Western Maine conservation project offers 'ecologically important' reprieve for wildlife

MAINE PUBLIC • July 27, 2026

In the Rangeley Lakes region of western Maine, several conservation groups have permanently protected 78,000 acres around the Magalloway River watershed from development. Heavily forested, with a cold water fishery, this is an ecologically important landscape that still feels remote and wild. It has one of the last sustaining brook trout populations in the country, so it's a fly fishing haven. But it's also a popular birding destination. Even more significant for wildlife facing climate change is that the Magalloway parcel connects with half a million acres that have previously been conserved.