The Future Is Now

As demand for Maine land grows, there’s increasing urgency to secure continued public access for outdoor recreation; to conserve open, shared community spaces; and to strengthen natural resource businesses that are critical to our economy. Support Land for Maine’s Future today.

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In 1987, Maine voters overwhelmingly approved a bond to purchase lands of significance for recreation and conservation. For over 30 years, LMF has successfully crossed ideologies, party lines and motivations to represent and protect the essence of Maine — yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Access

Public land access is the essence of Maine. LMF supports that legacy, securing perpetual land access statewide for recreation, farming, fishing and forestry.

Community

Maine communities rely on public land as a means to explore, to engage, to reset, and to survive. LMF exists because some places matter enough to preserve – for generations to come.

Economy

From acquisitions and easements to cooperative ventures, LMF projects are economic engines that produce measurable returns – with long-term benefits to the people of Maine.

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This is what conservation looks like.

It’s your Maine. Start exploring.

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See how others are exploring LMF Destinations, land trust preserves, and other conservation areas in #MainesGreatOutdoors, and share photos of your own adventures. Post your image here.

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Passport to Maine’s Outdoors

Thanks to the LMF program, a network of land trusts, and our proud conservation traditions, Maine has hundreds of outdoor places for all of us to treasure and share. This year, invite your friends and family to discover some of the state’s most beautiful outdoor destinations, including thirty-six featured on the Passport to Maine’s Outdoors. LMF Coalition is partnering with the Maine Land Trust Network and L.L. Bean to sponsor this passport. Plan your next outdoor adventure today!

Passport to Maine’s Outdoors

Click here for the list of 2018 Winners of Our Passport to Maine’s Great Outdoors Contest

LMF works for ME

Since 1987, the LMF program has helped to protect more than 600,000 acres of land in Maine. Most of these special places are open for visitors — offering access to great activities like hiking, fishing, swimming, boating, and even ATV riding. Best of all, LMF’s work has been funded by the people of Maine for the past 30 years — which means LMF properties belong to all of us — forever.

Over 150 projects have been funded to date from the Land for Maine’s Future Program. Here are just a few:

Knight’s Pond

Southern Maine · Cumberland County

Located near the town centers of North Yarmouth and Cumberland, Knight’s Pond is a 300-acre preserve popular for ice skating, fishing, dog walking, mountain biking, trail running, snowmobiling, hunting, and more. The preserve includes a pond, a large block of forestland, a network of trails, and critical wildlife habitat.

Great Pond Mountain Wildlands

Downeast Maine · Hancock County

Located in Orland, the 4,700-acre Wildlands Preserve features scenic mountain summits, secluded ponds, and sustainably managed forests. This preserve offers a wide range of year-round outdoor recreational opportunities including hiking, horseback riding, cross country skiing, mountain biking, hunting, snowmobiling, camping, and birdwatching.

Black Brook Preserve

Southern Maine · Cumberland County

Located in Windham, Presumpscot Regional Land Trust’s Black Brook Preserve features hiking, running, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobile riding. There are several miles of trails that cross through the preserve’s 105 acres. Visitors will find over 600 feet of “bog bridges” to keep feet dry and numerous cedar benches for taking a break to enjoy the silence or have a snack.

Coos Canyon

Western Maine · Oxford County

Located in Byron, Coos Canyon is a scenic gorge along the Swift River that has long been a popular destination for swimmers, picnickers, and anglers.

Kennebec River Estuary

Midcoast Maine · Sagadahoc County

Located in the heart of Sagadahoc County, the Kennebec River Estuary is a haven for hunters, anglers, and birdwatchers. A coalition of land trusts and government agencies have joined together to conserve more than 18,000 acres of land within this critical estuary that contains more than 20% of Maine’s tidal marshes.

Millinocket Forest

Northern Maine · Penobscot County

Located east of Baxter State Park, the 7,910-acre Millinocket Forest is comprised of two properties that provide critical links in the region’s motorized trail network. The area is also a working landscape that supports the region’s forest product’s industry.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) Program. It was 1987 when Maine voters first approved a $35 million bond to purchase lands of state significance for recreation and conservation. The goal of the program remains the same now as it did then: To secure public access for recreation, to conserve our most important habitats, to preserve Maine’s farming traditions and to protect the natural infrastructure vital to both our sense of place and our economic future.

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Latest news

Land for Maine’s Future coalition hosts event with members of the Maine Legislature

May 29, 2019

In May, the Land for Maine’s Future coalition hosted an event with members of the Maine Legislature. Click below to watch videos from our panelists explaining more about their businesses and organizations and how they each are working to enhance traditional public access to Maine’s outdoors and to preserving the lands upon which our natural resource economy relies.

Portland Press Herald: Coalition calls for state to borrow funds to get conservation ‘back on track’

Mar 6, 2019

There is strong, bipartisan support in the Legislature and from the administration of Gov. Janet Mills for a bond package to support the LMF program, which is geared toward protecting public access to recreational lands or preserving valuable farmlands and working waterfronts. Since 1987, the program has protected from development more than 1,200 miles of shoreline, 9,700 acres of farm land and more than 570,000 acres of conservation and recreation lands.

WCSH: Conservation groups asking for bond for land and parks

Mar 5, 2019

Maine voters may get the chance to decide if they want to put more money into protecting land and working waterfront. Several conservation groups, including the Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine and Maine Coast Heritage Trust, have teamed up with legislators to propose new funding for Land for Maine’s Future.

Bangor Daily News: Land trusts get high marks from legislature

Mar 20, 2018

The Maine Legislature’s Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee has released its report on conservation lands owned by nonprofit organizations, which it was authorized to undertake by a provision in the General Fund Biennial Budget for 2018 and 2019. The report gives high marks to our land trust community and includes some interesting recommendations.

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LMF: Stronger than Ever

The Future Is Now

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It’s your Maine. Start exploring.

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Passport to Maine’s Outdoors

LMF works for ME

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