Sustainability Series: Up for Grabs – The Battles Over Maine’s Public Lands

Join PPL and the Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative on Wednesday, May 26th at 5:30pm for a presentation by author and former Maine Audubon director Thomas Urquhart on the exciting story of Maine’s Public Reserved Lands from colonial times to statehood in 1820 to the present as related in his new book Up For Grabs: Timber Pirates, Lumber Barons, and the Battles Over Maine’s Public Lands (Down East Books).

Up For Grabs: Timber Pirates, Lumber Barons, and the Battles Over Maine’s Public Lands

Each year thousands of people recreate on Maine’s Public Reserved Lands. Most of these visitors know only that the large green areas on the map promise them access to some of the state’s most magnificent places. Very few have any idea how Maine acquired them. Or that, as a conservation success, their acquisition more than rivals the celebrated purchase and gift to Maine people of Baxter State Park by Governor Percival Baxter.

Up for Grabs tells the story of Maine’s Public Reserved Lands from colonial times to statehood in 1820 to the present. With dramatic moments and colorful characters, it provides an engaging and informative history of Maine’s wildlands from exploitation to conservation and sustainable use.

We are delighted to partner with Print: A Bookstore in presenting this program. Up for Grabs can be pre-ordered from Print here.  

About the Speaker

Former Maine Audubon director Thomas Urquhart is the author of For the Beauty of the Earth (2004). He has written extensively on Maine’s natural resources for such publications as Down East Magazine, Audubon, Habitat, and Port City Life. He lives in Falmouth, ME.

Full Zoom Info:

You will find yourself in a waiting room when you first enter the Zoom gathering, or you may receive a message that the meeting has not yet started. The host will admit you to the program at 5:30.   

All microphones will be automatically muted by the host. If you would like to participate in the Q&A, you can send your question to the host via Zoom’s chat feature.  

By entering into the Zoom program, you are agreeing to have your image captured and shared by Portland Public Library.   

Topic: Sustainability Series  

Time: May 26, 2021 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 

Join Zoom Meeting 

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Portland’s Sustainability Series is co-hosted by the Portland Public Library and the Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative. Sustainability is the endurance of systems and processes through time. The Portland Sustainability Series presents a diversity of speakers to share different aspects of the work moving Maine to greater endurance and sustainability. Please join us as we engage in these important issues and conversations!

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