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Bureau of Parks and Lands
[ [link removed] ]
November 2025

In this Issue:

* Director's Note: Sometimes it IS All About Fun and Games [ #link_1 ]
* Land and Water Conservation Fund 2026 Grant Round Now Open [ #link_6 ]
* Government Paddle Day on the Androscoggin River [ #link_5 ]
* Thirty-second Annual Deboullie Experience [ #link_7 ]
* Wear Blaze Orange During Hunting Season [ #link_2 ]
* Winter Camping Begins at Select State Parks on Dec. 15 [ #link_3 ]
* Winter Camp at the Megunticook Cabin - Make Your Reservation Now! [ #link_4 ]
* Wreaths & Garlands: Check Before You Buy [ #link_9 ]
* Recommended Read: The Rediscovery of North America [ #link_8 ]

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Director's Note: Sometimes it IS All About Fun and Games

Park staff dressed up at Reid State Park's Spooktacular Haunted Beach.

Left: Ranger Walter (Jason) O’Driscoll haunting the trail. Right: Andy with park staffers Haylee Parsons, Sam Wilkinson, and Maddie Johnson. Below: Kevin Miller helping children build bird houses.

As a Bureau Director, I spend most of my days ping-ponging from meeting to phone call, discussing budgets, legislation, personnel, and general problem-solving. In the context of that daily grind, in October, I jumped at the chance to visit State Park colleagues in some of the more light-hearted and upbeat parts of our work. At Reid State Park, I joined Park Manager Haylee Parsons, a fun-loving collection of State Park staffers, and nearly 500 others at the Spooktacular Haunted Beach Night. With a Witch’s Cauldron of Treats and a truly chilling haunted forest walk, visitors were equally enchanted, spooked, and educated about nocturnal life (thanks in part to MDIFW’s Sarah Spencer for the Bat Walk). [ #gd_top ]

Kevin Miller helping children build bird houses.

A weekend later, I joined Chris and Amber Silsbee of Bradbury Mountain State Park and another group of energetic State Park staffers at the Park’s Autumn Adventure Day. Full of family-friendly fun, naturalist-led hikes, crafts for kids, and an appearance from Smokey Bear and his helicopter, we had another great turnout on a lovely fall day. Amid all that’s challenging in the world, these enjoyable events are a restorative reminder that people are happiest when they’re outside and having fun!

~ Andy Cutko, Director, Bureau of Parks and Lands

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Land and Water Conservation Fund 2026 Grant Round Now Open

The Land and Water Conservation Fund [ [link removed] ] (LWCF) celebrated its 60th year of operations in 2025. Maine has nearly 1000 projects [ [link removed] ] across the state. Now is the time to add your local park acquisition, development or renovation project to that list.


* The 2026 grant round is now open. The application deadline is June 26, 2026.
* The first step in the process is to request a project eligibility assessment [ [link removed] ] by the end of 2025.
* The LWCF can fund up to 50% of eligible project costs.
* The next grant cycle maximum award amount is set at $1,000,000.

For more information please contact [email protected]

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Government Paddle Day on the Androscoggin River

Paddlers on the Androscoggin River on the semi-annual Government Paddle Day.

Government Paddle Day on the Androscoggin River, hosted by the Androscoggin River Watershed Council.

I participated in the semi-annual Government Paddle Day on the Androscoggin River, hosted by the Androscoggin River Watershed Council on September 30th. A group of about 15 paddlers enjoyed sunny and mild weather while exploring the Gulf Island Pond section of the river, adjacent to the Bureau’s Androscoggin Riverlands State Park [ [link removed] ]. The group landed on a sandbar along the park’s shoreline to take a brief break from paddling. There was plenty of wildlife to see, including eagles and kingfishers. Several anglers were also out on the water pursuing small mouth bass and other gamefish.

The event was attended by staff from several state, municipal and quasi-government agencies involved in protecting, restoring and advocating for the river and who work to encourage and enhance public use and enjoyment of this special resource. The outing provided an opportunity for informal conversations about the state of the river and current initiatives and for making connections across levels of government and agency lines. Through many years of work by the participating agencies and others, aided by the Clean Water Act and other legislation, the Androscoggin River has experienced a renaissance both biologically and culturally from its former very degraded condition. Fish, wildlife and people continue to benefit from this remarkable turnaround.

~ Jim Vogel, BPL Planner

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Thirty-second Annual Deboullie Experience

A view from the Black Mountain Trail leading to Deboullie Mountain.

The view from a scenic vista along the Black Mountain Trail leading to Deboullie Mountain. This is the same hike the 7th graders got to experience during their visit.

This September, teachers from Fort Kent held the 32nd Annual Deboullie Experience for 7th graders at Valley Rivers Middle School. The Deboullie Experience is an outdoor learning experience and overnight camping trip for students located on Perch Pond at Deboullie Public Lands [ [link removed] ]. Students spent the first day working through a series of workshops on orienteering, animal identification, forest ecology, and forest management. BPL Foresters Adam Nicak and I ran a workshop teaching students about the multi-use management implemented on Maine’s Public Lands. We discussed the importance of managing our forests to achieve a wide variety of objectives, including the enhancement of wildlife habitat, forest health, water quality, recreational opportunities, and aesthetic values. Students were given an opportunity to help us prepare a mock harvest by marking trees with paint.

