Why Conserve Maine's Forestlands?

Whether you live, own a camp, or vacation here, chances are that the state's rugged and natural beauty first attracted you to Maine. Maine's woods and waters provide residents and visitors with opportunities to hike forested trails, canoe scenic waterways, and fish remote ponds. These same woods and waters sustain thousands of jobs in the logging and forest products industries while conserving important fish and wildlife habitat and open space.

Ninety percent of Maine is forested and that forested landscape is integral to the Maine way of life.

In recent years the composition of Maine's forest landowners has changed from industrial owners with mills, to investment partnerships looking for the 'highest and best' - that is, the most profitable - use of the lands that they purchase. This well-documented shift in ownership pattern presents a major threat to the way of life Mainers have enjoyed for generations. Today these woods are threatened by the creation of subdivisions, development, and fragmentation that could permanently alter their character. If we ignore our opportunities to conserve Maine's forestlands and the values that they represent, today, we risk losing them forever.

The Forest Society of Maine is working to conserve the recreational, economic, ecological, and cultural values that define why we live, work, and play in Maine.