New Conservation Project Heals Downeast Landscape After a Century of Commercial Timber Harvest
More than 2,000 Acres of Forests and Wetlands Protected as Forever-Wild
TRESCOTT TOWNSHIP, ME, Nov. 3, 2025 – Northeast Wilderness Trust, a Montpelier, Vermont-based regional land trust that focuses on wilderness conservation, and Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), a statewide land conservation organization, announced today the establishment of the Bold Coast Wilderness Preserve in Downeast Maine. This 2,037-acre parcel, adjacent to the state-owned Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land, accelerates a decades-long conservation effort to benefit the region’s human and natural communities.
“The Bold Coast Wilderness Preserve is a hopeful example of land trusts working together to achieve big things,” said Jon Leibowitz, President and CEO at Northeast Wilderness Trust. “This project also embodies the promise of rewilding—placing trust in Nature’s innate ability to heal when given the chance. Over time, this land, nestled within one of the largest unbroken forests on the Eastern Seaboard, will naturally become a thriving refuge for wildlife, sustaining creatures from sea-run brook trout to moose, black bears, and warblers. Hopeful outcomes like this one are so desperately needed today.”
Initial restoration of the land is a key objective of the project. The property, which MCHT acquired in July 2024 and recently transferred to Northeast Wilderness Trust, was intensively logged for decades. Culverts, dilapidated structures, and other debris impeded waterways and degraded the parcel’s wetlands. To eliminate these obstacles and jump-start the healing process, stewardship staff from MCHT and Northeast Wilderness Trust partnered in June to collect and remove decades of accumulated trash, burn abandoned structures, and open up a blocked wetland channel that had been filled with logging slash and marine clay.
“Maine Coast Heritage Trust is thrilled to work with Northeast Wilderness Trust on this remarkable project,” said MCHT President and CEO Kate Stookey. “There are few opportunities left to conserve large areas of land with such outstanding ecological value so close to the coast. MCHT has been working with communities in this area for decades. This forever-wild preserve increases the ecological value of other conserved lands and complements recent efforts to improve trail and water access, including for local fishers and harvesters.”
With the property’s transfer to Northeast Wilderness Trust, Bold Coast Wilderness Preserve is now forever-wild, protected in perpetuity by fee ownership by the Wilderness Trust and a conservation easement to be held by a partner organization. The Preserve will passively rewild with minimal human intervention—a stewardship approach most similar to Maine’s system of Ecological Reserves on public land. This hands-off management strategy allows ecosystems to evolve naturally, resulting in increased ecological complexity, resilience, and carbon retention. Places cared for in this way are the old-growth forests of tomorrow, which tend to support greater species richness and act as powerful carbon sinks. These dual benefits are critical as humanity confronts the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Despite the clear benefits of such places, only about 4 percent of Maine’s landscape is protected as such.
Protection of the Bold Coast Wilderness Preserve also secures public access for generations to come. Local communities have long hunted, fished, and recreated on these lands. While development likely would have closed off the property to these traditional uses, they will continue to occur on the new Preserve, ensuring that this remains a place where people can find and foster a connection with the wild.
Beyond the Preserve’s borders, the project advances landscape-scale conservation in the region, boosting the connectivity of conserved lands. The property abuts Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land, creating a tract of more than 14,200 contiguous acres of wildlife habitat and the setting for world-class recreation for visitors from near and far. This is the latest success by MCHT, state and federal agencies, as well as local land trusts (see attached map) to conserve the stunning coastline and character of Downeast Maine.
About Northeast Wilderness Trust: Northeast Wilderness Trust conserves forever-wild landscapes for Nature and people. It accomplishes this work by acquiring and stewarding land as forever-wild, and by holding forever-wild conservation easements on properties owned by other organizations or individuals. Across New England and New York, the Wilderness Trust secures wild places where Nature can thrive, wildlife can wander, and people can find beauty and quiet. Since its founding in 2002, Northeast Wilderness Trust has protected more than 101,000 acres, of which more than 49,000 are in Maine. Learn more at newildernesstrust.org.
About Maine Coast Heritage Trust: Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) advances the conservation of lands and waters in Maine to ensure ecological wellbeing and foster thriving communities. Since 1970, we have worked to guide the conservation movement and support a network of more than 80 land trusts. Together with partners we’ve protected over 190,000 acres, supporting the needs of people, plants, animals, and ecosystems across the coast. We’re dedicated to ensuring our natural areas can mitigate the effects of climate change and support all people and life for generations to come. Learn more about our work and get involved at www.mcht.org.
Media Contacts:
Richard Knox, Communications Director Northeast Wilderness Trust richard@newildernesstrust.org or 207-242-5578 Linda Lidov, Director of Communications Maine Coast Heritage Trust llidov@mcht.org or 207-607-4574