Maine webinar panel urges integrated open-space planning to protect access, habitat and resilience

Greg LeClaire, municipal planning biologist with the Beginning with Habitat program at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, moderated a July webinar hosted by the Municipal Planning Assistance Program at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry on open-space planning for municipalities.

The panel — featuring LeClaire, Howard Lake, co‑chair of the Readfield Open Space Committee and representative of the Kennebec Land Trust, and Matt Marcotte, executive director of Loon Echo Land Trust — advised towns to treat open-space planning as a practical tool to protect wildlife habitat, preserve public access, and advance climate and flood resilience while guiding where development should occur.

“Open spaces are just as much about wild places and ecosystem function as it is about people and how people interact within their communities,” Marcotte said, adding that open-space planning can connect trail networks, schools and hospitals and provide alternative-transportation routes. LeClaire told participants the state mapping and Beginning with Habitat resources can help towns identify corridors and priority blocks for…