After nearly a year of fundraising, the Magalloway Collaborative is closing in on the $62 million purchase of some 78,000 acres of western Maine lands that will be permanently conserved for a variety of public uses.

The 78,000-acre parcel, about a 30-minute drive west of Rangeley, contains 170 miles of rivers and streams and 2,400 acres of wetlands and lakes. The parcel will connect about 500,000 acres of conserved land stretching from New Hampshire into Maine’s Franklin County, including along portions of the Canadian border. 

The collaborative, which launched fundraising for the conservation project in March 2025, has a remaining goal of $12.4 million toward the purchase before its May deadline to close on the property. 

“We are currently just over 80% of our fundraising goal,” said Molly Shaw, communications director for the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust. “If the potential donors we are now reaching out to respond as favorably as our early donors have, we should be on track to close that 20% gap in time to execute the option at the end of May.”

If successful, the conservation effort will in essence prevent development in the project area, preserve outdoor access to the public for activities including hiking, fishing and snowmobiling, and allow continued sustainable timber harvesting.

The Magalloway Collaborative consists of Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, The Nature Conservancy in Maine, Forest Society of Maine and the Northeast Wilderness Trust. 

The Nature Conservancy initiated the possibility by engaging with property owner Bayroot LLC, according to the collaborative’s website. Bayroot LLC is an investment company controlled by Yale University and is one of Maine’s largest landowners. Its holdings are logged by Wagner Forest Management.

The Forest Society of Maine will hold the conservation easement on 62,500 acres of the property’s managed timberland, Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust will manage 4,400 acres of wildlife habitat and recreation, and Northeast Wilderness Trust will own 11,000 acres of wilderness preserve in the north of the parcel. 

“(This creates) one of the largest intact mixed-temperate forest landscapes in North America,” Shaw said. “At that scale, it delivers global-level climate resilience by storing carbon and allowing wildlife refuge as they adapt to a changing climate.”

The project goes a long way toward the Maine Climate Council’s goal of conserving 30% of the state’s land by 2030, Shaw said. 

The 2025 Maine Won’t Wait annual report highlighted the Magalloway Collaborative’s conservation project as one of many that conservationists hope will close the gap between the current 22.5% of conserved lands and the 30% goal.

Maine’s climate goals include becoming 100% carbon neutral by 2045. As of the report, Maine stands at “91% of the way” to carbon neutrality, and conservation efforts like the collaborative’s make that goal attainable, Shaw said.

The amount of carbon this parcel holds has not been determined, but all of Maine’s forests store about 2 billion metric tons of carbon, about 400 times the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere every year in Maine.

The conservation project protects critical habitats and safeguards waters supporting “one of the strongest remaining populations of native brook trout,” Shaw said. The habitats also support black bears, Canada lynx, deer, grouse, moose and a variety of birds. Activities like fishing, hunting, paddling and birdwatching will continue, and in a large portion of the area, timbering will remain a managed activity. 

“(It) preserves a critical segment of the snowmobile Interconnected Trail System linking Maine to New Hampshire,” Shaw said. 

As part of the Wabanaki Tribal Nations’ homeland, the collaborative also hopes the project creates opportunities for cultural and spiritual connections to the land for Wabanaki peoples, the report said. 

“Maine has a long tradition of public access made possible by private landowners, but that access is increasingly at risk,” Shaw said. “This conservation project secures public recreational access in perpetuity, ensuring that both Mainers and visitors can continue to enjoy the area for generations to come.”