Think of federal public lands and America’s National Parks likely come to mind. They’re majestic (magnificent landscapes), impressive (unique ecological and cultural areas), impactful ($55.6 billion in economic output added to the U.S. economy annually).
National Parks aren’t our only public lands though; federal public lands include monuments, refuges, historic sites, scenic rivers, battlefields, wilderness areas, fish hatcheries, and more. Each with its own focus, their missions include:
- protecting natural, ecological, geological, cultural, scientific, and historic areas
- keeping landscapes unimpaired for future generations while offering recreation opportunities
- conserving America’s fish, wildlife, and plants
- preserving places and commemorating people, events, and activities key to our nation’s history
Here in Maine, only about 1.5 percent of the state’s 19.8 million acres is federally owned. We do have one of the most popular national parks though. In fact, 3.9 million people visited National Park Service lands in Maine in 2023 and spent $479 million. Their expenditures supported 6,820 jobs, $254 million in labor income, $434 million in value added, and $752 million in economic output in the Maine economy.
In every state—not just Vacationland–local economies are boosted by national park visitors (source: 2023 National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects Report).
So, what are our federal public lands, who manages what, and how do they differ? Here’s a public lands overview for Maine.
Federal Land Agencies and Acronyms
First, an intro to the agencies that manage our federal lands.
National Park Service (NPS)
One of the Department of the Interior (DOI)’s 11 bureaus, the National Park Service “preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.”
The National Park Service oversees:
- National Parks
- National Monuments
- National Trails (scenic, historic, and recreational)
- also, National Preserves, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Memorials, National Battlefields, the National Cemetery, National Recreation Areas, National Seashores, National Lakeshores, National Rivers, National Parkways, Wilderness Areas
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Also under the Department of the Interior, the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is “working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service oversees:
U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
The U.S. Forest Service is one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 29 agencies and offices. Its mission is “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations” and its motto is “Caring for the Land and Serving People.”
The Forest Service oversees:
- National Forests
- National Grasslands
- some National Wilderness Areas
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Another DOI bureau, the Bureau of Land Management’s mission is “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” BLM is the largest land agency, managing more than 10 percent of the nation’s surface land and 30 percent of its minerals and soils. BLM land is primarily out west; none is in New England.
Federal Public Lands in Maine
Now, let’s get to the fun part—exploring our federal public lands in the state.
Maine’s National Park (NPS)
Acadia National Park
Maine’s only national park, Acadia is the “Crown Jewel of the North Atlantic Coast” (in the words of the National Park Service) and one of the most popular national parks in the country, with nearly four million recreational visits each year. Acadia covers 50,000 acres along the Atlantic coast—including Mount Desert Island, Schoodic Peninsula, Isle au Haut, and other outer islands—with 60 miles of rugged coastline, 33 miles of scenic motor roads, 45 miles of carriage roads, and more than 150 miles of hiking trails. Acadia is popular for good reason…so let’s move on to our lesser-known, quieter public lands.
Maine’s National Monuments (NPS)
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
Katahdin Woods and Waters spans 87,563 acres of mountains, forestland, and rivers in Maine’s North Woods. It has some of the darkest night skies east of the Mississippi River and was the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary certified in New England, and the second for the NPS. On the eastern border of Baxter State Park, the monument includes a section of the East Branch of the Penobscot River, hiking trails, moose, Canada Lynx, and 171 bird species. Located in the present and traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation, its new Tekαkαpimək Contact Station visitor center (meaning “as far as one can see”) recently opened to welcome the global public.
Frances Perkins Homestead National Monument
Frances Perkins was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, the first woman to serve in a Presidential Cabinet, and the driving force behind the New Deal. The country’s longest-serving Secretary of Labor, Perkins helped design the Social Security Act of 1935, is credited with policies to shore up the national economy following the nation’s most serious economic crisis, and believed that “government should provide all its people with the best possible life.” Her ancestral homestead sits on a 57-acre saltwater farm along the Damariscotta River in Newcastle. And, as a testament to the importance of historical sites and monuments, I learned about Perkins’s national impact by writing this.
