Kennebec Highlands - Management Plan

The Bureau of Parks and Lands has adopted a 15-year management plan for over 6,000 acres of land known as the Kennebec Highlands. These public lands are located in the towns of Mount Vernon, Rome, and Vienna in Kennebec County and New Sharon in Franklin County.

Plan Update and Review

The Bureau of Parks and Lands has completed the second Five-Year Review and Update of the 2011 Kennebec Highlands Management Plan covering the period from 2017 through mid-2022. The Integrated Resource Policy (IRP) requires that the Bureau, at five year intervals, report to the Advisory Committee (AC) on accomplishments and new issues or changing conditions that may warrant amendments to the plan. The review was postponed for one year to allow for the Bureau’s acquisition of additional parcels in the Highlands to be completed.

The Five-Year Review is prepared in a table format. It is linked below as a PDF within the Management Plan Review Documents. It:

  • Lists plan recommendations (left column), and
  • Actions taken to implement each recommendation (right column), and
  • Identifies, from the Bureau's perspective, any issues any new issues or circumstances that were not addressed in the plan that may warrant Committee discussion or action (at end of table).

The Five-Year Review table was sent to AC members on October 19, 2022. The Bureau advised the Committee of the acquisition of 813 acres of land that have been added to the unit in Vienna and New Sharon, which was completed in spring of 2022, and the intention to develop a management plan for the new parcels as part of the plan update.

The Bureau asked AC members for comments on the review table and to identify any other new issues or circumstances that may Committee input or action. Written comments were accepted for three weeks following the email distribution of the review materials. Six committee members submitted comments. The Bureau's responses to the comments are linked below.

An Advisory Committee meeting was held March 1,2023. Discussion focused on development of the plan for the new parcels and development of a non-motorized trails plan for the Highlands, as called for in the 2011 plan recommendations. A second Advisory Committee meeting was held June 26, 2025. Discussion focused on the draft plan for the new parcels and draft Kennebec Highlands trails plan, which had been distributed to the committee the month before. Meeting notes from both meetings are also linked below.

A public meeting was held October 29, 2025 to present and take comments on the management plan for the new parcels and the Trails Plan. Meeting notes are provided below under Management Plan Review Documents, along with the final adopted plan for the new parcels now appended to the 2011 plan, and the final Trails Plan.

A Final Report on the Five-Year Review and Update, containing the final plan for the new parcels and the final Trails Plan, and summarizing the review process and the Bureau’s response to comments, was sent to the Advisory Committee at the conclusion of the process, and is also linked below.

Public Meetings

No meetings currently scheduled.
Date & Time Title Location Additional Information

Management Plan Review Documents

Management Plan Document

2011 Kennebec Highlands Management Plan (PDF 2MB)

For more information:

Jim Vogel
Senior Planner
Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
22 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-2163