A version of this press release first appeared in Maine Public on September 29, 2026 as “Moxie Pond wilderness conserved.”

MONTPELIER, VERMONT—Northeast Wilderness Trust and Trust for Public Land have partnered to permanently protect 1,843 acres southeast of Maine’s Moxie Pond in Somerset County. The new Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve is a win for both people and Nature—securing outdoor recreation opportunities, expanding habitat protection for plants and animals, and fortifying the region’s climate resilience.

Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve will be managed as a “wildland” to allow the forest to grow old and the streams to run free—a passive management approach called “rewilding.” Wildlands deliver critical benefits for biodiversity and climate mitigation and yet represent just 3.7 percent of Maine’s land area.

Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve will boost wildlands’ representation among Maine’s rich mosaic of managed forests and farms while strengthening migration corridors for roving wildlife, including fisher and bobcat. The Preserve contains 37 acres of wetlands, 3 miles of brook trout streams, and a mile of Moxie Pond’s last remaining undeveloped shoreline. The Preserve will also build upon more than 20,000 acres of adjacent conserved land, including the 2,620-acre Moxie Bald Mountain and Bald Mountain Pond and other lands owned by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Land.

Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve will provide a natural buffer zone for a five-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail at the start of the renowned 100-Mile Wilderness. Rewilding this segment of the Trail’s buffer zone will enhance the experience of hikers who contribute to the activity’s $50 million-a-year impact in Maine, a key component of the state’s $3.9 billion outdoor recreation economy.

The Preserve will also guarantee access to a mile of the Bald Mountain Trail, an important regional snowmobile and ATV route, as well as secure public access for hunters.

“The conservation of Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve is an incredible opportunity to strengthen Maine’s portion of the Appalachian Trail—one of the country’s great natural treasures. Building on a longstanding partnership with the National Park Service and a new partnership with Northeast Wilderness Trust, this project will help protect the Trail experience and the remarkable landscape that surrounds it for generations of hikers to come,” said Betsy Cook, Maine state director for Trust for Public Land.

“Moxie Pond is the embodiment of Northeast Wilderness Trust’s commitment to collaborating in pursuit of a wilder future,” said Jon Leibowitz, President and CEO of Northeast Wilderness Trust. “The project strikes a careful balance with Maine’s diversity of human and nonhuman stakeholders in mind, securing existing access while safeguarding more than 1,800 acres of forest that, as they rewild, will act as core habitat for wildlife and will naturally evolve into a future old-growth forest. The Preserve offers something to love to every Mainer who cherishes this precious landscape.”

To protect and establish Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve, Northeast Wilderness Trust and TPL secured more than $3.2 million in private support from dozens of foundations and individual donors. These supporters’ generosity and commitment to conservation made it possible to safeguard this remarkable landscape for the benefit of wildlife, recreation, and future generations.

“This was a compelling conservation opportunity for us—particularly with the connection to the Appalachian Trail corridor—and we were excited to partner on the project and help support the creation of Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve,” said Alex Littlejohn, Director of Conservation for Weyerhaeuser, which had owned and managed the land for timber production prior to the sale.

“This is one parcel in Maine where the ecological, recreational, and aesthetic values far outweigh the timber value. My family has savored this view almost at a spiritual level for six generations, since 1929, and now it will be preserved forever,” said Mark Leathers, Licensed Maine Forester, Master Maine Guide, and President of Lake Moxie Camper’s Association.

Traversing over 2,000 miles through 14 states from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail corridor is a conservation focal point of both Trust for Public Land and Northeast Wilderness Trust because of its importance to biodiversity, climate resilience, outdoor recreation, and cultural heritage.

While long stretches of the lands surrounding the Appalachian Trail are protected by the National Park Service, significant portions of that buffer zone remain privately held and unprotected. To ensure the Appalachian Trail continues to deliver its numerous essential benefits to wildlife, hikers, and nearby communities, Trust for Public Land has identified more than 39,000 acres in need of protection.

The Preserve is now owned and will be stewarded in perpetuity by Northeast Wilderness Trust. To date, with the addition of Moxie Pond Wilderness Preserve, the Wilderness Trust has now preserved nearly 18,000 wilderness acres bordering the Appalachian Trail in the Northeast, and Trust for Public Land has protected 345,000 acres along the entire length of the trail.

ABOUT NORTHEAST WILDERNESS TRUST—Northeast Wilderness Trust, a Montpelier, Vermont-based regional land trust, conserves forever-wild landscapes for Nature and people. It accomplishes this work by acquiring and stewarding land as forever-wild, and by holding forever-wild conservation easements on properties owned by other organizations or individuals. Across New England and New York, the Wilderness Trust secures wild places where Nature can thrive, wildlife can wander, and people can find beauty and quiet. Since its founding in 2002, Northeast Wilderness Trust has protected more than 118,000 acres, of which more than 63,000 are in Maine. Learn more at www.newildernesstrust.org.

ABOUT TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND—Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of land, created more than 5,504 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.