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Abstract
The State of Maine in the US is 94% privately owned, and is the most forested state in the country. Fifteen years ago, Maine ranked last among US eastern states in its percentage of land under conservation; today it ranks near the top. The Nature Conservancy and its many partners have achieved this extraordinary turn-around through a combination of bold acquisitions and strategic innovations. This paper will explain The Nature Conservancy's pioneering strategies for the protection and restoration of large, privately owned forested landscapes; strategies that are applicable in many other private land settings. In Maine these strategies have included using silviculture as both a conservation and financing strategy, tax-free exchanges with other landowners, development by design, conservation easements, and even making low interest loans to paper companies in exchange for conservation restrictions.
Parent Publication
Keywords
wilderness,
rewilding,
restoration,
private lands,
biodiversity,
conservation,
protected areas,
economics,
community involvement,
policy,
stewardship,
education,
spiritual values
Citation
Rumpf, Tom. 2015. Protecting public values on private lands in the state of Maine, USA. In: Watson, Alan; Carver, Stephen; Krenova, Zdenka; McBride, Brooke, comps. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Tenth World Wilderness Congress symposium; 2013, 4-10 October, Salamanca, Spain. Proceedings RMRS-P-74. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 158-165.
