News

The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) has coordinated courtesy boat inspections across the region for twenty-one seasons. May through September, nine inspectors searched for aquatic invasive species at ten boat launches on Haley Pond and Cupsuptic, Mooselookmeguntic, Rangeley, and Richardson Lakes.

June through October; if you drive the Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway (RLNSB) on the weekends, stopping into the overlooks, you’ll likely meet a Byway Ambassador. Created in 2021, the program is sponsored by the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) to connect the community to conservation in a unique way.

Stetsontown Township, ME – The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) closed on the 5096-acre Kennebago Woodlands, completing the second of three phases of their Kennebago Headwaters acquisition.

Since 1998, the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) has coordinated the Headwaters Lake Protection Program, which oversees water quality within the region. Despite, the weather, RLHT’s volunteers were able to survey 10 waterbodies this August and September.

This season, 63 volunteer Invasive Plant Patrollers surveyed Dodge, Gull, Haley, Quimby, and Round Ponds, along with Cupsuptic, Kennebago, Loon, Rangeley, and Mooselookmeguntic Lakes.

On a crisp September morning, the Rangeley Lakes Regional School 6th, 7th, and 8th graders were in the field learning about water quality science in the Rangeley Lakes Region.

Sponsored by the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, this event highlights the work done by the Headwaters Lake Protection Program staff and volunteers. Experiential education stations were set up throughout the village. Each station had a focus: water quality monitoring with Secchi discs, identifying aquatic plants, LakeSmart, and the invasive Rusty Crayfish.

The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT), in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), and Trout Unlimited (TU), has partially completed an effort to restore habitat for native Eastern brook trout and other aquatic species in the Kennebago watershed.

An old program is getting a fresh start in the Rangeley Lakes Region. Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust is now coordinating and performing LakeSmart evaluations for shorefront property owners in the region.

Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) hosted the first annual Invasive Rusty Crayfish Contest in the Rangeley Lakes Region from August 7-13. RLHT provided a trap, and information to correctly identify the native and invasive species and provided cash prizes to incentivize the public to participate.

The 40th Annual Loon Count was a success in the Rangeley Lakes Region with a record number of volunteers and surveyed waterbodies. The Annual Loon Count occurs on the 3rd Saturday in July, when volunteers monitor lakes and ponds simultaneously across the state. Since 2020, Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust has coordinated the efforts in the region.

Since 2016, RLHT has documented the Invasive Rusty Crayfish, Faxonius rusticus, in the Rangeley Lakes Region. This year, they’ve decided to act against these invaders by hosting the first annual invasive rusty crayfish contest from August 7th through 13th.