Groups working to set aside land in Maine, along with Gov. John Baldacci, like to think of themselves as taking a bold approach to forest conservation. But bold may have taken on a new meaning this month when environmental groups, timber and gas companies and indigenous peoples in Canada announced an effort to protect 1.3 billion acres there. That’s more than half the nation’s total land mass, with 4 million people living in the affected region.

The Canadian Boreal Forest Initiative seeks to protect the vast forest that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to Alaska. The largest intact forest on the planet, the boreal forest, made up of pine, spruce, poplar and other trees interspersed with large wetland areas, is home to billions of birds. Because of its size, it has an effect on the global climate and water supply. At least half the forest land, which is mostly publicly owned, will be put off limits to development and the remainder will be developed with an eye toward sustainability – of both economic resources and the environment.

Under the framework, which lacks the power of law, companies such as paper producer Domtar Inc., forest-products company Tembec Inc., and oil and gas company Suncor Energy Inc., will work with conservation groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and Ducks Unlimited and First Nation groups to decide how the land can be developed and used, while acknowledging that some will remain off-limits.

The concept is so large and unprecedented, that even corporate executives who are committed to it are nervous. “I’m scared,” Bill Hunter, president of Edmonton-based Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. told The Globe and Mail. “But if this works, man, oh, man, what a model it will be for the world.”

Mr. Hunter, who leads one of the largest pulp mills in North America, said the leaders of these companies are interested in conservation because they have to think not just about profits but about how their businesses affect the physical and social environments.

There is a natural tendency to hear of such a project and suggest that Maine and, perhaps, the United States, should emulate it. To some extent Maine already is. Large parts of the Maine woods have recently been protected through easements and outright purchases by conservation groups. Recent examples are the Appalachian Mountain Club purchase of 37,000 acres in the Hundred Acre Wilderness and the on-going West Branch Project, a mix of easement and purchase to protect more than 650,000 acres along the Penobscot River.

What Maine has done is found projects that fit its landscape, which is nowhere near as sprawling nor remote as the more northerly boreal forest. Like the Canadian initiative, Gov. Baldacci’s Maine Woods Legacy program emphasizes the connection between a healthy forest and healthy local economies. As part of the program, the governor called for more emphasis on protecting larger swaths of land.

So, while the size of Maine’s conservation efforts pale in comparison to the new Canadian plan, the thinking is much the same. What the Canadian initiative shows is that such thinking is catching on.