Maine Coast Heritage Trust

The Maine Coast Heritage Trust is a nonprofit land conservation organization. Its conservation partner is the Maine Land Trust Network,^[1] which is one of its programs.^[2]

Formation

In 1969, Margaret Rockefeller learned from the staff at Acadia National Park that conservation easements could be used to protect the natural scenery of islands in a portion of the Gulf of Maine from Penobscot Bay to Schoodic Point. A precedent for this conservation action existed along the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Highlands of Virginia and North Carolina where conservation easements had been acquired in the 1930s-40s by the National Park Service to preserve natural scenery.

With the encouragement of her husband, David Rockefeller, and participation by Thomas Dudley Cabot, Margaret Rockefeller formed the nonprofit Maine Coast Heritage Trust in 1970 to assist island owners who might choose to donate conservation easements to Acadia National Park.^[3] The name for the organization was recommended by Robert Orville Anderson; Jane Boardman designed the MCHT logo; Anne Morrow Lindbergh provided wording for the first MCHT brochure. Elmer Beal, Jr., a native of Mount Desert Island, was hired as Executive Director. In the first year of operation, thirty conservation easements were donated by island-owners to Acadia National Park.^[4] The MCHT subsequently formed alliances with additional public and private organizations and expanded its activities to include the entire Maine Coast.

In 1982, the Maine Coast Heritage Trust co-founded the nationwide Land Trust Alliance. In 1985, the MCHT acquired the 193-acre Witherle Woods Preserve, the first of many preserves, such as the Stone Barn Farm, acquired to provide coastal access and preserve natural habitat.

Conservation progress

By the 1980s, the Trust was considered to be one of the country's most significant land trusts, and by 1996, when Rockefeller died, the Trust had protected more than 66,000 acres (27,000 hectares) of land which included 173 islands and 250 miles (400 km) of coastline.^[5][4] On locations such as Malaga Island, the Trust also protected the cultural history of the region.^[6]

On the 50th anniversary of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust in 2020, it listed 329 whole islands protected by conservation easements and 148 preserves available for public access, a combined total of 156,000+ acres including 99 miles of trail.^[3] Among projects pursued in 2021, the MCHT successfully acted to acquire and preserve Little Whaleboat Island (22-acres), Sheep Island (59-acres), Monroe Island (225-acres), and 1,700 acres of wildland on the Schoodic Peninsula.^[7]

Other areas of focus include Penobscot Bay, Yarmouth, Machias Bay, Casco Bay.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Leadership

Founding Board members included: Margarent M. "Peggy" Rockefeller, Thomas D. Cabot, and Robert O. Binnewies.^[12] Binnewies subsequently resigned from the Board to succeed Elmer Beal, Jr., as MCHT Executive Director.^[13][14][15]

References

1. "Land Trusts by County". Maine Land Trust Network. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
2. "Homepage 2022e". Maine Land Trust Network. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
3. "A Necklace of Coastal Gems | Maine Coast Heritage Trust". New England Today. April 6, 2020. from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
4. "Maine Coast Heritage Trust: Preserving the Coast". 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
5. "OBITUARY -- Margaret Rockefeller". The San Francisco Chronicle. 1996-03-28. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
6. "Going Beyond Preservation". 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
7. Sharon, Susan (December 20, 2021). "Maine Coast Heritage Trust conserves 1,700 acres on Schoodic Peninsula". Maine Public.
8. Ohm, McGuire; Rachael, Peter (December 20, 2021). "Community support leads to preservation of undeveloped Casco Bay islands". Portland Press Herald.
9. "Maine nonprofit buys Penobscot Bay island for $1.6 million". Associated Press. December 29, 2021.
10. Forecaster, Brielle HardyThe (December 31, 2020). "Maine Coast Heritage Trust leads major conservation effort in Yarmouth". Press Herald. from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
11. Cassidy, Katherine (October 24, 2006). "MCHT Purchases Restores Machias Bay Shoreland To Tribe". Bangor Daily News.
12. Collier, Jay (2019-04-19). "Our Story". Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
13. "Maine Coast Heritage Trust president to retire". The Ellsworth American. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
14. Trotter, Bill (April 28, 2019). "25 years after a house was built on it, a Maine island has been given back to the birds". Bangor Daily News. from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
15. Riddle, Lyn (May 28, 1989). "NORTHEAST NOTEBOOK: York, Me.; Open-Space Easements". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.

Further reading

• Emory, Ben (2017). Sailor for the Wild: On Maine, Conservation and Boats. Seapoint Books.
• 16 United States Code, Section 460a-2. Federal Government. 1929.

External links

• Official website