I am
thrilled to announce that in September, AMC reached two astounding milestones. First,
we are now the official owners of the Roach Pond Lands – a 29,500-acre parcel
that connects our Katahdin Iron Works property with conservation land to the
north. Second, AMC’s Campaign for the Maine Woods has hit the $45 million mark!
This
started as a wild dream of a new recreational corridor, a huge conservation
effort in a large landscape nearly equal to the White MountainNational Forest. It was a dream bigger
than anything the AMC had ever done before and well beyond the resources the Club.
But
that dream is becoming a reality far more rapidly than we could have imagined
and it is now a million-acre conservation effort in the 100-Mile Wilderness
that has incredible beauty, impressive scale, and astounding grandeur. With
your support, AMC has connected a corridor of protected lands that stretch from
Moosehead Lake all the way to Mount Katahdin.
Quite an accomplishment!
Phase
I of this Campaign took us to $22 million and included the purchase of the 37,000-acre
Katahdin Iron Works parcel and Little Lyford Ponds Camps. Phase II includes the
acquisition of the 29,500-acre RoachPondLands
and Medawisla Wilderness Camps. These opportunities brought the goal to $45
million.
After
meetings, meetings, and more meetings. After years of planning. With a corps of
hardworking volunteers and staff who worked incessantly and tirelessly. With
the ups and downs of the marketplace, bubbles and balloons, crash and burn. We are
finally approaching the finish line!
Today
we celebrate! But tomorrow we continue on, as there is still much more to do
than $45 million can accomplish. Our
accomplishments are the result of people who care passionately about our vision
for the Maine Woods. In short, all I can say is:
