FUW surpasses 500 acres of protected lands
Landowner Ron Rudolph partners with FUW to permanently protect his 114-acre farm, the former Clifford Homestead on Route 9 in Unity, with an agricultural conservation easement. The easement assures the land will forever be available for farming and forestry and is the third in the Fields & Forests Forever regional conservation initiative.

FUW heads to market
FUW will bring its family programming to the Unity Farmers' Market on the second Saturday of each month beginning May 10. Join us to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day, with a bird walk and a nest-making activity. 10 to 11:30 at the Unity Community Center. Free. Visit our Events page for more information about FUW Center Saturdays children's programming.

Water quality workshop May 13
FUW has partnered with the Unity Pond Watershed Restoration Project to bring NEMO - Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials -to Unity at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 13. The program at the Unity Centre for the Performing Arts will examine the links between land use, natural resources and community character, with an emphasis on water quality. Dinner will be served. Space is limited. Participants should register at 948-3766 or FUW@unitymaine.org.

Challenge Grant means every gift is doubled!
Friends of Unity Wetlands is excited to announce the award of a $100,000 two-year challenge grant from the Unity Foundation. Meeting this tremendous fund-raising opportunity will allow FUW to continue to conserve the farms and forests, wetlands and waterways that make the Unity Wetlands region so special. Visit Support FUW to make a secure, online donation today.

In 2004, a group of individuals and organizations incorporated as the Friends of Unity Wetlands (FUW) to protect and conserve the natural, cultural and economic values of the Unity Wetlands. FUW recognizes that the 45,000-acre Unity Wetlands landscape is a unique and significant resource, a combination of wild and working lands rich in biodiversity, scenic beauty, and economic value, which greatly enhances the quality of life of the local community.

The Unity Wetlands includes a large expanse of the wetlands and uplands centered on Unity Township, extending to Unity Pond and west to the Sebasticook River, covering more than 65 square miles. It includes portions of the towns of Albion, Benton, Burnham, Clinton, Freedom, Troy, Unity Plantation and Unity.

The area hosts an array of unique natural features. Several rare species and habitats, from wood turtles to wild garlic, find their home in the Unity Wetlands.

The area represents one of the largest remaining unfragmented blocks of land in central Maine providing a promising opportunity not only for conservation of the area’s rarest ecological gems, but also for maintaining wide-ranging common species, from black bear to bobcat, that are becoming increasingly rare in more developed landscapes in southern Maine.

Finally, the outstanding rural condition of the complex offers numerous social and cultural benefits to local and surrounding populations by providing a mainly farmland and working forest landscape that is largely open to traditional recreational activities such as hunting, trapping, fishing, boating and hiking.

FUW seeks to maintain biological diversity, ecological values, recreational values, traditional land uses and the rural character of this landscape through collaborative efforts with landowners, municipalities and partnering organizations. Our focus is on land conservation and outreach and education as well as information gathering.

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