2002 Annual Report

TIM GLIDDENMAINE LAND TRUST NETWORKI know of no movement as radical, as effective, and ascompassionate as the land trust movement. It is like water —seeping into the most unexpected places, rising, filling thebasins of the human heart.Terry Tempest WilliamsWriter and Conservation ActivistMaine has a thriving land trust community — one of thelargest and most vital in the country. The achievements oflocal trusts here have made Maine a respected leader withinthe national land trust movement, which now includes morethan 1,200 land trusts. Maine’s land trust community hasgrown dramatically in the past two decades as more citizenshave taken action to protect cherished landscapes.During the development boom in the late 1980s, 42 newgroups formed to pursue local land conservation in Maine.An additional 20 have begun operating since 1995, bringingthe total number of Maine trusts to 95. The increasedcommitment to land conservation can also be seen in theexpansion of existing trusts. Between 1997 and 2001,membership in Maine’s land trusts increased by 20 percentto nearly 61,000 people. Local trusts made notable progressin their conservation of land, increasing their easementholdings by32 percent(7,568 acres)and lands ownedby 84 percent(9,478 acres).Thesenumbers testifyto the dedicationof land trustvolunteers andstaff around thestate who areworking tirelesslyto maintain theMCHT's annual Maine Land ConservationConference brings together the conservation community.integrity of theircommunities.16 Maine Coast Heritage Trust