It’s time to get your Passport to Maine’s Outdoors

Building off the 30th anniversary of the Land For Maine’s Future program, the conservation community and LL Bean are encouraging more Mainers to spend lots of time outdoors.

The project is called the Passport to Maine’s Outdoors and features 36 recommended destinations, divided into six geographic regions of the state. Participants can choose to visit long-cherished locations such as Monhegan Island and Baxter State Park. Mainers can also discover lesser-known and newly-conserved areas managed by land trusts including Robert’s Farm in Norway and Thorne Head in Bath.

Thus far 543 people have requested 1,504 passports. Last summer from June to September the totals were 326 people and 725 passports.

Surely, you will want to get your outdoor passports and enjoy some of these great places.

This web site has a bunch more details www.mainepassport.org.

Here’s the press release about this exciting opportunity.

For Immediate Release Contact: Thomas Abello, The Nature Conservancy, 406-0230 or tabello@tnc.org
July 9, 2018

Passport Highlights Maine’s Great Outdoors

TOPSHAM – L.L. Bean, the land trust and conservation community, and supporters of the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program invite Maine people to get outside this summer and explore conservation areas in all sixteen counties. With the Passport to Maine’s Outdoors, participants can plan their next outdoor adventure in the mountains, along the coast, and everywhere in between.

“No matter where you are in our state, you’re never far from a special place available to us thanks to our state’s proud conservation traditions,” shared Kate Dempsey, State Director of The Nature Conservancy in Maine. “Thanks to the generosity and foresight of many, including Maine citizens who continue to overwhelmingly support the Land for Maine’s Future program and conservation groups, the list of publicly-accessible outdoor recreational areas continues to grow.”

The Passport to Maine’s Outdoors features 36 recommended destinations, divided into six geographic regions of the state. Participants can choose to visit long-cherished locations such as Monhegan Island and Baxter State Park. Mainers can also discover lesser-known and newly-conserved areas managed by land trusts including Robert’s Farm in Norway and Thorne Head in Bath.

There is even an ability to customize one’s explorations by visiting mainepassport.org, a new website that features information and links to hundreds of additional outdoor destinations around Maine: everything from state parks and public lands to the more than 600,000 acres of conservation land that have been conserved with LMF support.

“This new passport highlight places that offer a wide variety of experiences, including universally-accessible paths, challenging mountain hikes, extensive ATV trails, scenic picnic spots, popular fishing holes, sandy beaches, and canoe-friendly waters,” explained Maine Coast Heritage Trust President Tim Glidden. “With so many options available, families and friends can choose a different activity and explore a new corner of the state each week throughout the summer.”
Those interested in more information can visit mainepassport.org. While there, they can also share the name of their favorite passport destination to enter a drawing to win camping gear and other items donated by L.L. Bean.

“Land conservation embodies our long-standing commitment to building healthier communities in Maine, protecting our environment, and ensuring public access to outdoor recreational opportunities for people of all ages and abilities,” added Janet Wyper, Manager of Community Relations at L.L. Bean. “We are thrilled to be part of this effort and hope to see many families exploring these incredible places that the LMF program, state agencies, land trusts, and other partners have made available so all of us can enjoy Maine’s great outdoors.”

Passport users are also encouraged to share their experiences on the “Maine’s Great Outdoors” photo gallery (landformainesfuture.org/gallery/). Instagram users can easily post images to the gallery by using #MainesGreatOutdoors.
For more information visit: mainepassport.org.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.