PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 15, 2021
Most of Maine’s vast forestland is privately owned yet remains open to the public. Praised as unique to Maine, the setup is necessary because the woods are the center of two of Maine’s biggest industries: forest products and recreation. It requires a delicate hand, but it works. And it works because of people like Al Cowperthwaite.Cowperthwaite is retiring after 39 years as director of North Maine Woods, time he has spent guaranteeing access to the organization’s property by building consensus and soothing disagreements between landowners and the public who uses that land to hunt, fish, hike and snowmobile.