NRCM works to protect Maine’s natural areas and wild, undeveloped character, particularly in the North Woods. We support responsible land development and sustainable forest practices that protect sensitive ecosystems and wildlife. We work for increased public ownership of Maine lands, so future generations will know the Maine we love today.
Protection of Maine’s natural, remote areas was one of the issues for which NRCM was founded in 1959. More than 60 years later, much progress has been made but major threats to Maine’s land and water resources continue.
With our coalition partners, NRCM has won many significant victories over the years, from helping establish the Allagash Wilderness Waterway to passage of legislation limiting irresponsible clear cuts. But the challenges of protecting Maine’s treasured wildlands and the wildlife that depend upon them have never been greater, nor the need more urgent.
We worked to establish a National Monument just east of Baxter State Park and continue our work to push for Land for Maine’s Future funding to acquire public lands, watchdog Maine’s public lands and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, stop the ill-conceived East-West Highway from being built, weigh-in when harmful development is proposed in Maine’s North Woods, and ensure that any timber harvesting laws and policies are as protective as possible.
More than one-third of the state has changed ownership in the past 20 years. Corporations that have no stake in our local communities are buying up hundreds of thousands of acres. Slicing and dicing these natural areas can destroy the character of Maine’s North Woods forever.
This loss would affect not only the people of Maine but also our wildlife. The region is home to moose, bear, deer, and dozens of bird species—Boreal Chickadee, Spruce Grouse, Pine Grosbeak, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher—for which the North Woods are the southernmost limit of their breeding range. Maine’s North Woods also provide many recreational opportunities for Maine people. Unchecked development threatens access to undeveloped, wild forests, lakes, and rivers for hiking, canoeing, camping, hunting and fishing.
While development pressures and the loss of public access continue to intensify, NRCM remains a voice for balancing economic development in Maine’s North Woods with conservation.
We invite you to learn more about our work to protect Maine’s North Woods and other natural areas, and to support our vital work for generations to come.
Plum Foolish
By Ted Williams Audubon Magazine If the plan for Maine’s biggest development ever goes through, it could spell disaster for millions of acres of forestland across the northeast. For 40 years I’ve been collecting images from Maine’s north woods: the unbroken canopy of green flashing past as my crewmates from the old Kennebec Log Drive Read More
Groups and Local Residents Raise Concerns About Plum Creek’s Massive Development Proposal
* Natural Resources Council of Maine * Maine Audubon * AUGUSTA—At a State House news conference today, the executive directors of Maine’s two leading environmental organizations were joined by Moosehead Lake-area business owners and residents in detailing their serious concerns about Plum Creek’s revised development plan. Seattle-based Plum Creek, a Real Estate Investment Trust and Read More
NRCM Statement about Plum Creek’s Revised Plan
Over the past month, the staff at the Natural Resources Council of Maine has carefully evaluated Plum Creek’s 1,000+-page revised proposal for development around Moosehead Lake. We have met with many residents of the Moosehead Lake region to hear their reactions to the new plan. We have visited almost every single location that the company Read More
LURC Board Unanimously Rejects Moosehead Lake Development
NRCM news release Today at their public meeting in Dover Foxcroft, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission voted 5-0 to unanimously reject a proposed 70 lot subdivision at Burnt Jacket Mountain on Moosehead Lake. This discussion and vote is seen by many as indicative of how LURC might proceed during their deliberation on Plum Creek’s Read More
All Mainers Have Stake in Plum Creek as Public Caretakers
MAINE VOICES: Wendy Weiger Maine Sunday Telegram As a resident of the Moosehead Lake region, I know the development proposal that Plum Creek Real Estate Investment Trust is submitting to the Land Use Regulation Commission is likely only one of many that will affect our region over the next few years. Before these proposals are Read More
Opposition to LD 2077, An Act To Make Adjustments to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway
by Cathy Johnson, North Woods project director Good afternoon Sen. Nutting, Rep. Piotti and members of the Committee. My name is Cathy Johnson. I am here today on behalf of the 9,000 members and supporters of the Natural Resources Council of Maine in opposition to L.D. 2077, An Act to Make Adjustments to the Allagash Read More
NRCM Releases Vision for Moosehead Region
Conserving Natural Resources, Building Community, Protecting Maine’s Heritage and Future Today, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) released A Vision for the Moosehead Lake Region, an analysis of opportunities for conservation and community development in the region. While development pressures could cause permanent and irreversible damage to the area – as many people fear Read More
Vernal Pool Rules Nothing New for Maine
Rep. Ted Koffman and Sen. Scott Cowger Portland Press Herald op-ed The Legislature’s Committee on Natural Resources has worked over the years to build on our predecessors’ work to advance a reasoned and commonsense approach to environmental conservation and public health protection. The Natural Resources Protection Act, enacted in 1987, has provided protections for special Read More
Record Numbers Tell LURC They Oppose Plum Creek’s Proposed Developments
NRCM Releases Video of Moosehead Lake Residents Concerned About the Massive Development Plans NRCM news release In the largest outpouring ever experienced by Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, more than 5,000 people have now formally registered their opposition to Washington-based Plum Creek’s massive development plan for Maine. The citizen comments were delivered to Maine’s Land Read More
Banner photo: Moose near Baxter State Park, by Gerard Monteux
