SUN JOURNAL • September 22, 2025
Close to a hundred people gathered Saturday to inaugurate the 446-acre Rumford Community Forest at 161 Isthmus Road, celebrating years of effort to protect forested lands and provide a recreation area available to people of all abilities. “After decades of doubt over the future of mill towns, like this area, it’s only fitting that we’re here today to celebrate another symbol of Rumford’s resurgence,” Gov. Janet Mills said. “Developing this particular parcel of land would have threatened local water supplies and wildlife habitat, while worsening future flooding events in Rumford and Mexico. Instead, using funding from the state of Maine’s Land for Maine’s Future and the U.S. Forest Service Community Forest, the town of Rumford has been able to complete this conservation project and create the Rumford Community Forest in less than a year,” she said.