Collaborating to Connect People to Lands and Waters
In Perry, a walk through 92-acre Sipp Bay Preserve got a little easier thanks to members of the Ancestral Lands Trail Crew, a program of Wabanaki Youth in Science (WaYS). Alongside Maine Coast Heritage Trust Regional Land Steward Kyle Koch, the trail crew rerouted 1,000 feet of trail, hardened areas with gravel, and addressed drainage issues last summer.
Other preserves of partner land trust Downeast Coastal Conservancy (DCC) and MCHT benefited from improvements as well. Trail crew members hardened areas along a traditional canoe portage between Orange lake and Rocky lake, long used by Wabanaki people. This work improved access to places of quiet beauty, fish runs, and abundant wildlife.
“This collaboration was key for us in Washington County,” says Kyle. “They’ve been able to support us with some of our more difficult projects that would have been a challenge for our field crew to finish all by ourselves.”
For three years, these organizations—WaYS, DCC,
and MCHT—have been learning from each other and about each other’s needs and capacities, sharing resources and collaboratively fundraising for programming that connects people to lands and waters.
Colin Brown, executive director of DCC says, “This collaboration has not only been very helpful for DCC’s stewardship efforts, but has built a great relationship with a Wabanaki-led organization that offers essential science programming and connects young Tribal members to culturally
significant sites Downeast.”
In 2025, programming among these organizations was as robust as it’s ever been and, thanks to support from generous donors, the trail crew spent about four weeks working at MCHT and DCC preserves in Washington County.
This partnership is about more than shared projects, it’s about relationships and mutual respect,” says WaYS Executive Director Jennifer Galipeau. “When we work alongside DCC and MCHT, we’re not only improving trails, we’re strengthening understanding and reciprocity across communities. For Wabanaki young people, this work is also about reconnecting with ancestral pathways, stories, and responsibilities to the land.”
Since 2020, the WaYS Ancestral Lands Trail Crew has worked across hundreds of miles on Wabanaki homelands. They’ve worked with a wide variety of partners, including the National Park Service and Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters, and land trusts like MCHT and DCC.
Jayden Dana, a WaYS trail crew team leader, shares, “It’s been cool to be able to work on MCHT and DCC trails and then return to those places in my free time. I’ve gotten to see places I haven’t been to before. Being Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, it’s important to me to be able to revisit old gathering places.
Wabanaki Youth in Science
Wabanaki Youth in Science is a nonprofit committed to “weaving Wabanaki cultural knowledge with technology and science.”
Visit wabanakiyouthinscience.org to learn more and support WaYS and its robust programming, including the Ancestral Lands Trail Crew.