Author: Admin

#WEOUTSIDE XC Skiing and Fat Biking

#WEOUTSIDE is back! After another great summer, we’re all set for another great winter. Our first outing in January was to Inland Woods + Trails winter trail network at the Bethel Inn.  IWT has been a wonderful partner for the #WEOUTSIDE program – you may recall the summer trip to mountain bike on these same trails. This time, we were able to use IWT’s ample supply of nordic skis to get out on the trails system and give it a go on the skinnies. As you can see, kids were falling down. BUT you can also see that everybody got the hang of it and was out for the whole first half of the day, practicing and racing around.

After a break in the warming hut for some delicious pizza from the Rusty Lantern gas station down the road ? , we had a fork in the road – more ski or fat tire biking? How about both? A group of the boys commandeered whatever rental bikes were in the shop and headed out. With trails extending into the woods, we knew they would get lost but that was ok since there was a competent volunteer with them. Others continued skiiing, including a few who stayed out even when it started snowing.

Before getting back into the van, there was a massive snowball fight to celebrate the day. It was a great one!

Table Rock Trip Report

Old Speck Mountain from Table Rock.
Lunch
Sunny, cold day

January has arrived and with it, the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust’s Community Hikes program has begun. The program has run for over ten years now, taking hundreds and hundreds of participants out in the Maine mountain landscape. If you haven’t come along and want to join, check out the trips posted at the link above. And if you have already, we look forward to seeing you again!

This trip was kind of a warm up hike for the winter session. Maine’s winters have been challenging for the hikes program – they need enough snow for snowshoes and less of icy conditions – but this year has been cold. For the hike up to Table Rock, we needed traction aids but not snowshoes. We had five participants who heading up in temperatures around 0F which is fairly typical for our trips. There was bright sunshine and as we ascended up the flank of West Baldpate Mountain, we warmed with rising sun. The Table Rock Trail is an official A.T. side trail and is popular at all times of the year, but we only saw two other smaller groups on the trail today. We reached the end at lunchtime and were greeted with the massive flank of Old Speck Mountain, the highest peak in the Mahoosuc Range, just across Grafton Notch.

The wind began to pick up and the day was proving to be colder than forecast, especially with little sunlight in the valleys. The group quickly finished lunch and descended. A great 4 hour day, with more hikes ahead for the season.

Winter 2025 #WEOUTSIDE Program Begins

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust is pleased to announce the slate of winter trips to be run as part of the #WEOUTSIDE program with the Maine Association for New Americans. We’ll be teaming up with old friends and new to bring a new cohort of New Mainer teenagers out for some great experiences in the Maine outdoors this winter. Trips include:

  • A cross country ski and snowshoe visit to Roberts Farm, where Western Foothills Land Trust is building a new experiential learning facility and garden.
  • A downhill ski day with lessons at Mt. Abram.
  • Ice fishing with the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife at Range Pond State Park.
  • Cross country skiing with Loon Echo Land Trust at Five Fields Farm.
  • Meet and greet with the dogsledding teams of Mahoosuc Guide Service.
  • Potentially some fat tire biking with Inland Woods + Trails.
  • …and a special overnight trip in a secret location in Western Maine!

Our great partnerships with these amazing organizations is part of what makes this program possible. They are providing instruction, gear, facilities, and even food in some cases. All of this is essential to creating a memorable and positive outdoor experience for a great group of teenagers. Thank you to all!

Tom Lewis 1947-2024

Tom Lewis, the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust’s first board president when the organization was founded in 2002, recently passed away in Oregon. Tom was a native Mainer and longtime resident of Yarmouth, where he worked to develop low income and senior housing projects until 2019.

Tom was instrumental in the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust’s early successes, including the protection of Saddleback Mountain and Mount Abraham in 2004. He was the organization’s first board president and served in many roles before finishing up his term as treasurer in 2015. There is a direct line from his dedication to the organization in these early years to the thriving land trust that exists today. He was also on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Board of Managers and was a longtime volunteer for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, for which he served in many roles.

Beyond dedication to Maine’s A.T., Tom was just a really nice guy who had a wry sense of humor and was always willing to do what it takes to get the work done. He will be sorely missed.

(Full obituary here: https://www.wiscassetnewspaper.com/article/thomas-d-lewis/252658)

First Light Summit Heartens Conservation Community in Wabanaki Territory

MATLT sent board member Lucy Santerre to the First Light Summit on Friday, October 11, 2024 at the Penobscot Theatre in downtown Bangor. The day kicked off with a welcome song and opening prayer followed by a keynote address by Corey Hinton, Leader of the Tribal Nations Practice Group at Drummond Woodson and colleague of several current and former MATLT board members. He encouraged bipartisan engagement in Indigenous rights issues and received a standing ovation.

