PROSPECT – The Friends of Fort Knox board of directors has taken the first steps toward establishing a new statewide friends group that would support Maine’s state parks and historic sites.

The FFK board on Tuesday voted to sponsor the creation of the Friends of Maine State Parks and Historic Sites whose mission will be to preserve and protect Maine’s state parks and historic sites and enhance their recreational, educational, cultural and economic value to the people of Maine. The nonprofit group will be supported by its membership and governed by a board of directors.

The new organization will work in partnership with the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, which has endorsed the concept of the organization, to raise funds for needed projects and act as an advocate for the Maine parks system.

The Friends group can be a strong force to bolster the BPL’s efforts in an age of stagnant state General Fund appropriations, according to Tim Hall, the regional manager for the BPL, who oversees the bureau’s assets in northern Maine.

“For us to thrive in the next 20 years, we need to derive new sources of revenue,” Hall said Wednesday. “The Friends group can be a significant help in that area.”

Hall said the bureau sees the statewide organization having the ability to create a foundation that could fund projects throughout the park system ranging from capital projects to interpretation and education efforts.

“We need to develop a true partnership where we still have our responsibility as stewards but also where the state gives up some of its authority in order to move toward a mutually beneficial future,” Hall said.

As a statewide organization, the new Friends group can attract financial support from large corporate sponsors that local organizations would not have access to, according to Tom Goodman, a FFK board member who will serve on the new organization’s board of directors as well.

“As a statewide organization, we can go after some of the bigger players,” Goodman said. “That could really make a difference in the park system statewide. This will give us access to organizations that a small group like Friends of Fort Knox would not be able to touch.”

The statewide group will not compete with or interfere with the activities of existing Friends groups, according to Goodman, but will work with them to improve individual sites.

The bureau is responsible for the operation of 33 state parks, 12 historic sites and public reserved lands encompassing nearly 100,000 acres. There are approximately $38 million in identified maintenance and development needs throughout the state park system, according to a survey of maintenance and development needs recently conducted by the bureau.

The idea of a statewide Friends group for the park system has been under discussion by the FFK board for about two years, according to Executive Director Leon Seymour. Some members of the local board will move to a newly created FMSPHS board along with other members from throughout the state. Dana Connors, executive director of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, has agreed to serve on the board, according to Seymour.

The new group will follow the FFK model, Seymour said, although the new board will determine the exact structure of the organization. But the local group has been among the most successful Friends groups working with the bureau and during the past decade or so has raised more than $1.4 million for renovations and improvements at Fort Knox.

Seymour will help to facilitate the startup of the new organization, and the FFK board will allot a portion of his time to that effort. The local Friends group also will provide some initial funding for the new organization. A decision is expected on that issue next month.

Individuals wishing to join FMSPHS can contact the organization at FMSPHS@aol.com, telephone 207-469-6400, or write to: FMSPHS, P.O. Box 182, Stockton Springs 04981.