The Maine Master Naturalist Program (MMNP) was founded in the spring of 2011 by a group of like-minded citizen-naturalists as an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Using donations and seed money from the Davis Conservation Foundation, the program purchased classroom and field materials and equipment. The Chewonki Foundation agreed to serve as the first host, making its considerable natural history educational facilities and resources on Chewonki Neck (Wiscasset, Maine) freely available. The Board of Directors of MMNP developed the curriculum and currently serve as the faculty. By design, both the Board and all instructors are strictly volunteers.

Why are Maine Master Naturalist Volunteers needed?

More and more, conservation and environmental organizations are realizing that simply protecting and preserving our native ecosystems is not enough. It is also critical to educate the public, to get people out into nature, and to weave our ecological preserves into the fabric of the community. Because land trust, watershed association and school administrations, themselves, often lack the resources and background to lead nature walks, present natural history talks, or educate school children, they must rely on volunteers.

By rigorously training amateur naturalists from all walks of life, MMNP aims to set a higher standard for public natural history and ecological education statewide. With each new class of Maine Master Naturalist Volunteers, the value of the collective body of citizen-naturalists to the welfare of the State of Maine promises to grow dramatically.

How is Maine’s Master Naturalist Program different from other state programs?

Maine’s program, with its emphasis on training natural historians who will in turn teach in their community, differs markedly from Master Naturalist programs across the country, most of which focus on natural resource management and conservation and are affiliated with state agencies or university extension services.

Maine Master Naturalist is completely independent and autonomous. It is a not-for-profit organization supported by grants, private contributions and volunteer services. MMNP is not directly affiliated with or supported by any state agency or educational institution, although their contributions and assistance are welcome.

MMNP offers a broad survey of relevant natural history and ecology, including geology, night sky astronomy, philosophy and pedagogy; the program aims to cultivate the attitudes, dispositions and practices (such as keeping a Nature Journal) that have traditionally characterized the great naturalists throughout history.

MMNP also differs from the Penobscot Bay Stewards and the Midcoast Stewards programs, which are sponsored by the State Planning Office Dept. of Coastal Programs with funds from NOAA. Although Stewards helps participants understand connections in the environment, the Master Naturalist course requires participants to assemble evidence of learning, reach a certain competency level, and teach (rather than build trails, eradicate invasives, provide administrative assistance, or so on). The MMNP course is also significantly longer.