Attendees were then witness to a panel with members of the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship who discussed land return initiatives and progress in Wabanaki territory. Speeches concluded at the Penobscot Theatre with a presentation by Lisa Sockabasin, Co-CEO of Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness.

The group then stepped onto the sidewalk for a surprise parade led by the College of the Atlantic Drumline. The parade ended at Norumbega Park on the Kenduskeag where attendees surrounded the Burnurwurbskek Singers, a group of Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Mic Mac drummers, who performed several songs, including the national anthem of Native Americans sung across the continent. At one point, all attendees, numbering well over 100 people, participated in what the drummers called one of the largest Long Dances they’ve ever led.

Next, attendees were invited to a delicious lunch of Smoky’s BBQ at the new Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness youth and cultural center downtown. Heather Augustine charismatically introduced Corinna Gould of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, whose ancestors lived on the lands that many know as the San Francisco Bay Area. Her tale of breaking ground on an Indigenous land back project via the creation of a land trust was inspiring. The summit also featured a beautiful performance by singer Isaac Syliboy.

Fall Stewardship Update

Saddleback looking down the Berry Picker’s Trail
Redington Forest – big
Hazardous bridge at Redington
Massive damage to logging roads.
White Cap Mountain
Former road to White Brook Trail parking area, now washed away.

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!

Tracking Old Growth Forest Along the A.T. in Maine

Photo from Hagan, J., B. Shamgochian, M. Taylor, and M. Reed. 2024. Using LiDAR to Map, Quantify, and Conserve Late-successional Forest in Maine. Our Climate Common Report, Georgetown, Maine. 44 pp.

Part of “protecting” the Appalachian Trail in Maine involves knowing what to protect. Sometimes it’s a great side trail or recreation area; other times it’s a rare natural community like the alpine zone. Some elements are permanent, like a geographical feature. Some aren’t – like a trail. One certainty is that there are all kinds of conservation values and all kinds of way to measure them.

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust uses data in our MATGIC system (Maine Appalachian Trail Geospatial Information for Conservation). MATGIC has lots of data on all the land within two miles of the A.T. and even beyond. Recently, MATLT was able to acquire data for late successional and old growth forests around the A.T. in Maine from a project undertaken by Our Climate Common. Using LiDAR – which is like a laser beam to determine tree canopy height from an airplane – John Hagan and his team have been able to map, with about 90% accuracy, the late successional and old growth forests in the Unorganized Territories of Maine.

What is LSOG and why is it important? LSOG is basically mature forest or forest that has not been subject to management (i.e. cut down). There are many reasons to protect remaining areas of LSOG in Maine – mature forests have many benefits, ecologically, visually, and recreationally – but the most important is that LSOG is very rare these days!

#WEOUTSIDE Program Celebrated

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust and the Maine Association for New Americans recently hosted a reception that was a great big old thank you to all our partners for the #WEOUTSIDE program. #WEOUTSIDE has been a groundbreaking program in that in relies on the assistance of many partner organizations MATLT has worked with throughout the years, but for this program it was all about delivering great outdoor experiences for kids who arrived in Maine a year ago. In that regard, the program has been a huge success, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of these partners. Thank you! Every one of our trips was led by one of these organizations or individuals. And in 2025, we’ll be starting the third year of #WEOUTSIDE with their help again.

MATLT Founding Board Member Bill Plouffe Honored

Bill Plouffe (seated) enjoys some free beer and ribbing.

Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust board and some other friends recently gathered at a local Maine watering hole to honor longtime director Bill Plouffe, who stepped down from the board in 2024. Bill is the last of MATLT’s founding board members to step down – he was one of the original signatories on the organization’s founding documents upon incorporation in 2002. As a token of the organization’s thanks, Bill was given a framed canvas print by one of his favorite artists, Erik Koeppel.

During that time, Bill served as MATLT’s president for eight years and helped to oversee the organization’s great land projects in the last decade, with notable accomplishments like the Crocker Mountain and Orbeton Stream. These were followed by White Cap Mountain, Redington Forest, and Bald Mountain Pond. Bill also saw the organization grow into what it has become today: a well-respected conservation organization doing great work to benefit the Appalachian Trail and the people of Maine.

A hearty thank you to Bill!

New 3D Panoramic Imagery Captured

Using MATLT’s new drone, we have been able to capture 3D imagery which helps to monitor fee properties and conservation easements. Click on the images below to navigate with your mouse.

Saddleback Mountain from the Berry Picker’s Trail

White Cap Mountain from the White Brook Trail

Bald Mountain Pond