Features of the High Peaks Region
Remote Recreational Area With Grand Vistas
The Appalachian Trail lands in the High Peaks Region of Maine are widely regarded as one of the most spectacular sections of the entire A.T. system due to its remoteness and views. From the treeless alpine tundra ridges of Saddleback Mountain, Mount Abraham and other mountains, visitors can enjoy some of the grandest vistas of mountain, forest, and lake landscape in the eastern United States.
Geological Features and Ecosystem Preservation
The lands encompass varied ecosystems from sub-alpine forests and alpine plant communities to large tracts of northern hardwood and spruce-fir forests to extensive wetlands and important aquatic environments as well as spectacular geologic features—glacial cirques, avalanche slides, falls, gorges, mountain ravines and headwaters of several important rivers. An ecological landscape exists with unique communities that bring animals and plants into proximity that are otherwise separated by hundreds of miles and a rare combination of physical and biological conditions that collectively provide an unusually diverse variety of ecosystems within a relatively small geographic range.
Eco-tourism Protects and Promotes Our Natural Beauty
When most people think of tourism in Maine, they imagine rocky coasts, lobsters and ocean surf. A decade from now, they might also think of magnificent forests, moose and birds, great fishing in crystal-clear rivers that flow through pristine woodland and outstanding hunting in untamed wilderness. With proper development and promotion, Maine can sell sights, smells and experiences seldom encountered by those who live in urban areas. Commitment to sustaining the ecological integrity of the environment for nature vacations and wildlife viewing opportunities by promoting responsible eco-tourism travel in Maine will bring greater prosperity to the region and enhance opportunities for the future.
A Wildlife Habitat Haven
There are five distinct ecological zones on top of and interspersed between the mountains, each with their own set of plant and animal species. The area provides habitat to rare species of flora and fauna. Rare and vulnerable species thrive here and the extensive undeveloped tracts of land support wildlife, such as the Spruce Grouse, small passerines including warblers and sparrows, Barred Owl, Pine Marten, moose, lynx, fisher, and bobcat that require large areas of roaming range.
Maine has 23% of the appropriate breeding habitat for the Bicknell’s Thrush in the United States whose worldwide population is at considerable risk of decline and conceivable extinction in the absence of aggressive conservation efforts in the near future.
Connectivity
Migratory wildlife need adequate habitat to hunt and graze, meet mates and breed and raise young—needs that can only be met through connected habitat that provides safe passage among different areas. But expanding development has carved up many landscapes, making unbroken habitat areas increasingly critical for wildlife. Preservation in the High Peaks Region will provide contiguous protected lands from Rangeley to the Bigelow Preserve.
Forestry
Land protection includes the very same uses that have contributed to maintenance of these contiguous tracts of land for over 200 years. Sustainable forest management is a legitimate conservation option that contributes to local economies as well.
Quality of Place
The western Maine High Peaks Region is, by most anyone’s standards, a very special place. Its beauty, recreational opportunities and natural resource values have attracted tourists and outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds for more than one hundred years. Maine communities must safeguard their quality of place or risk losing what makes them a draw for entrepreneurs. The recent Brookings report asserts that Maine’s quality places are scarce and valuable assets in today’s economy.
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