ORONO — The Sen. George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a panel discussion led by Darren Ranco on the Land Back movement and the future of land relations in Maine. The talk will begin at 3 p.m. Monday, March 29.

Ranco will be joined by John Banks, Lucas St. Claire and Peter Forbes in discussing the importance of the land and its history, the need for reconciliation in the conservation movement, and the possibility of new land relations in Maine.

Banks has served as director of the Department of Natural Resources for the Penobscot Nation since 1980, where he has developed and administered a comprehensive, integrated management program for the tribe in recognition of the interconnectedness of all things in the natural world.

St. Claire is president of the Elliotsville Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to advancing the relationship of innovative land conservation and community-based economic development in Maine. The foundation recently returned 735 acres to the Penobscot Nation.

Forbes is co-founder of First Light, a collaboration of Indigenous tribes and conservation organizations dedicated to land justice and aimed at restoring Wabanaki stewardship of land.

Ranco is a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology, chairman of Native American Programs and coordinator of Native American Research at UMaine. He is a member of the Penobscot Nation and is particularly interested in how better research relationships can be made between universities, Native and non-Native researchers and Indigenous communities.

The talk is free and available via Zoom; registration is required. To register and receive connection information, visit umaine.edu. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth at 207-581-3196 or [email protected].