Land conservation success stories dotted the state this year

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 26, 2021

One of the biggest conservation stories of 2021 took place when the state legislature approved $40 million for Land For Maine’s Future. Here are others:
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded $4.1 million to partners raising $25 million to purchase 26,740 acres outside Greenville.
• Larry Stifler and Mary McFadden put 12,268 acres of their land in western Maine into a conservation easement.
• Downeast Lakes Land Trust, with The Trust for Public Land and the Forest Society of Maine, expanded the 55,678-acre Downeast Lakes Community Forest with the addition of 2,015 acres.
• The Passamaquoddy Tribe reacquired 140 acres of their ancestral territory at Big Lake in Washington County thanks to a coalition of conservation advocates.
• The acquisition of 50-acre Pond Cove Island at Rogue Bluff State Park near Machias was an apt addition to the state park system.