MLTN Infoline – March 7, 2024

Registration is now open for the 2024 Maine Land Conservation Conference in Topsham on April 12 & 13 and we hope you’ll join us. Highlights will include a two-part workshop on Friday morning that explores A Pathway to Commitment to Cultural Access on Conservation Lands, our popular Friday evening social gathering, this year at Flight Deck Brewing in Brunswick, and our highly anticipated Saturday Keynote Address Weaving Wisdoms: Introducing the New NSF Science Technology Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledge and Science by Dr. Bonnie Newsom. We are also excited to be offering executive directors and board presidents a chance to meet as part of the Conference for the first time in several years! That meeting will take place on Friday afternoon. 

As we are preparing for and looking forward to this year’s conference, MCHT’s Land Trust Program is thinking a lot about how we can create a space that’s welcoming to all people. We know many land trusts are doing similar thinking about their own spaces, lands, trails, and programs, so we’re really excited to be partnering with Momentum Conservation (formerly Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative) and Natural Difference LLC to offer a workshop specifically designed for land trusts working on diversity, equity, and inclusion at any level.

The Maine Land Conservation Attorneys Network (MLCAN) is a group of Maine attorneys with deep experience in land conservation law. They collectively offer a conservation easement template, the MLCAN Model Conservation Easement Boilerplate, for land trusts to use as a starting point for their own easements. MLCAN meets a few times a year to discuss current issues and potential changes or improvements to the Boilerplate. We have just posted a new version to the MLTN Resources page. Scroll down to the Land Protection section; it is the second to last bullet.

11:30am-2:00pm

10:00am-1:00pm

Join your peers and the Land Trust Alliance to discuss the most pressing stewardship issues for lasting conservation facing you and your peers. The discussion includes preserve management issues, conservation and trail easement stewardship, capacity and funding, technology, managing violations and trespass, timely Terrafirma claim filing, dealing with the impacts of climate change and anything else that you want to bring to the exchange.

If your duties include managing, supporting and leading people, you’ve undoubtedly encountered difficult or confounding human resources situations. Melanie Herman with the Nonprofit Risk Management Center will present a simple framework for understanding and acting when challenging people issues arise in the workplace. At the end of this webinar, you’ll feel more confident about handling the next sticky or tricky HR situation. 

Thursday, March 28, 2024 via Zoom

Jobs are springing up all over! Some of the newest additions to our jobs page are listed here, or view the full list on our website. 

The fund prioritizes support for community groups that represent a broad range of voices in their community and those not being reached by other funders; groups that are volunteer-driven (or have no more than two full-time paid staff or equivalent); and that have an annual operating budget under $100,000. The fund interprets the word ‘environment’ broadly and provides funding for a wide range of activities.

The Department of Marine Resources’ Maine Coastal Program (MCP) and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Municipal Planning Assistance Program (MPAP) are seeking applications for coastal planning grants totaling approximately $300,000. Funding for these planning grants comes from the Maine Coastal Program’s annual grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In response to the significant impacts of recent storms experienced by Maine’s coastal communities, the FY 2025 Coastal Community Grant Program and Shore and Harbor Planning Grant Program are being combined into one grant program. The matching fund requirement has been eliminated and the application process has been modified to include a Letter of Intent, followed by a final application by invitation only.

Farm Credit East awards grants through its Farm Credit AgEnhancement program to help organizations promote awareness of and strengthen agriculture, commercial fishing, and forest products in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Vermont.

Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded in support of efforts to foster and grow all types of agriculture, forest production, or commercial fishing, including traditional and nontraditional production and marketing approaches. Program areas include but are not limited to leadership development; economic viability and enhancement; programs to promote northeast agriculture and recognize developments of ag leaders; efforts to build a better understanding of agriculture, forestry, and commercial fishing; and economic analysis to foster agriculture.