Quality of Place Initiative

Welcome to the Environmental Funders Network e-newsletter. 

The term “quality of place” conveys the essential relationship between Maine’s environmental well-being, its economic prosperity, and the overall quality of life. Through financial support, collaborative grantmaking, and learning opportunities, the EFN is bringing nonprofits, governmental agencies, business, and philanthropy together to implement sustainable quality of place strategies. Learn more.

Grantees on the Ground:

Trust for Public Land, Lake Region Community create shared vision for quality of place

Working with lake community partners (Loon Echo Land Trust and the towns of Bridgton, Casco, Denmark, Harrison, Naples, Sebago, and Raymond), the Trust for Public Land is creating a seven-town collaboration to establish a shared vision for future land use. The resulting Greenprint will help to guide investment in conservation and future building and settlement decisions. By using a priority map developed through a public consensus process, these seven towns will identify, protect, and enhance their shared quality of place while maintaining the balance between built and natural environments. To date the partnership has established a 40-member stakeholder group, conducted 30 person-to-person in-depth interviews, held two public listening sessions, and sponsored a comprehensive region-wide telephone survey on topics related to land use and recreation.

“We are hopeful that this small step toward landscape-scale thinking by these Maine towns will be rewarded by a bright shared future.” -- Jim Gooch, program director, Maine CommunityScape Initiative, The Trust for Public Land

Who’s in the Network:

Jay Espy

In 2008, Jay Espy joined the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation as its first executive director. The Sewall Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation focused on conservation, animal welfare, and social needs, primarily in Maine. For the prior two decades, Espy served as president of Maine Coast Heritage Trust. During his tenure, the Trust conserved more than 125,000 acres and established the Maine Land Trust Network, which helps build the capacity of local land trusts throughout the state. A graduate of Bowdoin College, Espy holds master’s degrees from the Yale School of Management and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In addition to being a member of the EFN steering committee, he serves on the boards of Hour Exchange Portland, Maine Philanthropy Center, and Canadian Land Trust Alliance.

From Around the State ...

For many years, the Maine Center for Economic Policy has been producing research on the impact that tourism has on Maine’s economy. Later this summer, MECEP will present a new report, “Amenity Investments and Tourist Destination Development: Policy Insights from Three Rural Maine Regions,” written by David Vail, economics and environmental studies professor at Bowdoin College. The report includes a bold proposal, for Maine to invest $100 million over five years to improve transportation and communications infrastructure and other amenities that will encourage tourism in northern Franklin County and Piscataquis and Washington counties. See a preview of the report here.

... And Across the Nation

CNBC’s annual report on America’s top states for business gives Maine low-to-average marks on many economic indicators. Ranked 39th in the overall ranking, the state came in an impressive 6th in the Quality of Life category. A joint report by the Maine Development Foundation and the Maine Chamber of Commerce, and a new grant program at the Maine Arts Commission, offer promising ideas for improving the economic outlook for Maine.

Coming Up Next from EFN

Save the Date: Keeping Maine's Forests

Join EFN on October 5 in Freeport for a conversation on the future of Maine’s forests. The Maine North Woods has been an arena where various interests have seen themselves as competing instead of cooperating. The Keeping Maine’s Forests coalition offers a new paradigm for different solutions, new partners, and potentially greater success in keeping the special qualities of Maine’s forests. Can this coalition find consensus about new ideas and leverage more federal support than Maine is getting now? What’s important for the dynamic of conservation in Maine? Can the group influence collaboration at the federal level between agencies around one landscape and one vision? Join funders and MaineCF donors for this briefing and to discuss this important topic first-hand.

Our Mission

The Environmental Funders Network helps to identify and create ways to improve and sustain Maine’s natural environment. We accomplish our mission by identifying opportunities for individual or joint funding of initiatives, providing opportunities for education and sharing of information to gain a deeper understanding of trends, challenges, and solutions, and encouraging networking. Learn more.