,000 members and activists, still protecting the nature of Maine.
Protecting, restoring, and conserving Maine’s environment since 1959
Our history is the story of the people who showed up for Maine. The next chapter is yours to help write.
