Magalloway Wilderness Preserve

Parmachenee and Lynchtown Townships, Maine 11,200 acres Directions Download Map

A Historic Conservation Opportunity

In a remote corner of western Maine lies the Magalloway lands and waters—a vast and spectacular landscape teeming with wildlife. For decades, a 78,000-acre parcel of these lands has been owned and managed by private landowners for forestry and other purposes. Now, thanks to a collaboration between Northeast Wilderness Trust, The Nature Conservancy, The Forest Society of Maine, and Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, these lands are on the verge of permanent conservation. NEWT is playing a leading role in ensuring that 11,200 acres of this land become a wilderness preserve, allowing them a chance to rest and heal through rewilding.

Four logos from Northeast Wilderness Trust, The Nature Conservancy, The Forest Society of Maine, and Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust.

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Large-Scale Wilderness Conservation in the Northern Appalachian Forest

NEWT is playing a leading role in ensuring that 11,200 acres of this land become a wilderness preserve, allowing them a chance to rest and heal through rewilding. Other conservation measures on the larger property will expand recreation opportunities and improve habitat, and include non-development provisions for the managed forest—with 100-foot cutting setbacks for priority trout waterways.

Call to Action

All four partner organizations are working in close coordination to secure $62 million by May 2026 to permanently conserve and steward the Magalloway lands. Your gift will ensure that 11,200 acres in this critical region are protected as forever wild.

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A Haven for Wildlife

Conservation of the Magalloway lands will help secure connectivity of wildlife habitat in the Appalachians—a major pathway for movement of species in eastern North America.

The land in this region supports habitat for migratory songbirds, including more than 20 species of warblers, Ruffed Grouse, waterfowl, wading birds, endangered Canada lynx, black bear, moose, and white-tailed deer.

The forests of Magalloway run the gamut from lowland spruce swamps to more typical northern hardwood forests at mid-elevation, to high-elevation spruce-fir dominated forests. Mapping suggests that some areas of older forest likely remain in the more remote areas of the property, such as the future NEWT lands.

Fostering Climate Resilience

The Magalloway Wilderness Preserve will include Rump Mountain and Ledge Ridge, both of which rank very high for their climate resilience.

The Magalloway River is one of four rivers in the United States that will have a sustainable population of native wild brook trout given a four-degree celsius temperature increase, according to the United States Geological Survey. Trout Unlimited has named it as one of its national priority trout streams.

Ruffed Grouse by Janelle Jones.

The Power of Conservation at Scale

The proposed Magalloway Wilderness Preserve is a perfect example of the power of conservation in context. When combined with nearby conserved lands in New Hampshire (the Connecticut River Headwaters), the Magalloway Wilderness Preserve would bring the total lands conserved for biodiversity in the area to nearly 25,000 acres. Research by The Nature Conservancy and Sweet Water Trust found that, in the Northern Appalachians, 25,000 acres is the optimal size threshold to ensure maximum resilience against increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters while also supporting healthy breeding populations of species that thrive in the region’s largest unfragmented forest habitats.

Size: 11,200 acres

Context: Part of the 78,000-acre Magalloway Collaborative conservation effort, NEWT’s 11,200-acre wilderness preserve will complement nearby conservation focused on recreational and managed forests.

Location: Parmachenee and Lynchtown Townships, Maine

Objective: Forever-wild ecological preserve with high biodiversity and climate benefits.