A conservation collaboration to buy and conserve 78,000 acres of forestland in western Maine surpassed 50% of its $62 million fundraising goal and the acquisition could be completed in 2026, said Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust.
The trust has joined with the Forest Society of Maine, Northeast Wilderness Trust and the Nature Conservancy in Maine on the Magalloway Project, 78,000 acres in Oxford County along the New Hampshire border.Â
The aim is to conserve the forestland for environmental and recreational purposes. The land contains a watershed for brook trout and a landscape of various wildlife habitats, bird migration routes, productive timberlands and recreational opportunities for the public, according to a news release.
The project was recently one of five recipients to receive a total of $3.6 million in grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through Acres for America, a land conservation partnership with Walmart, to permanently protect more than 145,000 acres of wildlife habitat across five states.
The conservation organizations launched the Magalloway fundraising campaign earlier this year. The project would connect a total of a half million acres of contiguous conserved lands to the east and west in the Appalachian Mountain range. The $62 million would cover the cost of acquiring the land, plus project management and a stewardship fund.
The project would maintain existing recreational access to the property’s lands and waters, establish forested buffers around rivers, lakes and streams, continue opportunities for active forest management on 62,500 acres and designate a 11,200-acre wilderness preserve.
