In the High Peaks region of Western Maine, a father and son sit perched on the edge of a knoll. Their figures are barely distinguishable against bare autumn branches and clear blue sky. The early morning sun breaks over the horizon and a blanket of red, yellow and orange leaves scattered across the forest floor catch the morning light.

“Dad, do you see this? Just look at where we are right now.”

Every November, Maine resident Seth Laliberte and his son dig out blaze orange jackets and hats from the back of their closets, pull on their boots and strike out deep into the woods well before dawn. The annual pilgrimage to hunt whitetail deer is a father-son tradition that spans generations.

Not lost on them is that this part of Maine includes some of the largest tracts of unbroken forestlands in the continental U.S. A vast forest canopy stretches from the border with New Hampshire 300 miles to Baxter State Park.

“I can drive 15 minutes from my front door here in Rangeley and be in an area where my son and I can walk all day and not see another boot track. I can’t explain with words the feeling of what that is like. It is really special,” said Laliberte.

Surprising to some, most of this vast forestland is privately owned and managed, either by companies that manufacture wood products or by individuals and families. In fact, more than 90% of Maine’s forestlands are privately owned.

Conserving the most forested state in the country

USDA Forest Service video by Preston Keres

Forests are essential to the well-being of communities and are central to the lives of families like the Lalibertes. They provide clean water and air, spaces for recreation, jobs in the forest products sector and habitat for valuable wildlife. However, private forest landowners face increasing pressure to sell their forests or convert them to other uses.

Fortunately, there is the Forest Legacy Program. Through Forest Legacy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service with a coalition of state agencies, private landowners and non-profit organizations is working across values to conserve important forests and protect them for future generations.

“State agencies, landowners, and communities make decisions about which forests to protect. The Forest Service provides competitive grants to help the states to either purchase the land outright or to set up a conservation easement with the private landowner.  In this way, we contribute directly to efforts that are driven by local people and local considerations,” said Scott Stewart, National Forest Legacy program manager for the Forest Service.

Since the program was established by Congress in 1990, the State of Maine has conserved 750,000 acres of through Forest Legacy, areas that will remain forests in perpetuity.

In Maine, conserving forests to benefit communities is increasingly important. Land is changing hands for many reasons, in part due to changes in the forest products economy and people relocating from elsewhere in the country.

“Maine is the most forested state in the country. Close to 90% of our landscape is forest. Forests are really important to Mainers,” said Andy Cutko, director of Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. “Forests are the engine of our forest products economy. Mainers really value outdoor recreation and public space and access. We love hunting and fishing. The Forest Legacy Program really holds together the fabric of Maine.”

A priceless inheritance

USDA Forest Service video by Preston Keres

Private forests that are open to recreationists have allowed generations of Mainers like the Lalibertes to enjoy abundant opportunities in the outdoors.

“There is the idea of implied access in Maine, and Mainers have always been able to go out in the woods and enjoy the outdoors the way we would like to, whether that is hiking, hunting, fishing or some other activity,” said Brent West, executive director of High Peaks Alliance. “What conservation through Forest Legacy allows is to be able to pass down this tradition to future generations.”

It’s hard to overstate the value of the outdoors in people’s lives.

“You don't realize the amount of stillness and centering that can come from being in the outdoors,” said Lloyd Griscom, board member of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust and co-founder and president of the High Peaks Alliance. “There's more than meets the eye to being in the deep recesses of nature. It helps you wake up from the everyday responsibilities of life and you can get to your underlying awareness, which is your thought free real nature.”

Keeping forests wild

It’s not just recreationists who benefit from conserving forests. There are many species of animals that need large, unbroken tracts of forests to thrive.

In the heart of the 100-mile wilderness, on the Katahdin Ironworks easement property, which was conserved through Forest Legacy in 2007, moose and black bear are thriving. Even Canada Lynx can be found roaming on this landscape.

“Populations of large mammals like moose and Canada lynx need large, forested areas and a variety of habitat to thrive. Forest Legacy is helping conserve lands and ensure there is a future for these species,” said Sarah Boyden who is an assistant regional wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife.

Conservation is helping to secure habitat for valuable native fish as well. Namely, the eastern brook trout, which need cold, exceptionally clean water that are only found in forests.

In western Maine, the Orbeton Stream and Quill Hill to Perham Stream projects, conserved by the State of Maine through Forest Legacy in 2015 and 2023, have over 10 miles of protected critical brook trout habitat.

“If you were to look at the course of one person's lifetime, most of the brook trout habitat that was in the southern United States is gone or severely threatened,” said Steve Tatko, vice president of land, research and trails for the Appalachian Mountain Club. “So, what we're left with today is 90% of the remaining eastern brook trout left in the U.S. is in the State of Maine. And most of it is centered here in the high elevation areas along the Appalachian Mountains.”

Thanks to efforts from local landowners, state agencies, non-profits, and support from the Forest Legacy Program, Seth Laliberte’s son and future generations will benefit from healthy native brook trout populations in Maine.

A Maine economic driver

Conserving forests is essential to the future of Maine’s second largest sector, forest products. According to the University of Maine, the forest products sector employed 31,000 people and contributed $1.7 billion to the state’s economy in 2019. Beyond the economic statistics, the forest products sector has a long history that is deeply ingrained in the state’s identity.

Just outside of Greenville, Kevin Gibbs started his day before the sun rose, working on a logging operation on land conserved through Forest Legacy.

“Being a logger is honest hard work and a living. I believe you work for every penny that you earn out here,” said Gibbs. “But I enjoy the outdoors. That's why I'm out here. I love it, I love being outside.”

USDA Forest Service video by Preston Keres

This operation is typical of forest management occurring on land conserved through Forest Legacy. It helps return the forest to a healthy, natural state while also supplying local mills with timber. It is also helping ensure that jobs in the forest products sector remain in rural areas, where the industry is an important engine in the local economy and part of the identity.

The tie between forest conservation and the forest products sector is key. Working forest easements — where a private landowner agrees to conserve their land permanently as forest while allowing for sustainable logging and maintaining the many public benefits that forests provide — are very popular with landowners in the state.

“In Maine, the bulk of our conserved land is through working forest easements,” said Cutko. “So those working forest easements, protected and funded through Forest Legacy, allow the private landowners to maintain their land as forests and to keep land in production. These forests support loggers, they support mills, they support our forest economy. And they also provide public access for people to get outdoors and recreate.”

A community legacy

Back in Rangeley, Laliberte pushes off the dock in his canoe for a morning paddle around Rangeley Lake. In addition to serving as the local school principal, Laliberte also runs an outfitting store with his wife Michelle where they rent canoes and kayaks to local visitors.

“I think it would be easy to take for granted the amount of access we have in this part of Maine, and maybe people don’t realize that all of that could go away,” said Laliberte. “Conserving these lands to maintain access, keeping the forest products economy going, and in turn keeping our town such a great place to live and work is what I hope for the future,”

The Forest Legacy Program’s reach extends far beyond the forests of Maine and is supporting conservation efforts across the nation. Since 1990, Forest Legacy has conserved over 3 million acres of forests in 53 states and territories.

“From Maine to Oregon, South Carolina to American Samoa, people value forests and all that they provide,” said Scott Stewart, National Forest Legacy program manager. “Forest Legacy is simply supporting local people in their efforts to conserve the forests that are important to them.”

To learn more about the Forest Legacy Program, visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/private-land/forest-legacy