
Maine Community Foundation Heald Fund awards $10,000 for 100-Mile Wilderness acquisition project
The Maine Community Foundation’s new Roger N. Heald Fund has awarded $85,000 in grants to support conservation projects across Maine. The grantees include $10,000 to The Conservation Fund for an acquisition project in the 100-Mile Wilderness along the Appalachian Trail, as well as $25,000 to Somerset Woods Trustees for the campaign to acquire the Weston Farm in Madison and another $25,000 to The Trust for Public Land for the Bethel Community Forest campaign.
The Maine Community Foundation awarded an additional $25,000 grant from the same fund to the Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative to conduct outreach and research over the next few months to help inform future potential uses for the Heald Fund.
“The Heald Fund is a significant addition to MaineCF’s work to help protect some of Maine’s special places,” said Maggie Drummond-Bahl, MaineCF senior program officer. “We’re looking forward to helping more communities and organizations undertake conservation efforts that engage and benefit all community members, encourage more outdoor recreation and public access, and support local economies and the environment.”
The Heald Fund was established in 2018 through a generous bequest by an anonymous donor to support conservation through land acquisition and/or securing of easements. The grant program guidelines and process will be announced later in 2019 after research and outreach are complete.