Courtesy / The Conservation Fund
The new Aroostook County conservation area is blocked in red.
November 28, 2022
Conservation deal will protect 6,000 acres of working forest in Aroostook County
Courtesy / Tom Duffus, The Conservation Fund
The deal is the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife's largest-ever acquisition.
By Staff
As a first step in realizing a new wildlife management area in Maine, the Conservation Fund said it purchased 6,326 acres in eastern Aroostook County.
Hunters, anglers and paddlers are expected to benefit from the future protection of the Reed Deadwater/Juniper Brook property, located within an hour’s drive from Lincoln, Houlton and Millinocket.
The site has 3,000 acres of deer wintering habitat within the heart of an important, 9,000-acre deer wintering area, significant wetlands supporting rare species and a unique bog ecosystem, according to a news release.
The acreage will ultimately go to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, as the department’s largest-ever acquisition.
“Conserving such a large, intact parcel of Maine’s wilderness has benefits not only for our fish and wildlife, but all of us who enjoy the Maine outdoors,” said Judy Camuso, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The property will remain open access during the fund’s ownership.
The department plans to use funding from the state’s Land for Maine’s Future program and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program and Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration program in order to acquire the property from the fund in 2023.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
“The historic Reed Deadwater conservation project marks the beginning of one of the most important investments in Maine wildlife in my lifetime,” said David Trahan, executive director of Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. “It will serve as a destination for outdoor recreation, and hunters, anglers and trappers will use it for generations. Equally important, the project invests in thousands of acres of deer wintering areas that will benefit deer and the nearly 50 other wildlife species that need the same habitat.”
The fund purchased the property from Lakeville Shores Inc. through its Working Forest Fund program, which is dedicated to mitigating climate change, strengthening rural economies and protecting natural ecosystems through the permanent conservation of at-risk working forests.
Lakeville Shores brought the project to the fund.
Located near 45,000 acres of public and privately conserved land, the property hosts the rare wood turtle and Tomah mayfly, provides plentiful wading bird and waterfowl habitat, and supports hundreds of “species of greatest conservation need” as identified in Maine’s Wildlife Action Plan. The property’s Macwahoc Stream contains a population of threatened brook floater mussels and provides critical habitat for Atlantic salmon.
Once the property is conveyed to the department, a deer-focused management plan will improve hunting success while other efforts will ensure the quality of fish habitat. Outdoor enthusiasts will be able to explore the property by canoe, kayak or snowmobile using existing roads, and the department will monitor vehicular uses to ensure habitats are not negatively affected.
The conservation effort will also ensure the property is protected from mining. As part of the project, Brookfield Private Equity Holdings LLC and another Maine entity have agreed to gift mineral rights to the fund so those rights could be reunited with the land.
The region hosts Brookfield facilities.
“Reuniting the mineral rights with these now-conserved lands will ensure that both wildlife and recreators can experience this region of Maine without future risk of disturbance,” said David Heidrich, Maine-based spokesperson for Brookfield Renewable U.S.
The fund facilitated Bethel’s vision of enhancing opportunities to take to the trails with the $930,000 sale to Inland Woods + Trails of 532 acres adjacent to Bethel Community Forest.
The Conservation Fund is a national nonprofit land trust, with a field office in Freeport, dedicated to environmental solutions that make economic sense. It has worked in all 50 states since 1985 to protect more than 8.5 million acres of land, including 485,000 acres in Maine.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments