The Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance

The Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance (BRCA) was incorporated as a non-profit land trust in 1990 (originally formed in 1988 as the Watson Pond Conservation Trust) to conserve important natural areas in the Belgrade Lakes region of central Maine. Its primary goals are to preserve wildlife habitat, protect water quality in the region's lakes and ponds, maintain open space, and assure continued public access for year-round, low-impact recreational activities. The BRCA coordinates its conservation efforts with surrounding town governments, private land owners, other conservation groups and individual lake associations.

Since its establishment, the BRCA has acquired ownership of eight significant parcels of land, totaling 930 acres, and owns conservation easements which protect another 65 acres. In 1997 it worked with the Belgrade Lakes Association to raise $145,000 to buy an important conservation property known as The Mountain. In addition to protecting land, the BRCA sponsors a Youth Conservation Corps, has an active program to control invasive plant species (milfoil) in the area's lakes, and has received several Maine Department of Environmental Protection grants for the development and maintenance of a management program for the Belgrade Lakes watershed.

Recently, the BRCA has been able to hire a full-time Executive Director in addition to its seasonal employment of Conservation Corps members and staff. Its watershed surveys, courtesy boat inspections for milfoil, and the majority of its stewardship activities are carried out by volunteers.