About The Center

 

The Maine Lakes Resource Center, MLRC, is owned and managed by an independent 501(c)3 established in 2011, with a board of directors comprised of representatives from its founding partners: the Belgrade Lakes Association (BLA), Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance (BRCA), and Colby, in addition to other community members, both local and seasonal. In an effort to make the Center a vital element of community life, it is made available to local groups such as the land-trust organizations, the Belgrade Business Group, Farmers Market and other Lake Associations.
The conservation partners have a wealth of expertise. Our founding partner, the Belgrade Lakes Association, established in 1908, has deep roots in the community. The BRCA and Maine COLA (Congress of Lake Associations) have professional staff, while Colby's department of environmental studies, led by chemistry professor and MLRC board member Whitney King, provides access to scientists, student volunteers as well as funding resources. The MLRC has an executive director with many years of experience leading non-profit organizations. Lastly, the MLRC board, which was responsible for the successful creation of the MLRC and its $2.5 million fundraising effort, has a broad range of conservation, management and financial expertise.

The economic and environmental well-being of Maine depends heavily on its lakes. Unfortunately, lake water quality has been in decline for many years. Property owners must take responsibility for reversing this trend by instituting buffer strips, better drainage and other water protection features. That's our mission.

The MLRC organizes non-conservation activities of general appeal (art shows, history demonstrations and lectures on a broad variety of topics) that draw people to the Center, where they are exposed to conservation exhibits and short presentations of communal interest such as LakeSmart practices, options for volunteer work, or where to purchase plants suitable for a rain garden and buffer strips.

The building and creation of the Maine Lakes Resource Center was thoughtfully designed to bring disparate conservation organizations closer together, reduce redundancy, increase outreach, and grow capacity to reach further into the community; in short, to bring others science that can be used as part of their daily behavior. We are providing invasive plant identification and education to the business community and MLRC has provided a living laboratory for the Environmental Science Program at Colby College where future environmentalists are gaining "real world" experience on the lakes. The MLRC has also provided the DEP with an area to pilot experimental septic and drainage systems.