Thursday, October 9, 2014
Maine Development Foundation Releases Economic Report:
Strategic Land Conservation in Maine
This fourth Quarterly Economic Report, Strategic Land Conservation In Maine, is released with University of Maine and further explores the economic indicators in Measures of Growth In Focus, a reliable and trusted annual report issued by the Maine Economic Growth Council. This series of quarterly reports further explores the economic indicators in Measures of Growth In Focus, a reliable and trusted annual report issued by the Maine Economic Growth Council.
For a number of years, the Council measured total conserved acres in Maine. The inclusion of lands conserved by conservation easement in 2010 brought the state total to nearly 3.7 million acres, well above the Council’s benchmark of 1.8 million. This report takes a closer look at the issues around conservation lands, which offer a wide variety of benefits, including recreational opportunities, habitat protection, and protection of working landscapes, which vary depending on the type, location, and amount of conserved land. The distribution of conserved acreage (the majority of conserved lands are in the northern, more rural parts of the state) impacts the benefits that accrue from them. Aligning objectives with the appropriate strategies to achieve them can help to establish priorities and ensure a high return on investment going forward.