A Talk in the Woods Bryan Wentzell - Maine Mountain Collaborative

In mid-July, Bryan and Lily visited Alexandra Conover Bennett at her remote cabin in Elliotsville, Maine. Accessible only by canoe, Alexandra and her partner, Kermit, live simply without running water or electricity. Alexandra is well-known in Maine, New England, and the international community as an outdoor educator, guide, and writer. Her work has touched the lives of countless people, and it was truly an honor to visit her home and hear her speak about nature and spirituality. 

In this episode, Bryan talks with Karin Tilberg, the Executive Director of the Forest Society of Maine. As Karin fishes the East Outlet of Moosehead Lake they talk about their respective connections to the Maine woods and to that place in particular. 

Lily returned to Greenville to interview Jenny Ward, the Maine Business and Community Relations Manager for the AMC. Like most people you've heard from on this podcast, Jenny wears many hats, and her connection to this place runs deep. Listen to this episode to hear more about the AMC's Dark Sky Park, the importance of conservation organizations (like the AMC) to Maine communities during COVID, Jenny's 29029 Everesting event, and a cool trick she shared for calling in birds. 

In this episode Lily traveled to Orland, Maine to interview Landon Fake, the Executive Director of the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust. Their 4500 acres of conserved lands, called The Wildlands, are just inland from Penobscot Bay, less than an hour south of Bangor. Lily and Landon hiked to the top of Great Pond Mountain, discussing wildlife sightings, rare plants, and the role of land conservation in Maine communities. 



For more information about Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, visit: https://www.greatpondtrust.org/ 

In this episode, Lily interviewed Kaitlyn Bernard, who is the Natural Resources Policy Advisor with the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Kaitlyn grew up in a town called Fort Kent, located in Maine's Aroostook County (or "The County" as most people here call it). Kaitlyn and Lily talked about the funding of the Land for Maine's Future program and shared stories about their cross country skiing experiences. 





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Note: An earlier version of this podcast description misstated Kaitlyn's current role. This has been corrected—  apologies for any confusion.  

While visiting the Greenville area, we met up with Roger Merchant, a long time forester and advocate for Maine's woods. He took us on a trek into Big Wilson Stream Forest, which is an area of old growth forest that he helped discover and protect. Some of the trees in this stand are over 200 years old. In this episode, Roger talks about forestry, Maine's ecotourism potential, and his fears about the effects of climate change on our forests, among other things.