AGENDA

Preparing The Next Generation of Outdoor Leaders in Rural Maine

Speakers: Korah Soll - Rural Aspirations Project, Angela Cowger - East Grand School, and Tammi Matula - East Grand School

Room: Penobscot Bay

Over the past 20 years, the East Grand School has developed an impressive outdoor education program that invites all students, k-12, to develop exemplary outdoor leadership and stewardship skills, from basic survival skills to whitewater canoeing to moose hunting.  Students and teachers utilize the plethora of natural assets in their region and beyond to enhance learning across all content areas.  In this session, participants will learn how the faculty and community partners have worked together to design and implement diverse programming that encourages outdoor learning, crosses subjects and grades, and eventually leads students toward a clearly defined natural resource pathway in high school that prepares students to sit for their Recreational Maine Guide license upon graduation.

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Navigating Brand and Non-Profit Partnerships for Mutual Success

Speakers: Attessa Bradley - Grandy Organics, Scarlet Batchelor - Appalachian Mountain Club, Kayla Lessard - L.L.Bean, and Ray Ruby - Maine Cancer Foundation

Room: Owl's Head

Discover the art of creating win-win collaborations that uplift both companies and causes in the outdoor sector. Explore real-world case studies from the brand and non-profit perspective that unveil both triumphs and pitfalls, providing insights into crafting alliances that make a lasting impact. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from seasoned experts, exchange best practices, and forge connections that amplify the impact of outdoor industry-focused partnerships.

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Creating Queer Inclusive Outdoor Spaces

Speakers: Hallie Herz - Kindling Collective and Eva Fury - Kindling Collective

Room: Schooner

Everybody deserves to feel safe, joyful, and affirmed in the outdoors. However, outdoor culture and activities have historically been centered around white, cisgender, straight people. Queer people are often excluded from physical education and athletics—from recreational activities to professional sports—and have felt unsafe or unwelcome in outdoor environments. This session offers organizations and individuals an opportunity to explore ways they can build queer-inclusive spaces, as well as specific strategies for supporting queer people in growing and sustaining relationships with the natural world. We will challenge participants to think past rainbows and bathrooms to authentic self reflection and tangible culture change.

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Stewarding Public Access to the Outdoors

Speakers: Kristopher MacCabe - Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Jane Arbuckle - Maine Coast Heritage Trust, James Cote - Bernstein Shur/Maine Professional Guides Association/Maine Snowmobile Association, Mitch Breton - onX Maps, and Emily MacCabe - Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Room: Spruce Head

Maine has a unique history of public access to private land. Over the past 200 years, landowners, residents, and visitors have forged a tradition of neighborliness and shared access that you won't find anywhere else in the nation. Roughly 94% of Maine's forest land is privately owned, and more than half of that land area is open to the public. In total, landowners voluntarily open more than 10 million acres of working farms and forests.

It’s important to remember that the private land we use for recreation belongs to someone else, and accessing it is a privilege, not a right, so it’s critically important to be good stewards of those lands and treat them with respect. This panel discussion will focus on different programs and partnerships that work on building this stewardship ethic to protect the privilege that is open access for recreation and share ideas on ways we can all help.