People enjoying the outdoors this summer in the Mahoosuc region of Maine are encountering something new: signs that promote The Mahoosuc Way: Embrace Our Place Pledge.

The Pledge is a campaign to communicate local values to newcomers, visitors, and locals to encourage collective action to protect and sustain the quality of place that makes the area an attractive area to live in and visit.

Community leaders in the Mahoosuc area developed the Pledge partly in response to the challenges of overuse and crowding at popular trailheads during the summer of 2020. The new signs will be prominently placed to encourage users to be good stewards of the area’s natural, cultural, and community amenities.

The Mahoosuc Sustainable Tourism Committee supported installation of the new signs at busy trailheads and boat launches throughout the Mahoosuc region, including the towns of Bryant Pond, Bethel, Greenwood, and Newry, Maine.

The Mahoosuc Way: Embrace Our Place Pledge campaign launched in January 2021. By taking the pledge, visitors and residents express their commitment to behaviors rooted in five core values: Honor this Land, Explore Wisely, Show Respect, Cultivate Community, and Be Climate Conscious.

“We love hosting visitors on the Bethel Community Forest and other properties we manage,” said Gabe Perkins, executive director of Inland Woods + Trails. “We also understand that not all visitors are familiar with local traditions and the ways we all need to act to sustain our environment and communities. The Pledge is a great tool for engaging people both as visitors and as caretakers.”

The new signs—which will be located at the Bethel Community Forest, Mt. Abram Bike Park, the Gilead Boat Launch, and other sites—include a QR code to make it easy for “Embracers” to express their commitment to sustainable tourism principles by going online and taking the Pledge.

More than 100 residents, businesses, and organizations have signed the Embrace Our Place Pledge, including Sunday River Resort, Mt. Abram, the Bethel Inn, True North Adventurewear, The Philbrook Place, Stonetree Creative, and the towns of Woodstock, Greenwood and Bethel.

Individuals, businesses, and organizations can sign the Embrace Our Place pledge by visiting: https://mahoosucway.com/our-pledge.

The Pledge is part of the broader Mahoosuc Way Sustainable Tourism Strategy built on a long-term platform of investment in Regional Coordination, Environmental Leadership, Experience Development, and Workforce & Housing Development. The Embrace Our Place pledge represents a first step by local leaders to build broad-based support and engagement with this strategy among area businesses, visitors, and residents.

Local work is led by the 15-member Mahoosuc Sustainable Tourism Committee. The launch of The Mahoosuc Way: Embrace Our Place Pledge is supported by financial contributions from more than 30 businesses, non-profits, municipal, and individual stakeholders. See here for a full list of Founding Sustainability Partners.

Foundational support for The Mahoosuc Way has been provided by the Maine Office of Tourism’s Rural Destination Development Program and the Northern Forest Destination Development Initiative—a program of the Northern Forest Center supported by funding from the Northern Border Regional Commission.