Barnard Forest, Maine Woods. Photo by Jerry Monkman.
At AMC we spent the year protecting land, securing funding for conservation, and of course, getting outside with our community. We’ve climbed mountains and gone on paddles, advocated with our local representatives, and managed forests for carbon sequestration and natural climate solutions. To put it short: we’ve been busy.
That doesn’t mean we’re too busy to stop and celebrate our wins. Without our AMC staff, volunteers, members, and community, none of the work we’ve achieved would be possible. Read on for our 2024 conservation success stories, successes we’re celebrating because of our work together.
Photo by Corey David Photography.
Community
The AMC community is the organization’s lifeblood. With almost 90,000 members and even more folks visiting our lodges and trails and getting outside with us, we have the collective power to inspire advocacy on a mass level. In 2024 our community went above and beyond.
Top successes to which we all contributed:
- 118,250 plant phenology (life cycle) observations collected along the Appalachian Trail corridor using iNaturalist to contribute to a data set exploring the impact of climate change on flowering plants
- 200 youth and community members in Lowell and Lawrence, MA gathered and got their feet wet collecting dragonflies from local waterbodies to assess mercury risk in their communities
Photo by Paula Champagne.
Conservation
One of AMC’s strategic priorities is to protect critical landscapes for the well-being of people and the outdoors. One of the ways we do that is through conserving land and waters. Conservation is a proven way to mitigate climate change, protect the outdoors for future generations, and nurture the world we live in.
AMC’s top conservation successes:
- 2,381 acres of land protected across the Mid-Atlantic region through the securing of $10M from the Highland Conservation Act, which promotes access to safe, clean drinking water by conserving the land the water runs through
- 22 fish crossings completed, opening 7.5 miles of river habitat in Maine for Atlantic salmon, alewives, elvers, and other fish and aquatic species, restoring river health and promoting open waterways
Photo by Garrett English.
Funding
Securing funding is critical to our mission to protect, enjoy, and understand the outdoors. With the help of AMC’s Conservation Action Network and the Conservation Policy team, we celebrate major funding wins for the outdoors this year.
Our top funding successes:
- Secured $1M in federal funding for the Northeast Snow Survey Feasibility Study, a project with goals to understand how our winters are changing due to climate change and how that will impact recreation, economies, and ecosystems
- Brought home over $45M in working forest conservation projects from Maine to Virginia this year through U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy grants, protecting forests, habitat, and drinking water and preserving recreation opportunities across lands and waters
Photo by Corey David Photography.
Reflecting on our past year only excites and invigorates us for what’s to come. We can’t wait to roll our sleeves up and #BeOutdoors in 2025, working, playing, and joyfully experiencing all the outdoors have to offer.