Saving Maine’s Wildlands from Ourselves

During the Covid pandemic there was a rush to upgrade camps in Maine’s Unorganized Territories (UT)—an area traditionally referred to as the Maine Wildlands—into part-time vacation getaways. The Maine Land Use Planning Commission found there were hundreds of Airbnb and Vrbo short-term rental listings in the UT. In the Rangeley Lakes region alone available rentals jumped nearly 50% between 2021 and 2024. Local residents complained about too much partying and wastewater systems that were being stressed to the point of dysfunction. Last week the LUPC members voted to have their staff draft standards to regulate short-term rental occupancy. With the incoming MAGA mob promising to jettison national regulations that protect our lands and waters and air, state oversight will be even more important. Including in Maine’s Wildlands, which—despite centuries of logging, questionable forest management, and relentless development pressures—remain an extraordinary place of global significance.