MLTN Infoline – June 17, 2025

June 17, 2025|Infoline

Use Your Voice: Participate in These Surveys

Land trusts in Maine represent a significant number of people who care about and for Maine’s lands and Maine’s future. In the 2024 Maine Land Trust Census, land trusts reported employing 731 individuals in various capacities, and while we didn’t tally up board members, the number has to be well over 1,000. That means we have clout, and we can use that clout to weigh in on issues that may impact how land trusts operate in the future.

Today we have two opportunities for you to let your voice be heard. The first relates to the Maine Trails Program, the grant program that will award the funds made available by a bond passed by Maine voters last November. The Maine Trails Coalition and the Bureau of Parks and Lands wish to better understand what trail organizations across the state need most when it comes to applying for and using these grant funds. This survey takes just 5 minutes to complete and will help ensure the Maine Trails Program succeeds in getting funding to the ground and supporting trail projects statewide. The deadline to participate is Monday, June 30th. Take this survey now!

The second survey – being undertaken by UMaine researchers – investigates how individuals involved in land-related decision-making interact with and apply a newly developed predictive tool, the “Thermal Calendar.” This tool is designed to provide precise, location-specific data on seasonal transitions and more accurate estimates of Growing Degree Days (GDD). This tool will enable land managers to better anticipate critical phenological stages and adapt resource management strategies to ensure that agricultural and ecological practices are both precise and responsive to local and regional weather variability. This survey will take 15-20 minutes and is open until August 1st. Learn more and participate in the survey by clicking here.

Your input matters!

Angela, Jeff, Donna, and Katia

State Legislature Approaches Adjournment

The Maine House and Senate have been busy the last few weeks, working to get through what remains of the 1,988 bills that legislators introduced beginning in December of 2024. We will be sending out more detailed information on how various conservation-related proposals fared this session, once the legislature adjourns. In recent weeks, here are a few highlights:

The enactment of LD 269, which approved Department of Environmental Protection rules to address wildlife habitat impacts associated with renewable energy siting. This was the final part of a two-year effort that began with passage of LD 1881, which also led to separate rules related to solar power development on high-value agricultural land.
Passage of LD 1953, a bill to alleviate landowner liability concerns for conservation easement grantors considering projects that include guaranteed permanent public access.
Both legislative bodies have enacted LD 1308, a resolve directing the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and the Department Agriculture, Conservancy and Forestry to study public outdoor recreation issues on private and public lands in Maine. The agencies are directed to form a 12-person working group, that includes one person representing a conservation organization that manages land or easements.

As the end of the session approaches, Maine Coast Heritage Trust is focused on two other significant issues. The first is making sure LD 1072 passes. This bill has three sections, including one that would streamline and improve the state’s conservation lands registry. MCHT is also working with partners to seek renewed Land for Maine’s Future funding. We are looking at two potential ways to achieve this goal. As the best path for LMF funding emerges in the days ahead, stay tuned for how you might help ensure success.

For more information on these or other policy issues, please contact MCHT’s Policy Director Jeff Romano.

Nonprofit Tech Board Leadership 101

Wednesday, June 18, 2025 via Zoom

3:00-4:00pm

Cost: FREE

Do you have tech expertise on your nonprofit board? Join Community IT Innovators for a webinar on recruiting tech leadership to serve on your board. The presenter will be Board.dev founder and CEO Alethea Hannemann. Alethea is the co-founder and CEO of Board.dev and an architect of the pro-bono service movement. She will share Board.dev’s insights into the necessity of having board members fluent in tech and nonprofit needs, and how to build tech expertise on your board.

Board service is a high-potential lever for tech capacity-building in social sector organizations. By placing a tech leader on your board, you bring a unique technology perspective to board conversations, add to your general business knowledge, and engage a valuable strategic technology planning partner to the CEO. Making technology risk and opportunity a regular topic at the highest levels of leadership can transform an organization, driving mission success and building greater support for the community.

Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community.

Learn more and register at Community IT’s website.

Maine Fiscal Sponsorship Landscape Analysis: Presentation and Discussion

Thursday, June 26, 2025 via Zoom

12:00-1:00pm

Cost: FREE

There are relatively few fiscal sponsors in Maine—and none working at scale or offering a broad range of services—yet there are many small organizations and programs that could benefit from using a fiscal sponsor. There also is considerable confusion about the roles of fiscal sponsors and sponsees, the requirements of funders, and the components and benefits of a sound fiscal sponsorship agreement.

