Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition

  • Purpose: Presumpscot Conservation Planning: Vision, Values, and Priorities initiative, a multi-stakeholder collaborative process to prioritize land conservation needs in the Presumpscot Watershed.
  • Partners: Friends of the Presumpscot River, Portland North Land Trust Alliance, Portland Trails, Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, Town of Windham, and Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (USM)
  • 2011 Award: $24,000
  • 2010 Award: $20,000
  • 2009 Award: $35,000, 1 year request  Read the 2009 proposal (PDF)

    • CBEP - Presumpscot River Conservation Planning

    The Presumpscot Conservation Planning: Vision, Values & Priorities initiative was launched by the Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition (PRWC) in conjunction with the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP).

    The initiative will convene a multi-stakeholder, collaborative process to establish shared land conservation vision, values & priorities for the Presumpscot River watershed, which includes the drainage downstream of Sebago Lake and encompasses parts of Buxton, Cumberland, Falmouth, Gorham, Gray, North Yarmouth, Portland, Raymond, Standish, Westbrook, Windham, and Yarmouth.

    The model for this initiative was developed based on a belief that approaching land conservation on a watershed basis is the best way to serve both the human and ecological communities that rely on the watershed. Recent studies suggest that the ability of Maine’s streams to support aquatic communities becomes degraded when impervious surface exceeds 6-10% of the watershed. There is a direct correlation between the character of a landscape and the health of the aquatic ecosystems within it. Similar relationships link landscape structure to terrestrial biodiversity, human health, and community wellbeing. A common conservation vision, with supporting values and priorities, will foster collaborative approaches to conservation, leading to greater success identifying and protecting high-value habitat, culturally significant areas, and agricultural lands. This vision will provide a roadmap supporting a locally meaningful Quality of Place.

    This initiative will seek broad public engagement throughout, and will actively seek participation from “unusual voices” to ensure that a wide range of viewpoints are represented. Anticipated project outcomes include stronger ties among land trusts, municipal conservation commissions, state agencies, and other stakeholders; a common vision for land conservation; a set of agreed upon values to guide priority setting with regard to land conservation; and maps, geospatial data and supporting information anchoring those values in local geography and highlighting conservation priorities.

    A primary goal is to develop a vision that supports conservation of open space, environmental, recreational, and cultural resources on private land and in collaboration with private land owners. By convening a regional conversation on conservation priorities, PRWC and other stakeholders recognize the need to step outside conventional local political boundaries to identify and preserve broader ecological and cultural landscapes. While the outcome of a shared visioning process cannot be guarenteed, it is anticipated that products will be developed that enhance Quality of Place with an integrated land conservation vision that identifies conservation values across the natural and built environments.

    Despite more than a decade’s worth of academic writing on ecosystem based management and community based conservation that highlights the importance of community involvement in conservation planning, broadly based efforts to develop community-wide visions for land conservation priorities are still rare. This project represents one of the first large-scale efforts in the region to take a watershed approach to land conservation combined with a community-based visioning process.

    By integrating the expertise and experience of others, the partners expect to refine a process which could be replicated in other watersheds throughout Maine and beyond.

     

    About the Grantees

    Androscoggin Land Trust

    Friends of Midcoast Maine

    GrowSmart Maine 

    Healthy Community Coalition 

    Keeping Maine’s Forests

    Mahoosuc Land Trust / Bethel Area Nonprofit Collaborative

    Maine Coast Heritage Trust

    Maine Conservation Voters Education Fund 

    Maine Development Foundation 

    Maine Farmland Trust 

    Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition

    Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association

    Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine

    The Nature Conservancy

    Trust for Public Land 

    Learn More

    EFN’s Quality of Place Initiative