The Program
Join us in Maine this summer as we explore one of America’s greatest remaining – and expanding – wilderness areas. Not only does this area contain the most extensive intact forest ecosystem east of the Mississippi, it also is home to some of the healthiest wildlife populations anywhere in North America. Expect to see whitetail deer, moose, beaver and more! Changing attitudes towards nature have led to calls for greater protection of the Maine Woods, and balancing these efforts with the area’s long tradition of logging and resource extraction is a major challenge facing conservationists hoping to preserve this unique ecosystem.
Protection of the Maine Woods ecosystem began formally in 1931 with the donation of 6,000 acres to the state by then-governor Percival Baxter. The purpose of the donation, and also Baxter’s lifelong goal, was to keep the area “forever wild”. Since those humble beginnings Baxter State Park has grown to encompass more than 200,000 acres of forest, including Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak, as well as abundant wildlife ranging from whitetail deer and black bear to beaver, Canada lynx, and the largest population of moose in North America. Baxter today is at the center of an even more ambitious plan to protect a much greater proportion of the Maine Woods: just to the park’s east, conservationists have recently secured the creation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, which safeguards nearly a further 90,000 acres. For many, the ultimate goal is the creation of a more than three million acre Maine Woods National Park.
Despite its many successes, the conservation movement is not embraced by all Mainers. There is a strong tradition of private forest ownership and management here, and logging, private property advocates, and developers have fiercely opposed public land acquisition at every step. The struggle to protect the incredible Maine Woods landscape—as well as the fight to preserve a culture deeply rooted in the exploitation of the forest—is a microcosm of the broader effort to conserve nature in a complex and changing world.
Students on the Maine Program will examine these current and nuanced issues in detail, all while based in the fantastically diverse, beautiful, and unique Maine Woods ecosystem. Our team will explore the places and study the forests and wildlife that lie at the heart of the debate, including Baxter State Park and the newly-established Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. We will go deep into the Maine Woods backcountry, to the top of Mt. Katahdin, and on canoes to some of the region’s most isolated and picturesque waterways. Students can expect to gain skills used in field biology and learn how to observe and study plants and animals in their natural habitats, which together are the foundation of effective, science-based management. By the end of the program, students will have a deep understanding not only of the Maine Woods ecosystem and the effort to strike a balance between preservation and human use here, but also of the principles that underlie successful conservation efforts elsewhere.