Creating a conservation commission in your town

Need help creating a conservation commission in your town?  Help for beginning a conservation commission is as close as your computer or phone – just contact a town near you and ask for information about their conservation commission. If that doesn’t work, contact us, at www.ogunquitconservation.org and we’ll help.

Or you can go on line and contact the Maine Association of Conservation Commissions. This is an organization created by the state to help existing conservation commissions, but I am sure you would be given guidance to create one for your town.

You will need approval of your town’s Select Board or city councilors to become an ‘official’ town committee. If you are starting a conservation commission, then you most likely have some projects in mind that might be special to your town.

You probably by now have a group of interested people; if you wish to have more folks on your commission you may want to describe what you are and what you propose to do for the town and ask any interested people to come to your next meeting. You will want a chair of your commission and perhaps someone to take minutes, unless you want to do both of these tasks. The chair is responsible for creating an agenda based on your group’s projects and goals.

Volunteers of course are always needed for almost any project. If you need volunteers for an activity such as cleaning up an area, ask the Scouts and the environmental group in your local school; post a notice in your post office or ask for volunteers at a select board meeting.

Earth Day in the spring is a good time to get volunteers for helping with your projects. These volunteers may be potential conservation commission members. The more people the better on your commission to accomplish your projects.

Most important, your commission will act as an advisory conscience to your town, helping it become environmentally conscious and conscientious.

Bill Baker

About Bill Baker

Bill's interest in a clean place to live is rooted in growing up in the country – a cornfield across the road and fields, sandstone cliffs and hundreds of acres of woods where he spent many hours.