The Maine Association of Conservation Commissions, a statewide membership organization dedicated to supporting existing municipal conservation commissions and helping to support the development of new commissions, invites nominations for new board members.

The association is a nonprofit organization created following 1987 state legislation that authorized Maine municipalities to establish conservation commissions. The organization provides education and consulting to municipal conservation commissions working on open space plans, community forests, and other types of community conservation projects. Conservation Commissions are volunteer municipal committees that work on projects identified by their communities, and which range from planning, to water quality projects to supporting farm markets.

The association also biennially recognizes a Maine commission with the Tad Dow Award for contributions to conservation at the municipal level. Additionally, the organization biennially awards an individual with the Robert V. Shafto Award for outstanding leadership, community involvement and ongoing public conservation awareness in the state.

The association’s board is comprised of volunteers from conservation commissions and interested community members with a passion for community conservation and a commitment to supporting the development of commissions in Maine. The board holds quarterly meetings in Augusta, including an annual meeting of the members each spring at the Maine Land Trust Network Annual Conference in Topsham.

Interested nominees can forward a brief letter of interest and resume to Board Chair Garvan Donegan at garvan.donegan@maine.edu. For more information, visit www.meacc.net or contact Garvan Donegan at the aforementioned email, or Marcel Polak, executive director at 665-2577/marcel@meacc.net.