The deal maintains recreational access, creates public preserves, restricts future development and provides forest management opportunities.
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Four conservation groups completed the acquisition of 78,000 acres in western Maine — one of the largest collaborative projects in recent Maine history.
The conservation of lands and waters in the Magalloway region, in Oxford County north of Rangeley, ensures continued public access to the lands, provides benefits for wildlife and wildlife habitat and sustains the regional economy through continued forest management opportunities, according to a news release.
Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, Forest Society of Maine, Northeast Wilderness Trust and the Nature Conservancy formed the Magalloway Collaborative to accomplish the $62 million deal.
The land connects to a continuous conserved area of 500,000 acres.
Multi-faceted deal
The transaction includes an 11,200-acre wilderness preserve, permanently protects forested buffers along high-priority brook trout waters and conserves 62,500 acres of working forest.
The multifaceted project maintains existing recreational access to the property's lands and waters, creates new public preserves, restricts future development and provides forest management opportunities while creating buffers around key water bodies.
The deal was negotiated in partnership with Wagner Forest Management, representing Bayroot LLC, the property owner. Most of the property — over 62,500 acres — will continue to be managed by Wagner.
Future development restricted
A new permanent conservation easement held by Forest Society of Maine restricts future development while allowing continued timber harvest and forest management, securing substantial forested buffers around key streams and continuing to allow public access for hunting, fishing, boating and other recreational and cultural uses
Northeast Wilderness Trust acquired more than 11,200 acres of the land and is establishing a new wilderness preserve open to the public. Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust acquired and will manage over 4,400 acres for recreational and wildlife habitat.
The Nature Conservancy led negotiations with the property’s owner, Bayroot LLC.
The project preserves remote recreation opportunities such as boating, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing.
The acquisition was funded by institutional and individual donors and federal grant sources. Lead grants were received from MathWorks, EJK Foundation, Richard King Mellon Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through Walmart’s Acres for America Program and North American Wetlands Conservation Act funds.
With 97% of the funds raised as of July 27, the collaborative continues to seek an additional $1.9 million in contributions to fully cover the $62 million cost.
Wabanaki homeland
The partners acknowledge that the Magalloway Lands and Waters are part of the homeland of the Wabanaki Tribal Nations, the People of the Dawnland, and said they look forward to opportunities the project creates for Wabanaki Peoples to strengthen and reestablish cultural and spiritual connections there.
