Conservation Committee

The conservation committee consists of 7 members appointed by the town council. Each year in the month of March, the council meets and appoints a new member for each of the outgoing members for a term of 3 years. The terms commence April 1st and end March 31st. A member of the conservation committee must be a minimum of 18 years old, a legal resident of Bucksport and a United State citizen. Current committee members and their term expiration dates are as follows:

Mary (Betty) Barker March 31, 2022
John Christopher March 31, 2024
Kathy Downes March 31, 2022
VACANT March 31, 2024
Karen Johnson March 31, 2023
Linda Plourde (Chair) March 31, 2024
Candice Spaulding March 31, 2023

The duties of the committee are:

  1. To keep an index of all open areas within the town including open marshlands, swamps and other wetlands, for the purpose of obtaining information relating to the proper protection, development or use of those open areas. The committee may recommed to the town council or any municipal body or board, or public agency of the State, a program for the better protection, development or use of those areas, which may include the acquisition of conservation easements.
  2. To receive gifts of personal property in the town's name, as accepted by the town council, for any of the committee's purposes, and to administer any such gift for those purposes subject to the terms of the gift.
  3. To acquire land or interest in land in the municipality's name, as approved by the town council, for any of the purposes set forth in this section.
  4. To assume supervisory responsibility for the care and planting of all public shade trees in the community.
  5. To review all proposals for the planting, removal, or relocation of public shade trees. The committee shall approve proposals, meeting applicable arboricultural standards adopted by the committee and other reasonable requirements if any.
  6. To determine and inventory unique natural areas throughout the community pursuant to the town's comprehensive plan.
  7. To recommend to the town council for consideration, amendments to the zoning and subdivision ordinances aimed at protecting State identified critical and natural heritage areas throughout the community, if any.

Regular meetings are held 3 times annually. Special meetings may be called from time to time by the chair, or by at least 3 members of the committee. All meetings are open to the public, except for executive sessions as provided under the laws of the State of Maine. Committee meeting notices are posted at the town office and on this website, and provided to the local news media.

For additional information on the Conservation Committee, please click on the document link below.