Augusta, MAINE – Governor Janet Mills issued the following statement today in response to the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s unanimous vote of present committee members to advance the nomination of Amanda Beal to lead the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF):
“I am pleased the Committee has recognized Amanda’s wealth of knowledge, experience, and skills by voting to advance her nomination. With her talents, Amanda will lead a team of committed public servants who are good listeners, have common-sense and a bit of dirt under their nails. She will bring together the diverse but equally important interests overseen by the department.”
Beal, 46, grew up on a dairy farm and earned a B.A. from the University of Southern Maine and holds a Master’s Degree in agriculture, food and environment from Tufts University. She is working on her doctorate in natural resources from the University of New Hampshire. She lives in Warren, where she and her husband own a 35-acre farm and are working to establish an orchard with numerous fruit varieties, manage their 25-acre woodlot, and establish a creamery for on-farm cheese production.
Beal has served as President & CEO of Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) since 2016 where she has been responsible for leading MFT’s efforts to support farmers and revitalize Maine’s rural landscape by keeping agricultural lands working. She has focused on keeping farmland in production across generations; collaborating and consulting with farmers, food-related businesses and organizations to create food systems that sustain Maine farms; and advocating for Maine’s farming potential. Prior to serving as President of MFT, she served as Vice President of Programs for the non-profit. She is also widely known as the co-author of “A New England Food Vision,” which studied the potential for expanding food production on land and at sea in Maine and throughout New England.
As commissioner, Beal will be responsible for the state’s various land-based natural-resources including Maine agriculture, forests, and parks and public lands. The agency has a wide range of duties, from protecting the food Maine people eat, to stopping forest fires and marketing Maine’s agriculture products to maintaining our parks and public lands, to planning land utilization, and helping farmers.
Beal’s confirmation vote by the Maine Senate could take place as early as next Tuesday, February 19th. Fourteen of Governor Mills’ fifteen cabinet nominees have been confirmed.