Over the past six years, Maine Coast Heritage Trust has worked with partners to complete 36 marsh protection projects from York to Washington counties, conserving a total of about 1,800 acres of marsh and upland buffers.
Protecting connected habitats is key to making the coast more resilient to climate change, and healthy, free-flowing rivers are among the most important types of connected habitats.
MCHT helped conserve a few downtown acres in Milbridge in 2017. Four years later, this land has been transformed into the Milbridge Commons Wellness Park—a place where people can walk by the water, play, and pick free produce.
Maine Coast Heritage Trust is fundraising to permanently conserve Little Whaleboat, Nate, and Tuck islands in Casco Bay—to ensure people will always be able to access these special places.
In one of the most significant conservation projects in York’s history, MCHT helps protect coastal river frontage and secure public access to a beloved local sledding hill.
Small in acres, big in impact: a conservation project at Bailey’s Mistake in Lubec improves access for recreational and commercial use on the Bold Coast.
Essay by Deirdre Whitehead, part of the Voices from the Coast project to celebrate people’s deep connection to the Maine coast and MCHT’s 50 years of land conservation.
The story of how MCHT, Coastal Mountains Land Trust, and other partners worked together to protect and connect Rockport’s Beech Hill and Erickson Fields Preserves.
Twenty years ago, MCHT projects and partner projects made up roughly 10% of the total number of publicly accessible shore sites along the coast of Maine. Today, land trusts own and manage 46% of those sites.
In March of 2020, the Hartline sons and their families gifted the Old Point property in Lamoine to Maine Coast Heritage Trust to own and manage as a public preserve.
Coastal Mountains Land Trust makes strides in the Round the Mountain conservation effort, with support from the Land for Maine’s Future program, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and the Maine Water Company.
In East Machias, when a local sliding hill went up for sale, MCHT was able to conserve it, ensuring kids will always be able to access this special spot.