Students spent the second day hiking to the top of Deboullie Mountain on one of our most popular hiking trails, the Black Mountain Trail. Travis Lynn, lead organizer of the event, shared, “We live in one of the best places in the world for outdoor activities, so we want all our students to have these opportunities. We also want them to experience learning in a different way, especially outside of the traditional classroom.” Overall, it was a great opportunity to educate students about all of the great multi-use management we implement on Maine's Public Lands, as well as expose them to all the opportunities that the Public Lands have to offer. It was rewarding to share our passion for land stewardship, and who knows, maybe we’ll even end up with a future forester out of the bunch!

~ Ashlee Boughton, Forester, Northern Region Public Lands 

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Wear Blaze Orange During Hunting Season

Hunting is allowed on Public Lands and many of the State Parks, so please be sure to wear blaze orange when visiting. If you prefer a location where *hunting is not allowed*, consider visiting these locations:


* Bradbury Mountain State Park west of State Route 9
* Cobscook Bay State Park (Currently closed for renovations)
* Crescent Beach and Kettle Cove State Parks
* Damariscotta Lake State Park
* Ferry Beach State Park
* Holbrook Island Sanctuary State Park
* Owls Head Light State Park
* Quoddy Head State Park within 1,000 feet of the lighthouse
* Reid State Park
* Sebago Lake State Park
* Shackford Head State Park
* Two Lights State Park
* Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park

For more information, please visit our hunting webpage [ [link removed] ].

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Winter Camping Begins at Select State Parks on Dec. 15

Winter camping in a dome tent.

Winter camping, with tents only, is available beginning on December 15 at select Maine State Parks, and on Public Lands. If you are new to winter camping, plan to camp at a Maine State Park first. These locations [ [link removed] ] provide the challenge of winter camping and offer a good range of front country and remote sites to test your skills. Even for the experienced it is good to start the season off with an easily accessible location as a test run before heading out to more challenging terrain. Highly experienced winter campers, or those who will be led by a Registered Maine Guide [ [link removed] ], are ready for the remote settings found on Maine's Public Lands [ [link removed] ].

View the Winter Camping video [ [link removed] ] and see all the details on our Off-season and Winter Camping webpage.

~ Jocelyn Hubbell, Interpretive Specialist

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Winter Camp at the Megunticook Cabin - Make Your Reservation Now!

Megunticook Cabin at Camden Hills State Park.

Megunticook Cabin at Camden Hills State Park.

The Megunticook Cabin at Camden Hills State Park [ [link removed] ] is available for rent year-round. It is a winter camping tradition for many park visitors who want to avoid tent camping but are looking for a rustic experience during multiple-day cross-country skiing or snowshoeing adventures at the park. Accessible on foot or by snowmobile, the cabin offers visitors camp-style bunks that sleep six, a wood stove for heat, a rustic fieldstone fireplace, and the opportunity to step back in time to a simpler way of life - there is no electricity or running water. All the details and the park phone number for reservations are in the Megunticook Cabin brochure [ [link removed] ].

~ Charlene "Sunshine" Hood, Manager, Camden Hills State Park

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Wreaths & Garlands: Check Before You Buy

If you are planning to decorate with wreaths and garlands during the holiday season, please be sure that they do not include invasive plants that harm Maine's natural areas and wildlife.

Invasive plants: Bittersweet and Multiflora rose.

                        Bittersweet [ [link removed] ]                                              Multiflora Rose [ [link removed] ]

The two most common invasive plants used in wreaths and garlands are bittersweet, and multiflora rose. Both plants cause severe environmental damage by invading open fields, forests, wetlands, meadows, and backyards and crowding out native plants.


* Bittersweet kills mature trees through strangling.
* Multiflora rose can form impenetrable thickets that outcompete native plant species.

Both species are difficult to control and easily re-sprout after cutting. The placement of invasive plant wreaths and garlands outdoors or disposing of them in compost piles can lead to new infestations. Birds and other animals also eat the fruit and spread viable seeds into vulnerable forest areas.

*Report It* - Wreaths may not be sold that contain these or any of the plant species banned for importation and sale in Maine [ [link removed] ].  Please report locations where banned plants are sold to the Maine Horticulture Program at [email protected] or by calling 207-287-3891. 

*Habitat Friendly Alternatives*
"Look for decorations with native species in them like winterberry holly, red twig dogwood, or American mountain ash," recommends Maine State Horticulturist Gary Fish.

~ Jocelyn Hubbell, BPL Interpretive Specialist

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Recommended Read: The Rediscovery of North America

Cover of The Rediscovery of North America by Barry Lopez.

This small book makes a big statement. Award-winning author Barry Lopez asks us to take another look at our founding story, listen to others, and weave a new story that honors all of us and the place we call home.

The Wabanaki [ [link removed] ] that live in Maine today now hold less than 1% of the land that once sustained their vital cultures. Can you imagine what this loss was like? What is it still like? And how much of their history, culture, and presence has been erased? Learn more [ [link removed] ].

~ Jocelyn Hubbell, BPL Interpretive Specialist

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www.ParksAndLands.com [ [link removed] ]

Send article suggestions or newsletter comments to Jocelyn Hubbell <[email protected]>, Interpretive Specialist, webmaster, and newsletter editor for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Read back issues of the newsletter [ [link removed] ].




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