Creativity leads to Awe
Education leads to Awareness
Inspiration leads to Action
UPCOMING OFFERINGS
Protect Ancient Forests is hosting a Roadless Rule public forum:
September 16, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Patagonia — 100 Main St in Freeport
This event is being co-sponsored by our friends at Patagonia, Sierra Club’s Maine Chapter, Standing Trees, The Wilderness Society, Maine Audubon, National Park Conservation Association, Natural Resources Council of Maine, and Environment Maine.
45 million acres of National Forests, including wild roadless forests right here in Maine, are in jeopardy of losing protections with the senseless repeal of the Roadless Rule. Please join us to make your voice heard. If you are unable to attend, you can take action by clicking here.
PAST OFFERINGS
August 30, 2026 — Let us welcome Alyssa & Michael O'Brien, co-founders of Protect Ancient Forests, to talk on the importance of forest ecosystem and policy development. They’ll make the case for our working together to protect our remaining old-growth and mature public forests—why they're irreplaceable, how policy shapes their fate, and what it looks like to build a movement on their behalf. Drawing on law, education, and deep roots in the Maine landscape, they'll invite us to join in the movement!
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Protect Ancient Forests was honored to speak at The Good Life Center, the educational & social justice homestead of Helen and Scott Nearing as a part of their Summer Speaker Series, a tradition held by the Nearings to encourage community conversation on principled topics. This year's 'Against the Grain' theme shows all the ways critical thinking and being in the world helps create and support the world we want to be in.
Protect Ancient Forests co-sponsored a series of:
Roadless Rule Public Meetings
Norway, ME / Hanover, NH
Protect Ancient Forests is raising awareness about the most pressing threat facing our forests. 45 million acres of roadless National Forests — some of the most wild and spectacular ecosystems that remain on federal public lands — are about to lose critical protections. Together, we can put a stop to it.
The following opportunities exist to make your voice heard:
May 18, 2026 at 6PM — First Universalist Church, 471 Main Street, Norway, Maine.
May 19, 2026 at 6PM — Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, 40 College Street, Hanover, New Hampshire.
The Roadless Rule protects the wildest National Forests nationwide, including over 260,000 roadless acres across the White and Green Mountain National Forests. The Administration is attempting to rescind this landmark protection without holding a single public meeting, so grassroots groups across the country are organizing our own. Join us to learn about what is at stake and make your voice heard!
Protect Ancient Forests presented:
Climate Aid: The Voice of the Forest
Merrill Auditorium — Portland, Maine
October 15, 2023 — Protect Ancient Forests held a legendary environmental event featuring music, poetry, art and advocacy — with one-of-a-kind appearances by:
Maggie Rogers (GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer / songwriter / performer), Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Penobscot Nation Ambassador Maulian Dana Bryant, Alisa Amador (2022 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner), Oshima Brothers, Halcyon String Quartet, organist James Kennerley, poets Beth Ann Fennelly and Gary Lawless, Protect Ancient Forest founders Michael & Alyssa O’Brien, as well as environmental legends Bill McKibben, Terry Tempest Williams, and Rick Bass.
The event benefited the creative grassroots environmental movement to protect the ancient “Black Ram” forest in Montana’s Yaak Valley—as well as all remaining mature and old-growth forests on U.S. public lands.
Event program can be viewed here.
Press release can be viewed here.
COLLABORATIONS
Painting with ARRT!
Protect Ancient Forests partners with Maine-based art collective, the Artists’ Rapid Response Team, for banner painting projects. Over the course of several sessions, community members and youth climate activists have joined forces to learn about the importance of ancient forests and to create art that to be shared in public spaces, including on the steps of Portland’s City Hall and at our inaugural Climate Aid: The Voice of the Forest event.
Light Projections with LumenARRT!
Protect Ancient Forests partnered with the creative visionaries at LumenARRT! — via the Union of Maine Visual Artists — to create a series of large-scale ancient forest themed animations that were projected onto the facade of Portland’s City Hall on the evening of Climate Aid: The Voice of the Forest.
Over the course of many collaborative sessions, and one dress rehearsal, this grand vision came to life and turned downtown Portland, Maine into an old growth forest for a night — creating an enchanting environment that inspired both attendees and passerby, creatively raising awareness about these irreplaceable ecosystems.
