PORTLAND, Maine — Bob McIntosh, president of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation (AWWF), announced Aug. 20, 2016, a new outdoor youth initiative for the St. John Valley and Aroostook County, and an innovative “Storied Lands and Waters” interpretive plan for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.
The announcement coincides with the 50th anniversary celebration of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in the town of Allagash.
“The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation’s goal is to get every willing middle school student from Aroostook County on an overnight trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and, ultimately, to create an interpretive plan that will educate all about the Waterway’s historic and cultural significance,” said McIntosh. To realize these goals, McIntosh says the AWWF is engaging with dozens of partners, raising funds, and reaching out to the greater Maine community for support.
On August 15, 2016, the AWWF received word of a $20,000 grant from the Quimby Family Foundation to support the youth initiative and the foundation’s “Storied Lands and Waters” project, an assessment of historic and cultural resources and an interpretive plan for the Waterway.
In a letter to AWWF, Quimby Family Foundation Executive Director Hannah Quimby wrote, “The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation was selected to receive funding because your goals and mission most closely align with our foundation’s funding priorities and we are inspired by the work that you have been doing in the state of Maine.” The Storied Lands and Waters project is also being funded by the Davis Family Foundation.
“Getting young people outdoors to learn life skills, to gain leadership experience and to enjoy healthy exercise is a goal of many organizations,” said McIntosh. “The AWWF wants to provide this opportunity in Aroostook County and showcase the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in the process. We hope the youth of Aroostook County, and for that matter, the youth of Maine, will take pride in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, one the nation’s first National Wild and Scenic Rivers.
“The Allagash is a national treasure that we hope today’s youth will enjoy and appreciate the river’s beauty, wildness, and its significance in the history of Maine. Moreover we hope they will look out for its future and actively participate in its care.”
The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation’s grand vision is to connect the young people of Aroostook County with one of the nation’s greatest and most scenic rivers — a legendary gem right in their own community. The first trip down the river is planned in September during harvest break.
Leading the trip (and donating equipment and leadership) will be The New England Outdoor Education Center, based in Millinocket.
A legendary river
The Allagash Wilderness Waterway was established in 1966 as one of the first wild and scenic rivers in America when the citizens of Maine voted to protect the river by authorizing a $1.5 million bond that would “develop the maximum wilderness character” of the river.
Today, the river comprises a 90-mile ribbon of wilderness that weaves through a landscape of lakes and managed forest. Long inhabited by Native Americans, the river was made famous nearly 160 years ago by Henry David Thoreau, who travelled through the area with a Native American guide and wrote about it in his book “The Maine Woods.”
But Thoreau was not the only well-known advocate for this special wilderness. In a famous passage from his 1961 classic, “My Wilderness: East to Katahdin,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, wrote: “From Telos to the junction of the Allagash and the St. John it is a bit over a hundred miles. There are no hundred miles in America quite their equal. Certainly none has their distinctive quality. They will, I pray, be preserved for all time as a roadless primitive waterway.”
Lead contributors
In 2012, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation was established with a seed grant from an individual with strong ties to the Allagash and northern Maine. In addition to the grant from the Quimby Family Foundation, the AWWF has received grant support from the Butler Conservation Fund and Davis Family Foundation, as well as contributions from scores of individuals.
“We have an initial goal of $50,000 for the youth initiative,” said AWWF board member Don Hudson, “and we are motivated by the vision to engage the young people of Aroostook County to explore the wilderness in their own backyards and to create healthy, purposeful lives that are rooted in the knowledge of their state’s heritage.”
“With the Quimby Family Foundation grant in hand, we now have the incentive to forge ahead with confidence,” added McIntosh.
Announcing the team
The AWWF Board of Directors includes members from Fort Kent to Somerville, Mass., all with strong personal ties to the Allagash. Included among them is Donald Nicoll, founding president of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation and Senator Muskie’s assistant in helping develop the federal-state partnership that made the creation of the Waterway possible 50 years ago.
The AAWF is a non-profit corporation created to enhance, preserve and protect the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Learn more at http://awwf.org or visit them on Facebook.
