The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

By Mike Tetreault
Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Maine

As 2013 rolls in let's take a moment with me to visualize Maine’s future. I invite you to picture the year 2050: The world’s population has reached 9 billion, and energy development, food production, water use, and commerce have intensified to meet people’s growing needs.

What will it be like here?

Will clean water still flow from your tap at home? Are foresters, fishermen and farmers still cultural fixtures? Is your favorite beach, pond or forest still teeming with a vibrant array of plants and animals? Are our children still discovering nature’s wonders?

Change is a part of life, and it will come to us here as it comes to the rest of the world. But together, we can prepare Maine for that change. We can create an ecologically healthy foundation that sustains our plants, animals and way of life now and far into the future.

Help us write the success stories of tomorrow. Donate today!

The Campaign for Maine’s Future

This holiday season represents the final months of the Sustainable Maine, Sustainable Planet campaign. This campaign was rooted in the science of thinking across habitats to create the healthy, abundant, natural Maine for the coming century. In this season of celebration and hope, we are on the verge of funding one of the most ambitious conservation action plans ever attempted in the Pine Tree State. We are:

• Conserving some 470,000 acres of Maine’s forests, including the ambitious Moosehead Forest Easement, the largest contiguous conservation easement in the country.
• Restoring more than 1,000 miles of river habitat by removing dams and creating fish passage in Maine’s largest watershed, the Penobscot—by working with the Penobscot River Restoration Trust—and protecting land along the Saco River.
• Protecting thousands of acres of critical habitat in Maine’s most populated regions, including Mount Agamenticus, Kennebec Estuary, the western mountains, Penobscot Bay and Down East.
• Helping to restore Maine’s fisheries and ocean ecosystems by partnering with fishermen to develop and adopt more sustainable fishing methods.
• Investing in innovative global conservation work—in Africa, South America, China and more—because we recognize the world is an interconnected network of natural systems.

With all of these endeavors we’ve worked hand and hand with partners who live and work in every corner of the state.

With your support, we can continue to bring achievements like these to life. But if we don’t act together now, Maine may not be able to keep up with the challenges that lie ahead.

Leave a Legacy

Your support for Sustainable Maine, Sustainable Planet will make a tangible difference for real Mainers and real Maine places and wildlife. Will you join us and invest in this urgent need?

Thank you for considering a gift to the future of nature in Maine. We urge you to explore our campaign page to learn more and to donate. Together, we can leave an enduring natural legacy for all who are blessed to call this magnificent state home.

In gratitude,|

Mike Tetreault, State Director

Mike Tetreault is Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Maine