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.
Conservation Groups Call on LURC to Save Lily Bay
Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Audubon Propose Specific Changes to Plum Creek’s Moosehead Plan News release Maine’s two leading environmental organizations said today that the Lily Bay peninsula on the eastern side of Moosehead Lake should be “completely off-limits” to development—even if that means reducing the amount of conservation land on the lake’s Read More
A Way to Save Lily Bay
Remarks by Brownie Carson, NRCM executive director Over the past three years, Maine people by the thousands have participated in a debate about the future of the Moosehead Lake region. Through letters, e-mails, and public testimony to The Land Use Regulation Commission, people from across the state and beyond have explained why Moosehead Lake is Read More
LURC Deliberations Reveal Taxpayers would Subsidize Conservation for Plum Creek’s Developments
Should taxpayers subsidize Seattle-based Plum Creek’s development so shareholders can profit at the expense of Maine people? Joint statement by Brownie Carson and Kevin Carley Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Audubon “While Plum Creek continues its three-year push for Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) to rezone more than 400,000 acres of the Read More
Maine’s Leading Environmental Organizations Respond to LURC Plum Creek Recommendations
Statement of Kevin Carley, executive director, Maine Audubon and Brownie Carson, executive director, Natural Resources Council of Maine Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Audubon “Our organizations respect and appreciate the enormous service of the staff and commissioners of Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) in regard to the unprecedented Plum Creek proposal to Read More
Allagash River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers
Wild and Scenic Protections Threatened The people of Maine realized they needed a State policy to save their own wilderness areas. They petitioned their elected representatives to protect the last great wild river in the eastern United States, and the Maine legislature responded by creating the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, so that the people could own Read More
Plum Creek Offers Up No Changes In Post-Hearing Brief
No Changes Despite Overwhelming Public Criticism of Moosehead Plan AUGUSTA, March 18, 2008 —Maine’s two leading environmental organizations said today that Plum Creek, the nation’s largest commercial landowner, has submitted a post-hearing brief that dismissed long lists of concerns raised during hundreds of hours of public testimony by Maine residents and technical experts about Plum Read More
Despite Overwhelming Public Criticism of Plum Creek Plan, Plum Creek Offers Up No Changes
Statement at March 18, 2008, press conference by Brownie Carson, NRCM executive director Good morning. We are here today to talk about the serious, continuing problems with Plum Creek’s proposal for a massive development in the Moosehead Lake Region – the largest development in Maine history. In late January, under this very roof, Maine’s Land Read More
10,000 Square Miles of Maine Included in USFWS Lynx Protection Proposal
Includes Moosehead Lake Forests Where Plum Creek Proposes Massive Development Today, the Federal Register published a proposed rule by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that would protect Canada lynx and their habitat including more than 10,000 square miles of the Maine woods in a “critical habitat” zone, which would require separate review and stricter Read More
Moosehead Belongs to Maine — We Must Protect It
by Tony Owens Sun Journal op-ed My late friend introduced me to the lake; my heart has never left Over 30 years ago, having moved from New Hampshire, I started my first job in Maine working overnights at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. The graveyard shift creates a tight fraternity and it wasn’t long Read More
Banner photo: Moose near Baxter State Park, by Gerard Monteux
