MLTN Infoline – October 23, 2025

October 27, 2025|Infoline

Legislative Studies Underway and More

Just because the Maine legislature adjourns in early summer doesn’t mean the work ends. Led by MCHT’s Public Policy Director Jeff Romano, we continue to lay the groundwork for successful advocacy all year long. Here are two examples of important efforts currently underway on behalf of land trusts.

Before the legislature adjourned in June, they created two studies with potential implications for land trusts, one covering property tax concerns and another addressing public recreational access issues. We are keeping an eye on both of these to make sure land trust interests are being represented. Learn more about these studies on our website.
The Land for Maine’s Future program has spent or obligated almost all the $40M allocated to the program in 2021. Maine Coast Heritage Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and others are working to secure new funding for the program in 2026. In support of that goal, we are working with land trusts in southern Maine, the midcoast, and greater Portland to host state legislators for a walk and casual gathering to share with them the myriad ways land trusts benefit their local communities and the state.

If you have any questions about public policy issues or you’d like to talk about how to support advocacy in your region, contact Jeff Romano.

Working year-round to advance policy interests for Maine land trusts,

Angela, Jeff, Megan, Katia, and Donna

Sharing from the Field: Learnings from Momentum Conservation’s 2025 Land Trust Grant Fund Applications

Friday, October 24, 2025 via Zoom

10:00am

Cost: FREE

The applications from Momentum Conservation’s Land Trust Grant Fund Program provide key insights into the land trust community in Maine. Join Momentum as they share some of the recurring themes, challenges, opportunities, and successes they have gleaned from the 2025 Land Trust Grant Fund applications.

To register for the meeting, click here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Build Your Tax Foundation: Six Land Conservation Topics

Thursday, October 30, 2025 via Zoom

2:00-3:30pm

Cost: $75 for LTA members, $140 for non-members

The Alliance’s Conservation Defense Network and tax manager Diana Norris will provide an interactive course on what the tax law, regulations and Land Trust Standards and Practices require for six topics relevant to land conservation and land trusts’ operations. Though donors are responsible for their federal income tax deductions for donations of conservation easements, donee organizations have important roles and responsibilities. Diana will focus on the whats, the whys and the hows:

What: The Internal Revenue Code and Treasury regulations requirements for building envelopes, approvals of reserved rights, gift acknowledgment letters, Form 8283 for conservation easement donations, baseline documentation reports and impermissible private benefit (she will also cover the rules applicable to donations of land.)
Why: The importance of understanding these requirements for acquisition, drafting, stewardship and defense purposes.
How: Practice points to aid land trusts to implement these requirements.

Visit LTA’s website to register.

Acquiring Land and Conservation Easements: Title Review

Monday, November 3, 2025 via Zoom

2:00-3:30pm

Cost: $75 for LTA members, $140 for non-members

It’s a simple truth: you can’t protect conservation land without getting a good title. It is one of the most critical parts of the due diligence process for acquiring land or easements. Without a proper title review, a land trust risks encumbering the wrong property, being subject to mortgages, tax liens, mineral rights or other restrictions that prevent deductibility and cause a host of other problems.

Join Owen Wozniak, land transaction program manager at the Land Trust Alliance, as he introduces title for acquisition practitioners. He will cover the basics of title review with a practical, step-by-step approach to reviewing documents and solving common title problems to help your land trust comply with Land Trust Standards and Practices.

Learn more and register at LTA’s website.

Preventing Fieldwork Problems: Heat and Ticks

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 via Zoom

2:00-3:30pm

Cost: $75 for LTA members, $140 for non-members

Land trust stewardship practitioners (and many of the rest of us!) seek to understand changes to the land and fieldwork conditions, especially those that might threaten the safety of yourself and others. In some areas of the United States, heat and ticks have always been considered when planning fieldwork. But conditions are changing: geographic areas that didn’t need to consider either heat or ticks may now need to, and existing safety protocols in all areas may need improvement. You need reliable information to plan, and you’re probably plain curious about what the data says. This webinar brings together two scientific experts to cover:

Ecology of ticks and tick-borne diseases.
General climatic trends for heat across the country, and human health implications of these trends
Heat and tick-related fieldwork safety precautions.