For these reasons, six foundations—the Broad Reach Fund, the Maine Community Foundation, Maine Health Access Foundation, the Onion Foundation, the Sewall Foundation, and the Quimby Family Foundation—commissioned a study to analyze the field and make recommendations for next steps. Through a robust survey and interviews, the report captures the knowledge and thinking of a broad swath of the nonprofit community and identifies needs that funders could address. Your own experience and thoughts are very important to this discussion of the report’s findings and recommendations.

Learn more and register at MANP’s website.

Wilderness First Aid Course

Tuesday – Wednesday, July 1 & 2, 2025

9:00am-5:00pm

Reid State Park, Georgetown

Cost: $280 per person

The training is open to the public – anyone can sign up

Join Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT) and Courtney Cronin of Wild Maine Med for a two day Wilderness First Aid Course. This course includes SOLO Wilderness First Aid & CPR. This would be a really great opportunity for land trust staff, volunteers, outdoor enthusiasts, educators, camp counselors, and more! The number of participants will be somewhere in the range of 12-30. Food and accommodations are not provided.

Learn more and register at KELT’s website.

Conservation Challenges and Management Decision Making in Maine’s Coastal Forests

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 (RSVP by July 10)

10:00am-1:00pm (option second field visit 1:30-3 PM)

Surry Forest, Surry

Cost: FREE with lunch provided!

This field tour is for forest managers, land stewards, and landowners who want to learn about:

How heat and drought are impacting tree regeneration in Maine
Recent experimental plantings and food-forest restoration initiatives
How measuring tree growth can inform decision making
Management approaches to restore and promote healthy and resilient coastal forest communities

SAF CFE Pending. View the agenda here. Register here. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Jay Wason, Associate Professor of Forest Ecosystem Physiology at the University of Maine.

This opportunity is brought to you by the Blue Hill Heritage Trust, University of Maine, USDA, Northeastern States Research Cooperative, and the Maine Community Foundation.

Facilities Management: Protect Your Property

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

2:00-2:30pm

Cost: FREE for MANP members*

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

The buildings your nonprofit rents or leases provide a welcoming space for your staff, volunteers and clients. But without care and attention, liabilities and maintenance issues can flourish. Learn how to mitigate common property risks.

Learn more and register at MANP’s website.

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

Action for Ash Day: Inventory and Long-term Monitoring Plots Training

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

8:30am-4:00pm

Colby College, Waterville

Cost: FREE

As the emerald ash borer moves through the Northeast, help is needed to support the resilience of forested ecosystems and basketmaking as a Wabanaki cultural lifeway. Monitoring for signs and symptoms of the emerald ash borer and sharing information on healthy ash trees in your area is one way you can help preserve ash trees into the future.

Join the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik (APCAW), the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), and the Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) program at the Ecological Research Institute to practice short and long term monitoring protocols and learn how to contribute data from your own community to a broad community science effort. Attendees will receive resources to take back to their communities and build connections across a broad network of land stewards, scientists, community members, and basketmakers that will support action to protect ash across the region.

Land trust or conservation staff, conservation volunteers, citizen scientists, and private landowners are encouraged to join.

Learn more and register here.

Jobs in the Conservation Sector

Conservation groups are deep into their summer work, so the job postings have slowed down but we’ve got two new ones for you. You can also view the full list of postings on our website.

Land Protection Manager – Frenchman Bay Conservancy

Seasonal Stewardship and Grounds Assistant – Maine Audubon

AllTrails Stewards Fund

Application Deadline: June 30, 2025

Stewardship is one of the core values at AllTrails. They are driven by the belief that everyone belongs outdoors, while knowing that caring for the trails is just as important as exploring them. Their technology helps millions of people around the world get outside, but they haven’t figured out how to have it build a culvert (yet). Fortunately, they found another way: getting funds directly into the hands of those who work on trails every day, through their brand new Stewards Fund. The AllTrails Stewards Fund will give money to projects that improve, maintain, rebuild, and restore outdoor spaces through an open application process.

The AllTrails Stewards Fund is for trail projects that expand outdoor access and preserve outdoor spaces. They are looking to help projects with strong community support and strategies for long-term sustainability. Fund awards range from $2,000 to $10,000 and will be given in the following categories:

Trail resiliency
Trail experience
Essential maintenance
Trail restoration
Trail insights: Projects that survey, collect, and share critical trail data to improve accessibility and visitor experience

To be eligible, an organization must, in addition to other requirements:

Be a current 1% for the Planet vetted environmental partner or meet the criteria to become one. If you are selected for funding, AllTrails will be the business to recommend you. You do not need to become an environmental partner before applying; just meet the criteria to become one.
Be an active member of the AllTrails Public Lands Program, or be willing to join. This collaborative program helps better inform visitors and improve the experience of both visitors and trail managers.

Learn more on the AllTrails website.