Supplementary Map 5:
Public and Conservation Lands
Background Information:
Conservation lands in Maine are the result of a mosaic of federal, state and private efforts. Only about 5% of Maine's land is publicly conserved. Other parcels are protected by a wide variety of private methods and partnerships including ownership by non-profit groups, easement agreements with private landowners, and current use taxation and incentive programs designed to help landowners retain open space. Most of Maine's fish, wildlife, and plant habitat reside on lands that are privately owned. While habitat for Endangered and Threatened species receives careful consideration, the future of most of Maine's plants and animals is in the hands of individual landowners and land-owning corporations. (For more detailed information on Maine's private and public conservation methods see What Conservation Looks Like In Maine.)
In order to build onto and complement existing public lands, it is important to first know what is already protected. The Public and Conservation Lands map for your town includes only those parcels for which we were able to gather data. A complete inventory of these lands must occur at the local level. There is currently no single, comprehensive state-level database or means to maintain these data.
Aerial imagery is used as the background for Map 5. Parcels are transparent to show aerial images below. Aerial imagery is often the best tool available to visualize existing patterns of development and resulting changes in the natural landscape. These aerial photos, when used with other Beginning with Habitat maps, can provide a more complete understanding of existing conditions and potential habitat values. By depicting conserved lands with aerial photos, the map user can more easily identify adjacent undeveloped lands that could be conserved to expand the size and ecological effectiveness of the protected habitat.
Data Components:
- Aerial Imagery
- Federal Conservation Lands including national parks, national forests, and national wildlife refuges. The majority of these properties have management plans that are based on a comprehensive public comment process and cooperative efforts between local users and stakeholders. Federal lands in Maine are managed from local and regional offices.
- State Conservation Lands including Wildlife Management Areas and other properties managed by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, state parks, and parcels managed by the Bureau of Parks and Lands. These properties are also guided by management plans; most plans are created with a comprehensive public comment process.
- Municipal Lands including town parks, athletic fields, and town forests. Many towns have management plans for their larger, forested parcels. Not all forested town lands should, however, be considered conservation lands; for instance, there may be no protective measures to preclude a town forest from becoming the site of the next town hall or school.
- Private Conservation Lands including properties owned and managed by private (usually non-profit) organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Trust for Public Land, and local land trusts. Often, these properties are managed for specific ecological goals and many properties have management plans.
- Easements are voluntary legal agreements that allow landowners to permanently restrict the amount and type of future development and other uses on all or part of their property as they continue to own and use it. Landowners may sell easements or they may donate them. Once in place, easement requirements pass from one owner to the next. It is incumbent on the organization that has accepted the easement to ensure that the owner complies with the easement requirements.
Strategies For Local Action:
- Conduct outreach to town landowners that might benefit from a "current use" tax status if they place lands either in tree growth or farm incentive programs. Create a local recognition or reward system for landowners who maintain open space through these programs. For more information on "current use" programs visit the BwH Toolbox.
- Request management plans for various conservation properties. After reviewing the plans, evaluate the status of habitat protection and recreational opportunities. Evaluate opportunities to create greenways and corridors between parcels or to create large blocks of protected, high value habitat by adding adjacent lands. Visit the Open Space Planning section of the BwH Toolbox for more information.
- Talk with owners/managers of conservation properties in your town to learn of their current or future management plans for the property and how they might contribute to or complement other efforts to conserve habitat in your town.
- Get involved with a local land trust. Gather information on valuable habitats located on trust lands. Explore opportunities for habitat protection, wildlife corridors, and trail systems that connect trust lands to other parcels, both private and public. Inform town residents of the possible tax benefits from the creation of easements. For more information contact Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
- Meet cooperatively with neighboring town planning groups to discuss consistent regulations for shared waterways and the creation of large habitat blocks and open space that could be created by working across town boundaries. For more information contact your regional planning commission.
- Consider protecting town-owned property, particularly forest land, with a conservation easement. For more information contact your local land trust or Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
- Explore opportunities to protect large undeveloped habitat blocks via conservation easement or fee ownership. Funds for acquisition can be raised through public appeal, appropriation of town funds, or application to private foundations or public funds (see Financing Habitat Protection section of the BwH Toolbox for more information on funding sources). At least three state agencies administer acquisition funds; contact the Department of Conservation about the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife about the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, and the State Planning Office about the Land For Maine's Future Program. Contact the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and The Nature Conservancy about private land trust protection efforts. The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine (622-5503) has a trust to own and manage high value game habitat. For more information on federal grants for land protection contact the USFWS Gulf of Maine Coastal Program. Contact your local land trust for additional fund raising support.
To learn more about specific strategies for local action, visit the Beginning with Habitat (BwH) Toolbox or contact BwH.
