NEW YORK TIMES • November 15, 2025
In the wilderness of northern Maine, a long tradition of allowing public access, even on privately owned lands, has shaped the region’s culture and identity since the 1800s. So when “No Trespassing” signs showed up around Burnt Jacket Mountain, at the edge of Moosehead Lake, this summer, it did not go unnoticed. Neither did the new surveillance cameras and locked gates in the woods, nor the crews cutting a new road up the mountain. In the Moosehead region, the anonymous incursion stoked unease, and a fixation: Who was the mountain’s new owner? A woman who used to work in Greenville’s town office posted on Facebook: The new owner of the mountain was Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook. “Mark and Priscilla do not own any property in Maine, including the Burnt Jacket property,” a spokesman for the family said. The denial would not convince everyone. Nor did it ease hurt feelings as the mystery endured.