Forest Legacy Committee

Established

  • In 1994
  • At the culmination of the work of the congressionally mandated Northern Forest Lands Council. The Council identified over thirty-five actions to reinforce the Northern Forest regions traditional patterns of land ownership and use, the first of which was to ensure the consistent and adequate funding by Congress of the Forest Legacy Program. This recommendation came at a time when both public and private efforts were growing to protect forest land in Maine from conversion to non-forest uses.
  • To focus on acquiring conservation easements or fee interest in lands in order to protect the traditional uses and public values of Maines forests.
  • Advise the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands on program policy.
  • Recommend projects to be presented to Congress for funding through the national Forest Legacy Program.

Maine Forest Legacy Program Guiding Documents

Grant Information

The application for FY25 Forest Legacy funding has passed. Associated application guidance for that funding round can be found here:

Timeline

The Forest Legacy Program has received significant supplemental funding through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to expand the capacity of Forest Legacy to fund projects beyond its conventional funding source, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Different funding cycles have been established for the distinct funding sources and are listed in this funding cycles timeline table (PDF 207KB).

Advisory Committee Meetings

Upcoming Advisory Committee Meetings are included in the funding cycles timeline table (PDF 207KB). The meetings listed may only occur if there are actual projects being considered for those rounds, so please check with Jo D. Saffeir to confirm.

No meetings currently scheduled.

Advisory Committee Members

  • Andy Cutko, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
  • Patty Cormier, Maine Forest Service
  • Jim Connolly, Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife
  • John Daigle, University of Maine
  • Eliza Donoghue, Maine Audubon
  • Polly Mahoney, Mahoosuc Guide Service
  • Kaitlyn Nuzzo, The Nature Conservancy in Maine
  • Kristin Peet, Forest Society of Maine
  • Catherine Robbins-Halsted, Robbins Lumber
  • Hannah Stevens, Seven Islands
  • Peter Triandafillou, Huber

For more information, please contact:

Jo D. Saffeir
Special Assistant to the Commissioner
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
22 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0022
(207) 441-4851

For more information visit the USFS Northeastern Area Forest Legacy program