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20TH ANNIVERSARY, REWILDING

25,000 Wild Acres Protected by 2025…Complete!

In 2020, Northeast Wilderness Trust launched a five-year strategic plan that put forth a bold goal for wilderness protection: protect an additional 25,000 wild acres by the end of 2025. I am thrilled to report that we did it…nearly three years early! With the brand new Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary in Vermont, over 25,093 acres have become newly wild since 2020—and it’s all thanks to a rapidly growing family of wilderness supporters. What a way to wrap up our 20th Anniversary year!

Read on for a review of all the wild places that helped us reach this goal, with at least one new forever-wild place in each state of our six-state focal area.

The best part? We aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Northeast Wilderness Trust has bold plans to continue moving the needle towards a wilder future—for the benefit of wildlife and people—and we need your help to make it happen. To get involved and stay abreast of the next round of wilderness successes, sign up for our Wild Times Enewsletter or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Jon Leibowitz, Executive Director

Connecticut

Cornwall EasementWildlands Partnership, 375 acres, June 2022

A rugged pine at the outcrop on Red Mountain Preserve, protected by Cornwall Conservation Trust and further safeguarded by a Northeast Wilderness Trust forever-wild easement.

Maine

Ames & McCorrison Additions to Alder Stream Wilderness Preserve: 471 acres, January 2021 & June 2022

Redington Wilderness Sanctuary: 3,415 acres, March 2021

Frenchman Bay Community Forest: Wildlands Partnership, 1,435 acres, October 2021

Grafton Forest Wilderness Preserve6,045 acres, March 2022

Whalesback Easements: Wildlands Partnership, 3,307 acres, July & October 2022

Tidal Bends Wilderness Preserve: 263 acres, November 2022

Northeast Wilderness Trusts holds two forever-wild easements that protect headwaters of the Union River at the contour of the Whalesback esker. This conservation project was a collaboration with Frenchman Bay Conservancy as part of NEWT’s Wildlands Partnership.

Massachusetts

Marion Marsh Wilderness Preserve: 27 acres, October 2021

The Wilderness Trust’s first ocean-front conservation project protected 27 acres of salt marsh habitat as wilderness. This imperiled ecosystem provides breeding grounds for fish and threatened diamondback terrapin sea turtles.

New Hampshire

Sawtelle & Steel Additions to Binney Hill Wilderness Preserve: 62 acres, January 2020 & June 2021

Jack & Margaret Hoffman Wilderness Sanctuary: 131 acres, October 2020

Heath Brook Forest: 77 acres, December 2021

Wildwood Wilderness Preserve: 587 acres, December 2021

Wildwood Wilderness Preserve has been a research site of Antioch University since the 1990s. With forever-wild status, this land will continue to unlock our understanding of wild places for decades to come.

New York

Grasse River Wilderness Preserve1,433 acres, October 2022

Grasse River Wilderness Preserve is notable for its low-elevation water features. In addition to its 20 small ponds, 7 miles of streams, and 250 acres of wetlands, the Preserve protects water quality in the Grasse River itself. This river is one of the few places where the endangered eastern pearlshell mussel is known to exist.

Vermont

Bramhall Wilderness Preserve: 359 acres, March 2020

Duren Mountain Wilderness Preserve: 184 acres, June 2020

Woodbury Mountain Wilderness Preserve: 5,472 acres, December 2021

Eagle Ledge & Spring Additions to Woodbury Mountain Wilderness Preserve: 625 acres, December 2021 & August 2022

Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary: 825 acres, November 2022

A photo of canopy and a mountanous horizon in Woodbury Mountain Wilderness Preserve at sunrise.
Woodbury Mountain Wilderness Preserve protects core habitat in the Worcester-to-Kingdom wildlife corridor in northern Vermont.

Photography: Cornwall Easement by Harry White, Whalesback Easements by Mike Perlman, Marion Marsh Wilderness Preserve by Joe Falconeiri, Wildwood Wilderness Preserve by Shelby Perry, Grasse River Wilderness Preserve by Brendan Wiltse, Woodbury Mountain Wilderness Preserve by Jerry Monkman/Ecophotography