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.
NRCM Gives Award for Effort to Protect Moosehead
Augusta, ME – The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) has awarded Russell Pierce, Esq., of the Portland-based law firm of Norman, Hanson and DeTroy, a 2009 Environmental Award for his unwavering efforts for the protection of Moosehead Lake. The award is given each year by NRCM to an individual or group whose actions have Read More
NRCM Gives People’s Choice Award to West Bath Artist for North Woods Protection
NRCM news release Augusta, ME – Evelyn Dunphy of West Bath was chosen as the winner of the 2009 Natural Resources Council of Maine People’s Choice Award, for her work protecting Maine’s wilderness areas, particularly Katahdin Lake. NRCM’s People’s Choice Award is bestowed each year to an individual or group whose actions have made a Read More
NRCM Appeals Plum Creek Decision
News Release Today the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) filed with Maine Superior Court an appeal of the decision by Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) to approve Plum Creek’s development proposal for the Moosehead Lake region. After careful deliberation and extensive legal analysis, NRCM’s Board of Directors voted last week to authorize the Read More
NRCM Response to Plum Creek Decision
Brownie Carson, NRCM Executive Director “Today’s vote by the Land Use Regulation Commission approving Plum Creek’s massive development plan for Moosehead Lake is deeply unsettling.” “It is unsettling because it may result in a level of future development, traffic, and increased congestion in the Moosehead Lake region that will forever damage one of Maine’s most Read More
After Plum Creek: A Provocation
by Robert Kimber Down East magazine September 2009 Sometime this fall the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) is expected to hand down its approval of Plum Creek’s massive development plan for the Moosehead Lake region. Back in 2005, when Plum Creek first submitted its plan, a friend of mine predicted how this saga would unfold: Read More
Endangered Listing for Salmon Now Includes Kennebec
by Keith Edwards, staff writer Morning Sentinel news story AUGUSTA — Just more than two weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the removal of Edwards Dam, Atlantic salmon in the Kennebec River, as well as the Penobscot and Androscoggin rivers, were declared an endangered species by the federal government. While state officials decried the listing Read More
Millions of Fish Return to Maine River
The Kennebec River has been surging with life this spring as millions of alewives (river herring) travel inland from the sea to reach spawning habitat that was inaccessible before two key dams were removed in 1999 and 2008. Osprey and Bald Eagles have been well fed, and the entire river ecosystem has benefited, as a Read More
Remarks on LURC’s Deliberations on Plum Creek’s Moosehead Lake Development Proposal
NRCM Statement By Brownie Carson, NRCM Executive Director Today, Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission is holding what is supposed to be its final deliberation about Plum Creek’s massive development proposal for the Moosehead Lake region. Although a final vote on Plum Creek’s revised plan is not expected until July 1st, the direction of this proceeding Read More
Bipartisan Elected Leaders Rally for Land for Maine’s Future
News release AUGUSTA – In a broad display of bipartisan support, legislative leaders joined citizens, sportsmen, conservationists, farmers, businesses, and community leaders to encourage the Legislature to replenish the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program. Led by Sen. Bill Diamond (D-Windham), nearly 85 like-minded legislators co-sponsored LD 684, which would allocate $87.5 million over four Read More
Banner photo: Moose near Baxter State Park, by Gerard Monteux
