Conservation group buys 44,000 acres in northwest Maine for $44.4M

The Conservation Fund, an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit with a Maine office in Freeport, bought a 44,000-acre swath of mountain and forestland along the Canadian border in northern Maine.

It paid $44.4 million in a transaction that was finalized Oct. 15 and announced Nov. 29.

The Hilton Family Forest, as the parcel is known, is in Somerset and Franklin counties, according to a news release. The forest supports the local timber and maple sugar industries, and is a hub for recreational use, including hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, trapping, snowmobiling and ATV riding. It includes a segment of Maine's Interconnected Trail System.

The Conservation Fund said its goal with the deal is to safeguard wildlife habitat and its landscape connectivity, recreation access and economic benefits.

The fund is now working with the community to shape a permanent conservation solution.

“This land has long helped sustain the people of Jackman and Moose River and beyond, and it will continue to do so,” said Tom Duffus, fund’s vice president and Northeast representative based in Freeport. “The Conservation Fund is in the business of conservation — and we bought this land because we want to ensure it remains a working forest, supporting the local economy and community, all while maintaining the incredible habitats and recreation access that so many people enjoy.”

The organization said it targeted the forestland for acquisition when it faced possible conversion, subdivision and development.

The Hilton Land

The property is located along the Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway of Route 201 north of Jackman.

“The Hilton Land is a valued resource for the Jackman community,” said Kirstie Hale, Jackman’s town manager.

The land was on the market because the family decided after 70 years to sell, Duffus told Mainebiz.

The fund used capital from its Working Forests initiative, which includes some of the organization’s green bond funds.

Through the Working Forests initiative, when forestland becomes available, the fund can purchase “at-risk" forests, secure public and private funding to permanently protect them and resell the forests back to the private market, forever protected as working forests. 

Using the model, the fund has protected more than 1 million acres of working forests in 21 states.

Green bonds are an impact investment instrument. In 2019, the organization raised capital by issuing $150 million in taxable green bonds underwritten by Goldman Sachs. The 10-year bonds are a financing instrument dedicated to land conservation.

The property was marketed by LandVest, a real estae firm headquartered in Boston with multiple offices in Maine.

Features include a long-term, sustainably managed forest resource composed of natural hardwood and softwood types, with areas naturally well suited to regenerate and grow sugar maple and productive in maple sap, resulting in several commercial maple sugaring outfits operating on the property, according to marketing information.

“There are 10 commercial sugar producers working their sugar bushes and the balance of the forest will also continue to be managed sustainably,” said Duffus. “These activities are critical to the local economy and employment.”

The land contains populations of rare plant and animal species, including the golden eagle and peregrine falcon.

“Defining and implementing a sustainable, sensible conservation solution for the forest will take time, collaboration and financial support,” Duffus said. “We anticipate owning and managing this land for several years and eventually passing it, with permanent protections in place, to a private owner committed to advancing the forest’s conservation and economic benefits.”

The organization said it is working to raise funds to permanently safeguard the property and its benefits.

The amount to be raised is still to be determined. 

“We have about five to seven years to raise private funds to match Forest Legacy and other funds,” said Duffus.

Forest Legacy is a conservation program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service in partnership with state agencies to encourage the protection of privately owned forest lands through conservation easements or land purchases. Since its creation in 1990, Forest Legacy has conserved over 3 million acres of forestland and expanded across the country to 53 states and territories.

Safeguarding the land will like mean establishing a conservation easement, possibly through the Forest Legacy program, said Duffus. 

“This will keep the land in private ownership, open for traditional recreation access, managed sustainably and on the tax rolls as it is under our ownership,” he said.