Welcome to
the Maine Department of Conservation

The Maine Department of Conservation is a natural resource agency whose bureaus oversee the management, development and protection of some of Maine's most special places: 17 million acres of forest land, 10.4 million acres of unorganized territory, 47 parks and historic sites and more than 480,000 acres of public reserved land.

The Department of Conservation, created in 1973, has as its mission to benefit the residents, landowners, and users of the state's natural resources by promoting stewardship and ensuring responsible balanced use of Maine's land, forest, water, and mineral resources.

The Bureau of Parks and Lands has acquired

new digital equipment to help preserve

important historical documents and artifacts.

Read the press release here

Check out this news account
by New England Cable News!
(01/02/2009)

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OUR MDOC NEWSLETTER: "From the Field" for the week ending 12/26/08 (pdf)

Is Lily Bay the best state park in Maine? Down East magazine thinks so! Read their December 2008 issue.

A Take on the Conservation of the Penobscot River By the Leading News Magazine in India

In the Media:

MCI graduate gives students the word: Read by Sharon Kiley Mack, Bangor Daily News (12/18/08)

State conservation commissioner touts public service in school talk

Maine Losing Logging Tradition by Susan Sharon, MPBN Radio (12/11/08)
A century ago they were the workers who cut down trees and made dozens of Maine mills hum. But loggers and the mills who depended on them are a dying breed. And as the state finds itself poised to become a potential leader in the biofuel and wood pellet market, state officials and workers in the wood products industry are trying to figure out ways to keep them from disappearing altogether.

Prospecting opportunity: As metals prices rebound, interest again builds in mining Maine's rich deposits By Alan R. Earls, The Boston Globe (12/11/08)
Exploration companies are now eyeballing locations such as the Bald Mountain area in Aroostook County, where a massive copper-zinc sulfide deposit was first discovered in 1977. At an estimated 30 million tons, it may be the third-most-significant copper discovery in North America since the 1950s, according to a Maine Geological Survey report.

MEET THE BEETLES!

Agriculture Officials Concerned About Spread of Asian Beetle In New England
by Nancy Cohen, MPBN (12/30/08)
Since an invasive beetle was first discovered burrowing in maple trees this summer in Worcester, Massachusetts, government scientists have been trying to figure out the extent of the infestation. The US Department of Agriculture says if the Asian Long Horned Beetle isn't eliminated it could spread throughout New England, New York and even Canada. As part of a collaboration with Northeast stations, Nancy Cohen from WNPR in Hartford reports.

New troops take on invader in York County:A predator is introduced to stem spread of hemlock-eating beetle by John Richardson, Portland Press Herald (12/04/08)

Beetles. They may be our friends after all by Amy Sinclair, NECN (12/03/08)

Forest Service Releases Beetle To Save Hemlocks by Caroline Cornish, WCSH 6 (12/03/08)

HEMLOCK WOOLY ADELGID by Doug Rafferty, Doug's Discovery, WGME 13 (12/03/08)

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Task Force Sets Woodburning Goal by A.J. Higgins, MPBN (09/26/2008)

A special study panel today presented its final recommendations for lessening the state's reliance on foreign oil. The governor's Wood-to-Energy Task Force is suggesting eleven policy actions and an overall goal of converting 10 percent of Maine's heating oil customers to woodburning systems.

Go to the Take It Outside website

The Governor’s Conference on Youth and the Natural World

held Oct. 2, 2008 at the Augusta Civic Center

Speech by keynoter Larry Selzer,
president and CEO, The Conservation Fund(pdf)

"Take it Outside!" is an initiative led by Gov. John E. Baldacci to encourage Maine's children and families to reconnect with nature.

The "Take it Outside!" website is your one-stop information source for year-round outdoor recreation opportunities in Maine. You can find everything you need to "Take it Outside!" and have fun in the great Maine outdoors.