MAINE PUBLIC • October 8, 2026
More than 42 square miles of forestland in Western Maine is now permanently conserved, capping a years-long effort by a partnership of land groups. Tom Duffus vice president at The Conservation Fund, said that about 15,000 acres of the Chadbourne Tree Farm in and around Bethel is at the heart of the conservation project. It's land that could have otherwise been sold off for house lots, he added.