Bar Harbor area resident receives Espy Award

MOUNT DESERT ISLANDER • May 11, 2026

Conservation leader and Bar Harbor area resident Karin Tilberg was awarded on Wednesday with the 2026 Espy Land Heritage Award, the state’s highest honor for lifetime achievement in land conservation. The award is given once a year at the Maine Land Conservation Conference to individuals and organizations whose innovative, forward-thinking leadership has strengthened land conservation across Maine. Part of the award includes a $5,000 honorarium that will be donated to nonprofits of Tilberg’s choice. Half of the money will go to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation to help fund its Youth on the Allagash and Wabanaki collaborative projects. The other half will go to the Brunswick‑Topsham Land Trust's Cathance River Education Alliance, which hosts a summer camp for children and collaborates with local schools to incorporate place-based learning.