Community Forest marks the Center’s fifth project in Western Maine to conserve land for community benefit.

In March 2025, the Center’s Program Director, Julie Renaud Evans, kicked off a six-month-long public engagement process to guide the citizens of Otisfield towards ownership of land for community benefit. Throughout this process, the Center is working with the Otisfield Conservation Commission and Western Foothills Land Trust to bring residents through a series of monthly public meetings exploring the elements of establishing and maintaining a community forest – from crafting vision and mission statements for the forest to determining allowable uses of the property and creating an eventual governance plan.

Upon completion of the public input period, the Center will write a forest stewardship plan for the property integrating forest, ecology, and recreation assessments prepared by other contracted experts. This stewardship plan will detail future management of the property, including timber, recreation, and protection of the pond. An early report from the consulting forester indicates a healthy mixed wood forest with hemlock and balsam fir as the primary tree species present. He also reported that there is no evidence of tree disease, pests, or invasive species on the property.