Two recent acquisitions have protected some of Maine’s prized wilderness. The Appalachian Mountain Club has acquired and protected the Roach Ponds tract in the 100-Mile Wilderness region, and The Nature Conservancy’s has done the same with Number 5 Bog and the Moose River Bow trip, near Jackman.
The AMC’s 29,500-acre purchase secures the “missing link” in what is now a 63-mile-long corridor of conservation land, comprising 600,000 acres stretching from Moosehead Lake to Baxter State Park. A conservation easement on the property, held by the Maine Department of Conservation, protects the land from development, allows for timber management, and guarantees public access for primitive recreation in perpetuity. That’s an all-around win that will help provide local jobs in the forest products industry and promote nature-based tourism in Piscataquis County.
The Nature Conservancy’s 15,000-acre acquisition protects, in its entirety, the ecologically significant Number 5 Bog, as well as the Moose River Bow Trip, a prized and remote paddling route.
