Welcome to
the Maine Department of Conservation

The Maine Department of Conservation is a natural resource agency whose bureaus oversee the management, development and protection of some of Maine's most special places: 17 million acres of forest land, 10.4 million acres of unorganized territory, 47 parks and historic sites and more than 480,000 acres of public reserved land.

The Department of Conservation, created in 1973, has as its mission to benefit the residents, landowners, and users of the state's natural resources by promoting stewardship and ensuring responsible balanced use of Maine's land, forest, water, and mineral resources.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING STATE GOVERNMENT CLOSURE
The Department of Conservation will be closed on Monday, July 6, 2009, due to the 2010-2011 Biennial State Budget, Public Law 2009, Chap. 213, Part SSS. This is the first of 10 closure days between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.

Maine’s state parks and historic sites will remain open and the Maine Forest Service forest rangers also will remain on duty to provide law enforcement and forest protection in the Maine woods.

Please don't bring
firewood into Maine ...

you can help
save our forests!

We're on Facebook -- Find us here!

Find information on any public boat facility in Maine

Go to our new
GOOGLE EARTH
boat facilities site
from here!

Maine has a unique tradition
of allowing public access to private land.

Let's be good neighbors and take care of that land.

Remember, access to private land is a privilege and not a right!

Please go to the new Landowners Relations Program website.

This is for the birds!

the new
Maine Birding Trail
brochure guide

download it here (.pdf)

Find the best places in the state to see Maine's unique bird species!

12 Maine state parks
are included!

Better birding in Maine? That'd be really tweet
by Deirdre Fleming, Portland Press Herald, 05/28/ 2009

OUTDOORS: 'Maine Birding Trail' outlines best birdwatching opportunities throughout state

by Travis Barrett, Kennebec Journal 06/06/2009

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OUR MDOC NEWSLETTER: "From the Field" for the week ending 04/24/2009 (.pdf)

In the Media:
"NEW ENGLAND: Welcome to 'Surf Academy'," Amy Sinclair, NECN (06/17/2009)

"Historic Home Receives a Facelift," by Mechele Cooper, Morning Sentinel (05/04/2009)

"Peary at the Pole:A hundred years after Maine’s own Robert Peary claimed to discover the North Pole, controversy continues to swirl around the commander’s heralded discovery." by Andrew Vietze, Down East magazine (April 2009 edition)

Go to the Take It Outside website

The Governor’s Conference on Youth and the Natural World

held Oct. 2, 2008 at the Augusta Civic Center

Speech by keynoter Larry Selzer,
president and CEO, The Conservation Fund(pdf)

"Take it Outside!" is an initiative led by Gov. John E. Baldacci to encourage Maine's children and families to reconnect with nature.

The "Take it Outside!" website is your one-stop information source for year-round outdoor recreation opportunities in Maine. You can find everything you need to "Take it Outside!" and have fun in the great Maine outdoors.