We have worked with our clients and their communities to preserve over one million acres of land.
We have a long history of working with landowners and land trusts to conserve and to protect Maine lands and waters for future generations. The firm has had the unique experience of representing landowners responsible for creating the largest conservation easements ever granted in the State of Maine.
Our land conservation attorneys regularly assist large landowners in connection with the grant of working forest easements and owners of small parcels to advance critical conservation values. The firm also represents nonprofit land trusts in the negotiation and acquisition of conservation easements. In any of these roles, we work closely with our clients to achieve their own unique land conservation objectives.
While our group is focused on the negotiation and drafting of conservation easements, we often call upon other members of the firm to assist with related matters, such as income and estate tax matters, defense and enforcement of easements and employment issues.
Related projects:
Downeast Lakes
Through a combination of fee transfers and conservation easements, 350,000 acres of primarily undeveloped forestlands and shorelands in Washington and Penobscot Counties are now protected for present and future generations. Public recreational access, as well as forest and wildlife habitats, are protected.
Machias River Easement
Purchased by the State of Maine in 2003, this easement protects a 1,000-foot corridor along 40 miles of one of the most important Atlantic Salmon systems in the country. The easement effort affords public access, ensures sustainable working forests and prohibits river development.
Pingree Forest Partnership
Larger than the State of Rhode Island, the land protected by this easement comprises 762,193 acres, making the Pingree Forest Partnership the largest forestland conservation effort in the history of the United States. This project conserves over 2,000 miles of shoreline, 110 lakes and ponds, and contains 72,000 acres of wetland habitat.
West Branch Easement
This working forest easement protects 282,000 acres of the headwaters of Henry David Thoreau’s Maine Woods. Ecological areas include Baxter Lake, the headwater ponds of the St. John River, and land surrounding Seboomook Lake. Working with the Forest Society of Maine, as well as the State of Maine, the landowners were able to ensure the continued use of the property as sustainable working forest, while at the same time allowing public access to be granted for various recreational purposes and major road transportation.
To learn more about services specific to land conservation, please contact Karen A. Huber at 207-992-4312.