In mid-July, Bryan and Lily visited Alexandra Conover Bennett at her remote cabin in Elliotsville, Maine. Accessible only by canoe, Alexandra and her partner, Kermit, live simply without running water or electricity. Alexandra is well-known in Maine, New England, and the international community as an outdoor educator, guide, and writer. Her work has touched the lives of countless people, and it was truly an honor to visit her home and hear her speak about nature and spirituality. 

In this episode, Bryan talks with Karin Tilberg, the Executive Director of the Forest Society of Maine. As Karin fishes the East Outlet of Moosehead Lake they talk about their respective connections to the Maine woods and to that place in particular. 

Lily returned to Greenville to interview Jenny Ward, the Maine Business and Community Relations Manager for the AMC. Like most people you've heard from on this podcast, Jenny wears many hats, and her connection to this place runs deep. Listen to this episode to hear more about the AMC's Dark Sky Park, the importance of conservation organizations (like the AMC) to Maine communities during COVID, Jenny's 29029 Everesting event, and a cool trick she shared for calling in birds. 

In this episode Lily traveled to Orland, Maine to interview Landon Fake, the Executive Director of the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust. Their 4500 acres of conserved lands, called The Wildlands, are just inland from Penobscot Bay, less than an hour south of Bangor. Lily and Landon hiked to the top of Great Pond Mountain, discussing wildlife sightings, rare plants, and the role of land conservation in Maine communities.  For more information about Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, visit: https://www.greatpondtrust.org/ 

In this episode, Lily interviewed Kaitlyn Bernard, who is the Natural Resources Policy Advisor with the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Kaitlyn grew up in a town called Fort Kent, located in Maine's Aroostook County (or "The County" as most people here call it). Kaitlyn and Lily talked about the funding of the Land for Maine's Future program and shared stories about their cross country skiing experiences.  --- Note: An earlier version of this podcast description misstated Kaitlyn's current role. This has been corrected—  apologies for any confusion.  

While visiting the Greenville area, we met up with Roger Merchant, a long time forester and advocate for Maine's woods. He took us on a trek into Big Wilson Stream Forest, which is an area of old growth forest that he helped discover and protect. Some of the trees in this stand are over 200 years old. In this episode, Roger talks about forestry, Maine's ecotourism potential, and his fears about the effects of climate change on our forests, among other things. 

This is the final episode in our three part series with Susan and Mark Adams. After returning from the canoe trip, we sit out on the porch during a June thunderstorm to get some final reflections from Susan and Mark on their careers, their time on both branches of the Penobscot River, and their connection to this community.  ~ At the end of June, we traveled to Patten to talk with people about the past, present, and future of the land that is now Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. In August of 2016, the Elliotsville Foundation (headed by Roxanne Quimby) donated 87,000 acres of land east of Baxter State Park to the federal government with the intention of it becoming a National Monument. National Monuments are similar to National Parks, but National Parks must be approved by Congress while National Monuments can be signed into law by the president through the Antiquities Act. President Obama did just that on August 23, 2016. This was the culmination of decades of hard work by many people, including Roxanne Quimby, her son, Lucas St. Clair, and people like Susan and Mark Adams, among others. 

This is part two of our three part series with Susan Adams. In this episode, we start our canoe trip on the Sebois River and head down to Lunksoos on the East Branch of the Penobscot. Things get off to a rocky start— quite literally. As we paddle (and "river walk"), Susan points out plants and animals and tells us memorable stories from her many trips on this stretch of river.  ~  At the end of June, we traveled to Patten to talk with people about the past, present, and future of the land that is now Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. In August of 2016, the Elliotsville Foundation (headed by Roxanne Quimby) donated 87,000 acres of land east of Baxter State Park to the federal government with the intention of it becoming a National Monument. National Monuments are similar to National Parks, but National Parks must be approved by Congress while National Monuments can be signed into law by the president through the Antiquities Act. President Obama did just that on August 23, 2016. This was the culmination of decades of hard work by many people, including Roxanne Quimby, her son, Lucas St. Clair, and people like Susan and Mark Adams, among others.

At the end of June, we traveled to Patten to talk with people about the past, present, and future of the land that is now Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. In August of 2016, the Elliotsville Foundation (headed by Roxanne Quimby) donated 87,000 acres of land east of Baxter State Park to the federal government with the intention of it becoming a National Monument. National Monuments are similar to National Parks, but National Parks must be approved by Congress while National Monuments can be signed into law by the president through the Antiquities Act. President Obama did just that on August 23, 2016. This was the culmination of decades of hard work by many people, including Roxanne Quimby, her son, Lucas St. Clair, and people like Susan and Mark Adams, among others.   This episode is the first in a three part series with Susan Adams. Susan and her husband Mark work for the Elliotsville Foundation, doing community outreach and recreation management. In this first episode, we hop into Susan's truck and she drives us into the monument to the canoe launch. Susan talks about the many hats she wears for the Elliotsville Foundation, her childhood on Penobscot Bay, and working with local schools to connect kids with the land. 

While in Patten, we visited the Patten Lumbermen's Museum and spoke with the curator, Rhonda Brophy. Understanding logging and its legacy is key to understanding the past, present, and future of Maine's woods. The museum is chock full of interesting artifacts and stories about this history. The title of this episode is a hint to some of the neat things we learned. Definitely visit the Patten Lumbermen's Museum if you're in the area!  Here's a link to the museum's website: https://lumbermensmuseum.org/