MAINE PUBLIC • November 1, 2023
The Penobscot Nation and Trust for Public Land today announced a plan to return nearly 30,000 forested acres in Maine back to the governance of the tribe. The land represents a portion of what was taken from them in the 1800s, and it's part of a larger effort to restore ancestral homelands to Indigenous stewardship. The land near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is well forested and previously managed for industrial timber. It contains more than 4,000 acres of wetlands and 53 miles of streams and rivers in the Penobscot River watershed. Once the project is completed, the land will be transferred without a conservation easement in a way that supports Indigenous self determination. The plan also calls for creation of a "much needed" southern point of access to the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.