Next Horizon

The MCPI engines are running full tilt to achieve the 2007 Strategic Conservation Framework goals, with its list of accomplishments growing.

The broader coastal and conservation community is taking note. Margaret Davidson, director of the NOAA Coastal Services Center, which is a participant and funder for MCPI, states, “This process and products of the MCPI project are timely and relevant models for private-public partnerships to advance coastal conservation. We are using the lessons learned in Maine to help further conservation across the country.”

Already emerging from their collaborative work are a definition of statewide and regional conservation priorities, new support for a wide variety of coastal conservation efforts, enhanced capacity of coastal land trusts to be more proactive and strategic, and stronger public understanding of land investment in coastal conservation work.

With this experience under their belt, the Coalition is beginning to look ahead to the next horizon. Throughout 2007 they will be assessing status of MCPI and decide if and how to move forward, including changes in scope, character, funding and leadership. “No matter what form the Initiative takes, the experiences and lessons learned from this collaboration will infuse all of our future coastal conservation work,” says Jim Connors, with the State Planning Office Coastal Program. “Thejourney is as important as the destination.”