Stewardship season! Each year the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust checks in on all our land holdings to make sure all is well. This ranges from making sure property lines are marked to checking on permitted trails to make sure the ecological values are not impacted. Stewardship work gets board, volunteers, and staff from MATLT out on the landscape, providing a valuable connection with nature and the A.T. region in Maine.

There are also extraordinary issues on the landscape, some of which are shown in these photos. The storms in 2023 and 2024 took their tool in certain areas, washing out roads and trails and compounding issues in a way that the A.T. region in Maine has not seen before. Most of the lands near the A.T. in Maine are accessed by private logging roads or other roads that aren’t maintained. Some are in better shape than others, but access could come via another road if the usual one was out. Now, with much more widespread impacts, it’s much harder to just pick a different route. The alternate way might have a bridge out or might have been damaged also. In some areas, trails have sustained damage and while they are passable they are difficult to navigate.

MATLT will continue to work on fixing these issues wherever possible, which is why your support is essential. Often there is no requirement that these repairs be made but we do our best!