Promoting multiple, sustainable uses of our region's natural resources.
On this page:
Vision and Strategy
We believe that sustainable management and multiple use of the region's landscape resources (forests, lands, waters) will be critical to achieving future prosperity for the Maine Woods region. To maintain and maximize the full breadth of benefits and opportunities encompassed in these resources, groups with ownership, community, environmental, and economic interests relating to these resources must begin to share knowledge and work more collaboratively.
Desired Outcomes
- Healthy ecosystems with landscape retaining traditional character (forests as forests, farmland conserved)
- Access to natural resources for multiple sustainable uses by individuals, businesses, organizations (especially uses that generate economic benefit for Maine Woods communities)
- Well developed green infrastructure to support multiple use of landscape resources
- Strong communications and working relationships across sector lines (timber, tourism)
- Increased cultural capital through transmission of knowledge, values, and skills related to the landscape
Each month MWC picks a project to feature that we perceive as
moving the Maine Woods towards the desired outcomes outlined above. If
you would like to submit your project for consideration, email
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.
Kennebec River Initiative
Written by Josh Platt of Kennebec County Soil and Water Conservation District
The Kennebec River Initiative (KRI) is deep into the second phase of
this very important project aimed at securing the Kennebec as one of
the state’s most important ecological, recreational, cultural and
economic assets. More than 350 people have participated in the KRI
since the project’s beginning in 2006. A 140 page Action Plan was
created during Phase I of the project that details specific, on the
ground projects throughout the entire Kennebec Corridor from Moosehead
Lake to the sea.
While the Kennebec River is very much an interconnected resource, KRI
organized it regionally to gather information from stakeholders who
live, work and play in various sections of the Corridor. Phase II
continues to move forward toward implementing projects proposed in the
Action Plan. A series of Reach Committee meetings, Tidal, Middle and
Northern have taken place this winter to assist in prioritizing which
projects should move forward immediately and have the most momentum.
While there is some overlap among the needs in each reach, several
regional themes emerged from the reach meetings that stakeholders want
to focus local efforts on. In the Northern Reach for example, public
access to the river including, trails, boat access, both ramps and
carry in sites, was stressed as both a desire and a need in an area
where river recreation is a large part of the economy. Also of great
interest to stakeholders in the north is working to protect large
sections of forestland along the Kennebec from development. Several
areas were identified at the Northern meeting where fish spawning
habitats have been compromised by several factors including
overfishing, sedimentation, and other non-point source pollution
issues.
In the Middle Reach, farmland protection will be a major focus.
Thousands of acres of farmland are found directly along the Kennebec
River in the middle section. KRI will be partnering with the Maine
Department of Agriculture and the Maine Farmland Trust who will work
with interested farmers to keep working farms in business and look at
long range planning to protect these large tracts from development and
maintain open space along the Kennebec Corridor. Addressing various
habitat concerns as well as fixing several non-point source pollutions
issues will be some of the work in this section of the river.
In the Tidal region of the Kennebec, work will focus on marketing the
activities that exist in the lower Kennebec and expanding the
rail-trail system between Gardiner and Brunswick.
The entire 140 page Kennebec River Corridor Action Plan can be seen at the KRI web-page at, www.kcswcd.org. Detailed minutes of each meeting, summary and theme information as
well as upcoming events and status reports are there as well.
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