Center works with Mahoosuc Land Trust and Town of Gilead residents to conserve nearly 1,000 acres of forest for community benefit and protection from development.

In April 2025, the Center’s Program Director, Julie Renaud Evans, kicked off an eight-month-long public engagement process to guide use and management of the Tumbledown Dick Mountain property in Gilead, Maine. Mahoosuc Land Trust (MLT) is in the process of acquiring this 978-acre parcel for conservation and recreation. MLT approached the Center to lead community input effort modeled after the process used in Community Forest acquisitions. Julie will bring residents through a series of monthly public meetings to learn about the property, consider appropriate uses within MLT’s framework, and set priorities for an eventual stewardship plan.

At the end of the public engagement process, the Center is writing an integrated forest stewardship plan for the property that will weave together several plans and assessments prepared by contracted forester, ecologist, and recreation planner. This stewardship plan will detail future management of the property including protection of natural communities and outlining short- and long-term recreational opportunities as determined by the community input process.