There have been so many land conservation deals in Maine in recent years that residents can be excused for not keeping up with what group is preserving what large swath of forest. There is one project, however, that deserves attention. Not because of its size, but because of how it came about.

Most conservation projects that begin with an outside group identifying an area that needs to be protected because it is ecologically unique have special natural features that draw visitors or provide exceptional recreational opportunities. In this instance, guides and residents along Grand Lake Stream in Washington County, after watching all the land around them change hands, realized that they needed to take action to preserve the land as working forest to protect jobs in the woods and the nearby mill in Baileyville. They also wanted to maintain recreational opportunities for local residents and visitors who come to the area primarily to fish, boat and hunt.

The first effort of the Downeast Lakes Land Trust was to buy an easement along Grand Lake Stream. They applied for a small grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the purchase and had to come up with matching money. The 125 residents of Grand Lake Stream voted to assess a $20,000 tax on themselves to come up with the money.

From there the group’s preservation efforts have ballooned into a project that includes a 312,000-acre easement on forest land where trees will be harvested, people can recreate, but houses and camps cannot be built, and a 27,000-acre purchase that includes an ecological reserve while will be left intact. In the end, 60 lakes and ponds, 445 miles of lake frontage, 1,500 miles of river and stream shoreline and 54,000 acres of wetlands will be preserved. So will 550 jobs at the Domtar mill.

As a testament to local support, 80 percent of local guides have contributed to the projects, as have 78 percent of the area’s lodges and 55 percent of area residents.

Because this project is so different, it was praised last week by federal officials as a new model for community- driven conservation. Mark Rey, undersecretary for natural resources and environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, noted that the day a press conference was held to tout the Downeast Lakes Forestry Partnership, President Bush signed an executive order calling on federal departments to foster cooperative preservation efforts.

Federal support for the project went beyond kind words. The project was awarded $1.15 million for loon habitat protection from the North Cape Oil Spill settlement fund, $1 million from the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund and $250,000 from the Maine Atlantic salmon fund. The president has also asked Congress to appropriate $1 million for the project as part of the USDA Forest Service 2005 budget.

With these funds, plus $1.25 million from the Land for Maine’s Future and $1 million donations from The Nature Conservancy and the Open Space Institute, the partnership has raised more than $12 million, more than a third of the $30 million needed to complete the project.

This is a project worthy of attention and funding.