MCHT Hires Amanda Devine as Senior Director of Stewardship
Devine says the escalating realities of climate change are pressing the 54-year-old land conservation organization to seek 10- to 20-year solutions, and to admit when “we’re going to lose the fight.”
(October 10, 2024 – Topsham, Maine) – Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), one of Maine’s largest and longest-standing land conservation organizations, announced today that after a nationwide search it has selected Amanda Devine as its next Senior Director of Stewardship. Devine succeeds Jane Arbuckle, who held the leadership post at MCHT for 28 years and is widely regarded as a primary architect of land stewardship in Maine and a driving force behind shaping stewardship into a recognized practice of caring for land and water while inviting people into nature.
Devine assumes the role at a time of significant change brought on by rapid climate change, increased development and housing pressures, an influx of invasive plant and animal species that threaten Maine’s natural resources, and increased pressure on public access. Devine is a 14-year veteran of MCHT and was previously the organization’s Southern Maine regional stewardship manager. In her new role, she will lead a team of 24 full-time land stewards who care for over 320 conservation easements and 150 preserves from Kittery to Lubec.
MCHT appointed a new president and CEO in 2022, currently maintains a staff of 81 full-time and seasonal employees with an annual operating budget of $12.9 million and offices in Topsham, Rockport, Mount Desert, and Whiting. The 54-year-old land conservation organization founded the 80+ member Maine Land Trust Network, whose members have collectively conserved more than 12 percent of the state, providing over 2.34 million acres of publicly accessible land.
“Amanda steps into her leadership role at a moment of unprecedented pressure on Maine’s natural landscape. I’m deeply grateful for her passion, depth of knowledge, and commitment to evolving the ways MCHT and other land trusts must adapt to meet the needs of today,” said Kate Stookey, President and CEO of MCHT. “The impacts of climate change are no longer a looming threat – they are here, and nowhere can the impacts be felt more intensely than within Maine’s natural systems, including our islands and coastlines, our rivers and marshes, and our working waterfronts.”
The Evolving Mandate of Stewardship Work
Devine notes that the work of stewardship has historically been done without fanfare, but rising seas, frequent flooding, tidal surges, and increasingly severe storms have created unprecedented urgency to assess and respond to the impacts of climate change on Maine’s landscape, natural systems, and infrastructure.
“We are facing the impacts of climate change right now, and will be into the future, and this raises a lot of serious questions,” says Devine. “What do we do about threats to infrastructure? How do we respond to roads that are only inches above sea level and getting persistently damaged during winter storms? What about trails and parking areas that are being repeatedly washed out?”
Devine believes the most responsible approach is to actively plan for change, which could mean not creating trails or coastal access points that have the potential to be lost or repeatedly damaged. In the face of tough choices and many unknowns, Devine says that stewardship must adapt.
“There are many threats to land even after it has been legally protected,” says Devine. “The tidal marshes we’ve worked so hard to protect aren’t going to be there if we don’t undertake boots-on-the-ground restoration work; preserves that are riddled with invasive species aren’t going to function well ecologically if we don’t manage them effectively.” She cites emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid, Asiatic bittersweet, and beech leaf curl as major threats with ecosystem-level impacts.
Pragmatically, Devine admits that there are places where we simply must acknowledge that no action may be the best action. “Some places, we have to accept that this mainland preserve will be an island, or this trail or campsite will be inundated, and we are not going to fight for it because we would be throwing resources into a sinking ship.” In that same vein, invasive species management must be undertaken strategically and where the odds of success are favorable.
Over the next 20 to 50 years, Devine believes that MCHT will be faced with difficult decisions. “In most cases, and perhaps despite public opinion, we’re not going to put a half-million dollars into raising an access road or installing riprap to keep a shoreline static.” Instead, Devine says she and her team will look for sustainable and proactive strategies, including better public access design and construction.
“If we are going to build a trail, we’re going to do it with sea level rise and 4-inch rainfall events in mind,” says Devine. “We are also actively choosing not to build trails in areas where limiting human disturbance is a key management goal.”
MCHT is also working with researchers at the University of Maine and The Schoodic Institute to understand trends in coastal forest species composition with an eye toward enhancing resilience. If Maine is going to have a forest in the future, says Devine, we need to act now, and that might include letting fields grow back up, removing invasive species, and potentially assisting in the migration of new species into Maine.
To ensure a healthy forest canopy in Maine in the next 100 years, the stewardship staff is evaluating whether it makes sense to proactively plant tree species that are thriving just a little bit to the south. Devine herself is experimenting with this approach at her own home in Freeport, where she is planting eastern redbuds, tulip poplars, and other more southerly species to replace the invasive glossy buckthorn she’s removed.
Connecting People with Land
Another major thrust of “sustainable stewardship” involves connecting people with land. “For the work of conservation to be successful, everyone needs to see the benefit, to see themselves reflected in and supported by our work,” says Devine. To address this, Devine and others at MCHT are prioritizing engaging with those who have been excluded or even harmed by land conservation practices in the past. “We are building more accessible trails that more people can use, we are raising food for those who need it at our Erickson Fields and Aldermere Farms preserves, and we are asking Wabanaki for guidance in stewardship, recognizing that they are the original stewards of what we now call Maine,” she says.
These are the aspects of conservation that energize Devine and her colleagues. “Yes, we have challenges ahead, but we also have interesting and wonderful opportunities.”
ABOUT MAINE COAST HERITAGE TRUST
MCHT is a dynamic, multifaceted organization with initiatives ranging from preserving coastal access for communities to high impact ecological work focused on reconnecting waterways and improving coastal resiliency to climate change. A leader in Maine’s nationally renowned land conservation efforts since 1970, MCHT maintains a staff of more than 81 full-time and seasonal employees with an annual operating budget of $12.9 million. It also manages a growing network of almost 150 coastal and island preserves free and open to everyone and leads the 80+-member Maine Land Trust Network to ensure that land conservation provides benefits to all Maine communities. Get involved at www.mcht.org.