The view from a clearing in Bethel Community Forest in Maine. (Jerry Monkman photo)

Western Maine

The western Maine region stretches from Maine’s Western Foothills to the Mahoosuc Mountains along the New Hampshire border.

The 27-town region is defined by the boundaries of four school districts and encompasses roughly 600,000 acres of forests and farmland that support exceptional ecological diversity and climate resilience while providing a wide range of recreation and quality of life benefits for residents.

A map of the western Main region

Across this shared landscape, small towns are oriented around three hubs:

Norway-South Paris: the county seat and primary service center;
Bethel: a major outdoor recreation and skiing destination; and
Rumford: a traditional paper mill town and home to one of Maine’s 10 remaining active mills.

Since 2015, the Center has facilitated the Maine West collaboration , a network of 12 nonprofits dedicated to integrating conservation, education, health and economic initiatives to make the region’s rural communities attractive places to live, work, do business, and raise families.

More information about the collaborative’s programs is available on the Maine West website.

Building a New Forest Future in Western Maine

The Center’s work in western Maine focuses on the Maine West network’s key initiatives of Broadband, Conservation: Land and Trails, Active Communities, and Educational Aspirations and Attainment. In Bethel, Maine, the Center redeveloped the historic Gehring House to help meet demand for middle-market housing.

Expanding High Speed Internet

The Center helped communities position themselves to extend broadband service to 6,600 homes and businesses.

Community-led conservation protects 978 acres at Tumbledown Dick Mountain

In October 2026, a five-year effort culminated in the permanent conservation of 978 acres of woodlands and wetlands in Gilead, Maine, as Mahoosuc Land Trust took ownership of Tumbledown Dick Mountain.

10 years of Maine West: How trust turned into opportunity

With a blank slate and a decade to fill it, Maine West's first task wasn't launching programs. It was figuring out where a dozen different organizations actually shared ground. The partnership landed on three categories that cut across every partner's mission: broadband access and adoption, educational attainment and aspirations, and active communities, including conserved land and trails.

Dartmouth Students Bring New Tools to the Androscoggin Valley Community Forest Collaborative

Dartmouth College students spent their final semester building new planning tools for the Northern Forest Center’s Androscoggin Valley Community Forest Collaborative.

The Center’s Gehring House Renovation Wins Award

Maine Preservation recognized the Gehring House renovation with an award for outstanding redevelopment that saved a neglected community asset while preserving remarkable historic woodwork and craftsmanship.

Bethel Renovation Makes the Perfect Home

A young professional couple finds the perfect home in the Northern Forest Center's renovated Gehring House in Bethel, Maine.

From Uncertainty to Opportunity

When federal funding cuts cost Kristy her job in Washington, D.C., she faced a tough crossroad. [caption id="attachment_14080" [...]

New Apartment, New Chapter

Sharon and Seabury Lyon started a new chapter of their lives when they moved into the Center's newly renovated Gehring House.

More Projects in Western Maine

young women stands in office with workplace mentors

Advancing Career Pathways for Youth

The Maine West Initiative is supporting Extended Learning Opportunity Programs in five high schools in Western Maine, which connect youth to career exploration and pathways.

Learn more

people standing on woods road talking

Building Climate Resilience

The Center launched the Androscoggin Valley Community Forest Collaborative to bring together the committees and foresters of eight Community Forests located in the Androscoggin River watershed to explore collaborative opportunities and ways their conserved land can support local climate resilience.

Learn more

Staff Contacts

Mike Wilson

Senior Program Director

Cell: 603-731-0558

Amy Scott

Program Director

Cell: 207-357-3189