Drone view of the north end of Aziscohos Lake in North Oxford, in Maine’s northern forest. Photo contributed by Jerry Monkman/Ecophotography

Four environmental groups have launched a one-year $62 million fundraising campaign to conserve 78,000 acres of forests, lakes and rivers in the Magalloway region of western Maine, including 11,000 acres of prime brook trout habitat set aside as a wilderness preserve.

The groups — Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, Forest Society of Maine, Northeast Wilderness Trust and The Nature Conservancy — partnered to form the Magalloway Collaborative and have already collected millions in donations and have millions more promised, but still have a long way to go, said Northeast Wilderness Trust spokesman Richard Knox.

About a half-hour drive west of Rangeley, the sprawling parcel is owned by Bayroot LLC, an investment company controlled by Yale University. Bayroot is one of Maine’s largest landowners and its holdings are actively logged by Wagner Forest Management, which negotiated the Magalloway deal.

The agreement would preserve 4,000 acres for recreational use and wildlife habitat, turn 11,200 acres into a wilderness preserve and establish a permanent conservation easement on the rest of the parcel, prohibiting development but allowing it to remain a working forest under Bayroot’s ownership.

“We have an incredible opportunity,” said David Miller, executive director of Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust. “This effort supports our region’s climate resiliency, helps prevent the loss of biodiversity, and preserves public access … but we must act now.”

Keeping the entire 78,000-acre parcel forested and allowing the growth of old forest in a wilderness preserve would support Maine’s big-picture climate goals of sequestering and storing carbon in its forests and conserving 30% of its lands by 2030.

Project organizers have not calculated how much carbon is stored or sequestered in this parcel, but Maine’s forests as a whole store about 2 billion metric tons of carbon, which is 400 times the amount of heat-trapping emissions released to the atmosphere each year in Maine.

Any large conservation project — the last one of this size was the 87,500-acre Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument established in 2016 — will help Maine’s flagging effort to achieve its goal of conserving 5.9 million acres by 2030. To date, the state has conserved about 4.4 million acres.

But what makes this project compelling is its link to other conserved lands, collaborative members say. This parcel would fill in the doughnut hole to create a 500,000-acre swath of conserved lands to the east and west.

“This connects conserved lands in New Hampshire to Maine to the Quebec border,” said Mark Berry, the forest program manager of The Nature Conservancy. “That is a huge contribution to large scale habitat and forest protection in the Appalachians, a significant milestone for both nature and people.”

The Appalachians are a key route for species to move to colder regions in response to climate change.

The Magalloway Collaborative is seeking a wide range of funding sources to raise the $62 million. The campaign committee would not say how much money it has already raised, but Knox said the committee has received millions in donations and “has millions more lined up.”

While there is no guarantee, Knox said it would be highly unusual for a group of well-known conservation organizations with established resources and members to commit to a fundraising campaign like this one and not raise enough money to execute the deal.

Under the agreement, Northeast Wilderness Trust would acquire 11,200 acres on the north side of the parcel between Parmachenee Lake and Mount Rump and Ridge Ledge and turn it into a wilderness preserve that will enhance forest and biological diversity within its boundaries.

The preserve would be located within the headwaters of the Magalloway River and expand upon the reserves of New Hampshire’s Connecticut lakes region. The area is home to the Canada lynx, black bear, moose, white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse and more than 20 species of warbler.

BROOK TROUT STRONGHOLD

The Magalloway also is one of the nation’s last strongholds for self-sustaining native brook trout populations.

“Conserving these lands will safeguard wildlife from increasing environmental threats, connect them to other conserved lands, and allow for sustainable recreation, such as hunting and fishing, to continue,” said Commissioner Judy Camuso of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust will own and manage over 4,000 acres on the south side of the parcel for recreation and wildlife habitat, including corridors along the Little Magalloway and Magalloway rivers and a forest tract southeast of Route 16 near Cupsuptic Lake.

The parcel is accessible from Route 16 and a network of privately owned forest roads. Boating access to most of the lakes and streams will continue, including a put-in on Aziscohos Lake and opportunities for hand-carry access, including the Magalloway River.

Trees in the morning fog on the shore of Aziscohos Lake in Maine’s northern forest. Photo contributed by Jerry Monkman/Ecophotography

Snowmobiling is a very popular winter activity on the property and a series of established trails — including the ITS-84, connecting Maine and New Hampshire — will remain open to use. Recreational users will still be able to hire registered Maine Guides for hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing.

“The Magalloway project will be extremely beneficial to the lands and waters of the area and its wildlife, as well as to guides like myself who bring hundreds of clients to Maine’s beautiful world-class rivers, like the Magalloway,” said Vic Medina, a registered Maine guide.

The deal would also sustain the regional forest and recreational economy, Knox said. It would establish an easement held by the Forest Society of Maine that would allow Wagner to continue working 62,500 acres of woodlands while maintaining existing recreational access to the property.

None of the municipalities affected by the deal would see a decline in property tax revenue, the collaborative said.

The proposed conservation easement would allow the lands to be managed for forest products but restrict future development, establishing 100-foot, no-cut forested buffers along high-priority brook trout streams that will enhance habitat, regulate stream temperatures and improve water quality.

According to Yale, Wagner Forest Management follows certification standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Forest Stewardship Council on Bayroot lands, as confirmed by independent auditors. Profits go into Yale’s endowment, which was valued at $41.4 billion last June.