Grab your tickets now for our Cabin Fever Relief Program!
January 14-20, 2021
Suggested donation: $15-20 per household
Looking for a fun, safe and inspiring way to connect with the outdoors this month? We’re partnering with Maine Outdoor Film Festival for a Cabin Fever Relief program, bringing you two hours of great outdoor films curated especially for Maine land trusts. This special screening includes ten thought provoking films that can be watched back-to-back or at your leisure over a week. You’ll even see some familiar faces! Click here to get your tickets now.
In late December, the Maine Legislature released bill titles submitted by legislators and State Agencies. This is the first step in the annual bill drafting process and is a good early indication of the subjects that will be addressed by Maine legislators this session. In the months ahead, we will learn more details when actual bills are printed. Those interested in conservation policy should expect some familiar topics this year, such as Land for Maine’s Future funding, implementing the state’s Climate Action Plan, and property taxation of conserved lands. Read more here.
Stay tuned for future updates as bills are published, hearings are scheduled, and legislative deliberations begin. For more information or if you have any questions contact MCHT’s Public Policy Manager Jeff Romano.
MEEA Conference Call for Proposals
Conference Dates: April 7 & 8, 2021
Each year the Maine Environmental Education Association (MEEA) hosts a conference to share strategies and ideas for more effectively implementing outdoor and environmental education in schools and communities across the state. Their 2021 Conference will be a virtual event focusing on how, at this time of great change we find ourselves in, our communities can work together to support environmental and/or outdoor learning in Maine. Land trusts have an important role to play.
MEEA seeks workshop presentations that share ideas, resources, and information you have learned from the work you are doing with schools and in your organization to advance environmental education and/or outdoor learning in Maine. Common workshop themes are: connecting to nature, climate education, justice, equity and inclusion, early childhood nature-based education, collaborative projects, place-based, interdisciplinary projects, community environmental science, environmental behavior change, technology in EE, and others. This year, MEEA would also love to highlight workshops that share stories, resources and solutions on how your organization/school has creatively adapted to Covid-19.
Mark your calendars and save the date for Rally 2021, which will take place on October 7-9, 2021. Rally organizers are still considering whether the event will be fully virtual or a hybrid format, but either way, they need you!
Presenting a workshop at Rally is a great way to engage with the national land trust community. Most workshops are 90-minutes in length, but some longer seminars are presented. In 2021, Rally organizers are staying with themes of climate change and inclusion, and adding a third theme – water.
Click here to read the full call for proposals, get all the details, and submit your Rally 2021 proposal.
Focus Groups on Forest Management for Carbon Sequestration
Researchers at the University of Maine are looking for forest landowners and managers to participate in a virtual focus group discussion on ways to enhance forest growth and carbon stocks. The two-hour focus group discussions will identify barriers and opportunities to implement specific forest management practices across Maine. Focus group participation is limited to 10 individuals. You must be at least 18 years of age or older to participate in the focus group. Click here for more information.
Five focus groups of forest landowners and managers are planned for early 2021:
Wed, January 6, 2:00-4:00pm – Large forest landowners (>10,000 acres)
Thurs, January 7, 2:00-4:00pm – Small forest landowners (<10,000 acres)
Wed, January 13, 4:00-6:00pm – Forest managers
Tues, February 2, 4:00-6:00pm – Large landowners or forest managers
Thurs, February 4, 2:00-4:00pm – Small landowners or forest managers
If you are interested in participating, please RSVP by filling out this form. Questions? Contact Dr. Adam Daigneault at or 207-478-5682.
How to Develop and Sustain your Fundraising in 2021
Wednesday, January 13th, 2021
2:00-3:00pm
Price: $70
Brought to you by The Land Trust Alliance
What will the new year bring for hardworking development teams? Fundraising is a process, but what should that process look like during a global pandemic, economic downturn and post-pandemic? Join expert fundraiser Adriana Higgins, Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, as she discusses core fundraising strategies that will help your land trust be successful in 2021.
Here’s a look at what will be covered:
Overview of the giving picture for 2021, and what we can expect
The right mix of direct mail, online giving, major gifts and special events in 2021
How to continue to identify new donors and bring them into your land trust
Strategies for maintaining good relationships with current donors
Tips for encouraging current donors to repeat and even increase their giving
Visit the Land Trust Alliance website to register.
Advanced Risk Management Topics: Conflict or Compromise?
Thursday, January 14th, 2021
3:00-4:00pm
Cost: FREE
Brought to you by The Land Trust Alliance
Advanced Risk Management – prerequisite of at least 1 risk management training
Terrafirma can help you when you sue to enforce a conservation right. But what about other legal challenges? Join attorney Sarah Sigman, of Shute Mihaley & Weinberger (CA) to explore how to handle legal risks that fall outside of your land trust’s core conservation mission and expertise. We’ll discuss examples and show how staff can identify legal risk in advance, minimize risk and expense when litigation happens and evaluate whether mediation is likely to offer a fruitful solution.