Learn more and register at LTA’s website.

Tour OSI’s Appalachian Landscapes Mapping Resource Center

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 via Zoom

3:00pm

Cost: FREE

The Open Space Institute’s (OSI) Appalachian Landscapes Mapping Resource Center supports a climate-resilient future for both natural and human communities. Developed through OSI’s Appalachian Landscapes Project (ALP), the Resource Center is designed to accelerate collaborative land protection across the Appalachian region. The site provides a region-wide perspective, serving as a shared resource that can amplify the impact of the hundreds of conservation organizations and others working across this critical region. It offers data on terrestrial and aquatic resilience, forest carbon, and community climate risks to guide forest protection and planning efforts.

This webinar will cover the resource values and science OSI is using to further the goals of the ALP. It will include a deep dive into the new Functional Ecological Network (FEN) and a demonstration of the Resource Center.

Click here to register for the webinar.

2025 Regional Conservation Partnership Gathering

Thursday, November 6, 2025

8:00am-4:00pm

UMass Amherst

Cost: FREE

The 16th annual Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) Network Gathering will focus on the crucial intersection of conservation, housing, and justice. Working across boundaries and cultivating trust are essential to conserve biodiversity while also ensuring equitable housing for people. Achieving this vision of an interconnected, resilient, and just landscape amid sweeping changes in federal policy, growing income inequality, and the worsening climate crisis will require strong partnerships and a willingness to share knowledge, resources, energy, and time. Regional Conservation Partnerships play a crucial role in building bridges and forging alliances across boundaries and sectors. Their work can frame our discussions in a way that underscores our collective responsibility as stewards of the one home we all share, planet Earth.

View the agenda here. Register here. Contact with any registration questions.

The What, How and Why of Drones for Land Trusts

Thursday, November 6, 2025 via Zoom

2:00-3:30pm

Cost: $75 for LTA members, $140 for non-members

Has your land trust thought about using drones for monitoring, baseline documentation or current conditions reports, but you aren’t sure where to start? Whether the hurdle is understanding how drone photography works or deciding how to budget, this webinar is for you. Learn the basics of what drones are and how they work; the structure and goals of Little Traverse Conservancy’s 4-year-old drone program; and hear the story of starting a new drone program at Land Conservancy of Western Michigan.

Learn more and register at LTA’s website.

Online Harassment Prevention and Response

Wednesday, November 12, 2025 via Zoom

2:00-2:30pm

Cost: FREE for MANP members*

This event is possible thanks to a partnership between Maine Association of Nonprofits and Nonprofit Risk Management Center

Sometimes, people target nonprofit team members for their work in the community. Learn online harassment prevention measures for nonprofits and how to respond if harassment does happen.

*Most MLTN members are MANP members. Contact us to check your organization’s MLTN membership status.

Jobs in the Conservation Sector

Is one of these great opportunities for you? Learn more about these and other job openings on our MLTN jobs page.

Vice President of Conservation Programs – Northeast Wilderness Trust

Visitor Services Associate/Naturalist – Maine Audubon

Director of Institutional Giving – Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Trails and Public Access Manager – Georges River Land Trust

Quimby Family Foundation Movement Grants

Applications due: 11:59pm on October 31

Each year, the Quimby Family Foundation awards grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations based in Maine who are working to advance Human Wholeness through the focus areas of movement and nourishment. Movement grants are about creating and supporting opportunities for people to consistently choose, and meaningfully experience, nearby nature and wilderness through movement and activity. Any organization who has never been funded or received a grant before Dec, 31 2021 and is interested in applying should fill out a short opportunity form before the deadline.

Learn more at the Quimby Family Foundation’s website.