Maine’s National Scenic Trail (NPS)
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
America’s most popular trail, the 2,190-mile long Appalachian Trail traverses scenic, wooded, pastoral, and wild lands from Georgia to Maine. Its northern 282 miles, including the famed 100-Mile Wilderness, are in Maine, and AT thru hikers end (or start) atop Katahdin, the state’s highest peak (5,270 feet). Conceived in 1921, built by private citizens, and completed in 1937, the AT is managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, numerous state agencies, and thousands of volunteers. It’s been said (by the NPS) that two-thirds of the American population is within a day’s drive of some portion of the AT. So, odds are there’s an AT trailhead near you.
More NPS in Maine (and Canada!)
The Downeast Maine National Heritage Area supports programs that connect people with the area’s stories, experiences, natural environment, and culture—such as native heritage, shipbuilding, fishing, wild blueberry farming, and timber harvesting. “Downeast” isn’t just a folksy expression; it’s nautical terminology for the direction ships sailed from New York and Boston—downwind and to the east. In the case of the Downeast Maine National Heritage Area, it refers to Maine’s Hancock and Washington counties, but generally Downeast (or Down East) extends to Canada’s Maritime Provinces.
The Maine Acadian Heritage Council is an association of historical societies, cultural clubs, towns, and museums that work together to preserve Maine Acadian culture, language, and history in the St. John Valley on the Maine–New Brunswick border. Acadians immigrated to this area from France in the 1600s and evolved a distinct French-speaking North American culture, still active today.
Roosevelt Campobello International Park honors a U.S. President—on a Canadian island. Franklin D. Roosevelt started summering on New Brunswick’s Campobello Island as a child, and as an adult, he and wife Eleanor continued to spend summers there. (Did Frances Perkins ever visit to chat economics?) You can tour the Roosevelts’ summer home, visit the gardens, walk the trails. Notably, the park is jointly administered, staffed, and funded by the peoples of Canada and the United States. Bring your passport, and some international goodwill.
Though the Passamaquoddy (“the people who spear pollock”) have lived in the Saint Croix River Valley for thousands of years, the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site marks the beginning of permanent European presence in northern North America. In the winter of 1604-05, a French expedition, that had come for beaver pelts, found themselves iced in on Saint Croix Island, cut off from fresh water and game. Nearly half the men died from scurvy, but (thanks to the native people who returned in the spring) the rest later recovered and moved on. You can’t visit Saint Croix Island in the river, but you can learn about the Passamaquoddy people and French attempts to colonize the territory they called l’Acadie (see Acadian heritage above).
Maine’s National Wildlife Refuges (USFWS)
The Northern Maine National Wildlife Refuge Complex oversees four refuges.
Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge, located on part of the former Loring Air Force Base near the Canadian border, provides vital wildlife habitat and 13 miles of foot access trails on the refuge’s 7,750 acres.
Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and its 8,000 acres support an expansive, intact peat bog system, including raised peat domes, grassy wet meadows, and floodplain forests before its stream joins the Penobscot River.
Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge is nearly 30,000 acres of diverse landscape in northeastern coastal Maine: rolling hills, large ledge outcroppings, streams, lakes, bogs, marshes, forests, wetlands and habitat for more than 225 species of birds, endangered species, resident wildlife, and rare plants. Side note: Last fall I ran a beautiful half marathon in this refuge, which supported Friends of Moosehorn.
Carlton Pond Waterfowl Production Area, a 1,068-acre wetland, includes most of Carlton Pond, surrounding freshwater wetlands, and several small areas of forested lowlands and uplands. Rare black terns nest in the emergent marsh, and bald eagles, bitterns, and marsh wrens forage in the shallow open waters.
The Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex contains five refuges along the coast, mostly on islands.
Cross Island National Wildlife Refuge encompasses six islands—Cross, Scotch, Outer Double Head Shot, Inner Double Head Shot, Mink, Old Man—totaling 1,700 acres in Cutler. Refuge habitat includes a large salt marsh for thousands of migratory waterfowl, songbirds, shorebirds, and raptors, plus islands for nesting seabirds.
Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge includes 64 islands and four mainland divisions spanning more than 250 miles of the Maine coast. The refuge supports an incredible diversity of habitats including coastal islands, forested headlands, estuaries, and freshwater wetlands.
Franklin Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 12-acre island in Muscongus Bay, six miles offshore from the town of Friendship and in addition to nesting seabirds has the third established lighthouse on the coast of Maine.
Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 65-acre island, 21 miles off the coast of Rockland. It’s home to colonies of seabirds and was once the site of the largest Atlantic puffin colony in the Gulf of Maine. The U.S. Navy used it as a gunnery range and bombing test site during the Cold War, and it’s now closed to the public because of unexploded ordnance.
Pond Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 10-acre island in the mouth of the Kennebec River adjacent to popular Popham Beach. The refuge was created to safeguard and enhance the pristine wildlife habitat, to protect endangered and threatened species, and to provide feeding, nesting, and roosting areas for migratory birds. It’s closed to public access during seabird nesting season.
More Maine National Wildlife Refuges
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge consists of 11 divisions, totaling 5,600 acres, scattered along 50 miles of coastline in York and Cumberland counties. Named in honor of the marine biologist, writer, and environmentalist Rachel Carson, the refuge was established in 1966, two years after her death. Created to protect valuable salt marshes and estuaries for migratory birds and local wildlife, the refuge includes nature trails and wildlife observation stations.
Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge covers 37,000 acres in northern New Hampshire and Maine, with most refuge land surrounding Umbagog Lake and Magalloway River (a boat is recommended for the best refuge access). Fishing, hunting, wildlife observation, and hiking are popular, and the area has ruffed grouse, American woodcock, white-tailed deer, black bear, and moose.
Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge extends over 10 separate areas in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York. The refuge is specifically dedicated to conserving and managing early successional habitats, like shrubland and young forests, for wildlife like the endangered New England cottontail (New England’s only native rabbit). Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge is currently in an interim period, meaning it’s been established as a refuge, but an approved Comprehensive Conservation Plan has not been completed.
Maine’s National Fish Hatcheries (USFWS)
Hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon used to migrate from the Atlantic Ocean to rivers in North America, but today, only small numbers return to a few rivers in Maine and eastern Canada. Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery and Green Lake National Fish Hatchery work to conserve and recover endangered Atlantic salmon. Craig Brook NFH is a conservation hatchery for the last remaining natural populations of Atlantic salmon in the United States for seven river-specific brood stocks. Green Lake NFH cultures Atlantic salmon to prevent extinction and preserve the genetic diversity of the endangered Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment.
Maine’s National Forest (USFS)
White Mountain National Forest
Despite being a nearly 90-percent forested state, we don’t have our own national forest. However, about 5 percent of New Hampshire’s 800,000-acre White Mountain National Forest extends into Maine. The White Mountain National Forest contains federally listed threatened and endangered plants and animals, big and small game such as moose, white-tailed deer, and ruffed grouse, and almost 200 species of birds, including the largest block of breeding habitat in the Northeast for the vulnerable Bicknell’s Thrush.
National Wilderness Area
Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness is one of six Wilderness Areas in the White Mountain National Forest, but the only one in the state of Maine. Its 12,000 acres includes Speckled Mountain, the high point at 2,906 feet, and Mt. Caribou, second highest at 2,840 feet, which got its current name in 1854 when two brothers shot the last caribou in the region. Honorary wilderness mention goes to Wild River Wilderness; while its 24,032 acres are in New Hampshire, it’s most easily accessible from Maine.
We have some incredible public lands here in Maine, but take a look around the country and you’ll find so much more.
Federal public lands are diverse—they’re national parks, wildlife refuges, scenic trails and rivers, wilderness areas, historical, spiritual, and cultural sites. They contain oceans, mountains, forests, lakes, wetlands, grasslands, and deserts, as well as historic landmarks and archaeological sites. They provide essential habitat for conserving our nation’s fish, plants, and wildlife.
Our public lands and their dedicated workers offer year-round recreational opportunities and provide billions of dollars in economic benefits to our national economy every year (once again—$55.6 billion worth). They conserve and protect exceptional places, plants, and animals, and safeguard and celebrate the people, heritage, culture, and history of unique, irreplaceable areas.
Public lands are precious and integral to the health and well-being of America’s people, wildlife, and nature. They deserve our respect, our support, and our protection—today and for future generations.
Are you a friend of the parks? Most national parks, wildlife refuges, monuments, and other public lands have “Friends of” nonprofit groups dedicated to protecting, advocating for, volunteering, and raising much-needed funds for these special places. They would love your support—financial, political, or as a volunteer.
All photos copyright Alicia MacLeay and taken on federal public lands in Maine, homeland of the people of the Wabanaki Confederacy