To help ease the impact of COVID-19 related changes this year, any land trust board or staff member who attends a risk management program (including the 2020 Risk Summit) may claim the Terrafirma risk management discount for 2021.
Register for the free webinar here.
Private Benefit and Land Trust Work: Transactions, Amendments and Other Activities
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
2:00 – 3:30pm
Cost: $70 for LTA members; $100 for non-members
Have the words “private benefit” come up when preparing for a transaction, finalizing an amendment or approving a new use on an easement or fee property? If so, you know that those words can be some of the most scary in the English language. Join conservation attorneys Jonathan Blum, Polsinelli PC, Melinda Ching, TNC, and Kristalyn Loson, TNC, as they demystify the concepts of private benefit, private inurement, self-dealing, Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) and commerciality. Appropriate for land trust board and staff, this webinar will introduce the legal topics and then work through hypotheticals covering scenarios commonly faced by land trusts.
More information and registration on the Land Trust Alliance website.
Do-It-Yourself Visitor Surveys for Parks, Trails, Heritage Sites and the Towns that Serve Them
Three 1-hour sessions on Tuesday, January 19, 26, and February 2
2:00-3:00pm
Price: $135 for Maine participants, contact Donna if interested
Visitor surveys can be a great tool for gathering information and generating insights that help you attract more visitors or encourage them to return, manage the visitors you already have, help local businesses generate more business from nearby trails, heritage sites and parks; plan and fine-tune programs; tweak your marketing; raise money and forge partnerships.
But no matter how low-budget, visitor surveys require investing resources that are precious to your organization like time, money, volunteer effort, relationships, and even your reputation. This course will help you make sure those investments pay off with a resource-efficient approach that yields reliable, high-impact information. In this course, you will:
Learn how to create a survey plan that gives you the information you most need and fits your budget and other available resources.
Identify your target audiences and how to reach and collect data from them.
Learn whether, how and when to engage volunteers, partners and other community support.
Learn how to develop a questionnaire that works.
Review survey templates and models from other places.
Learn how to organize, analyze, and learn from your data.
Identify ways to use your findings to inform or promote action.
Please contact Donna for the discount code so you get the lowest price!
It’s Your Turn: The Role of the Board Chair
Four 60-minute webinars, Thursdays, Feb. 4-25, 2021
3:00 – 4:00pm
MANP Member Price: $80*
Brought to you by Maine Association of Nonprofits
Leading a group of governance volunteers can be challenging as well as rewarding. This course is a great primer for new board chairs and an excellent refresher for more seasoned board members. Participants will learn about the chair’s responsibility in strengthening and improving the leadership work of the board as a whole.
Whether you’re a current chair, chair-elect, or head up a committee, this workshop will shed light on leadership skills every board member needs. Topics include: leadership characteristics of effective board leaders, key relationships in and out of the board room, your leadership legacy, facilitating meetings that matter, and ways to engage individual board members.
Click here for a full course description and registration information.
*Most MLTN member organizations are MANP members. Contact Donna to check on your MLTN status.
Jobs in the Conservation Sector
Lots of new opportunities for conservation positions added in last two weeks. Here are the latest additions.
Summit Steward – Friends of Acadia
Field Team Member (Trails) – Maine Conservation Corps
Assistant Team Leader (Trails) – Maine Conservation Corps
Summer Internship – Kennebec Land Trust
Land Stewardship & Geographic Information System (GIS) Intern – Woodie Wheaton Land Trust
Land Steward – Mahoosuc Land Trust
James W. Dow Summer Internship – Blue Hill Heritage Trust
New England Program Manager – Land Trust Alliance
Trails and Public Access Program Manager – Georges River Land Trust
Development Associate – Harpswell Heritage Land Trust
Deadline: Rolling, next application deadline is February 1, 2021
With major support from Toyota Motor North America, International Paper, and the Hilton Effect Foundation, the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is making $128,000 in grant funding available to support public lands that have been impacted by increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through this funding opportunity, NEEF will sponsor sites in order to demonstrate the need for volunteer service to restore public lands that have been impacted by increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic; engage volunteers in restoration and conservation projects that address the impacts of the pandemic; and contribute to improvement of the sponsored public land sites through community engagement, as evidenced by volunteer participation numbers, types of projects, value of volunteer service, and conservation outputs.
Applicants can request up to $2,500 over six months and must clearly describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public land site (e.g., wear and tear on trails due to increased public use, increased litter, postponed projects such as planting/invasive species removal, etc.) “Public lands” includes parks, nature areas, and other green spaces that are publicly accessible.
The Clif Bar Family Foundation was established in 2006 to support grassroots groups with inspiring ideas and limited funds. To that end, the foundation invites applications for its Small Grants program. Through the program, the foundation awards grants to mission-driven organizations and/or projects that protect Earth’s beauty and bounty; help create robust, healthy food systems; increase opportunities for outdoor activity; reduce environmental health hazards; and build stronger communities. Grants are awarded for general organizational support as well as funding for specific projects.
To be eligible, applicants must be based in the U.S. and be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or have a fiscal sponsor with such status.
See the Clif Bar Family Foundation website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.