Maine Sporting Camp Heritage Foundation

In 1904 there were at least 300 sporting camps in operation in Maine. By 2007, this number had dwindled to fewer than 40. As more commercial camps are lost, this unique part of Maine’s cultural heritage comes dangerously close to losing its critical mass and disappearing altogether — taking with it the valuable public services sporting camps provide and the vital role they play in Maine’s rural economy and outdoor traditions.

The "Sporting Camp Experience" is as unique today as it was 150 years ago. These family-run businesses offer rustic cabins surrounded by fantastic wild scenery and wildlife; lost art of providing hearty home-cooked meals and pastrys, safe family vacation settings, and traditional outdoor recreation like fishing, hunting, hiking and wildlife watching.

The Foundation's educational programs let the public learn about traditional Maine sporting camps and the important role they play in Maine’s history, cultural heritage and economic well-being. We stress the importance of conservation efforts to preserve Maine’s natural resources and the undeveloped, pristine surroundings that sporting camps rely upon.

The Foundation provides business and marketing training to sporting camp operators and employees to help them better manage their operations and market their camps in an economic environment where it appears that the interest in traditional sporting camp activities such as fishing and hunting is waning. Working with our partner organizations, the Foundation provides meaningful information and technical assistance to camp owners on topics ranging from general business, marketing and advertising, new product and service offerings, and preparing business plans and budgets.

Maine Sporting Camps face serious challenges to their survival. Changes in land ownership and land management policies, high land valuations and taxes, lack of long term land leases, increased government regulation, lack of affordable capital and encroaching development all threaten the future of Maine’s remaining Sporting Camps.

Most sporting camps are located on waterfront land that typically can be sold at prices far higher than what could be supported by a commercial sporting camp operation. Many camps have already been purchased by wealthy individuals and families, who then converted the camps into exclusive-use, private vacation properties - the end result is lost public access. By preserving the sporting camps and the natural resources they rely upon, the Foundation will prevent that loss of access.

We offer affordable financing to sporting camps for a limited range of purposes. These include providing capital for upgrading camp facilities in order to make them more suitable for today’s visitors, and, in the case of sporting camps located on leased property, assisting in the acquisition of the underlying land in the event the land owner elects to offer the property for sale. We also directly acquire property in the event it is offered for sale by the landowner, and then lease it to a camp operator in order to assure that the sporting camp is preserved and public access is maintained.

Maine's Sporting Camps were established 100 to 150 years ago in locations then surrounded by miles and miles of forest and wetland habitat. "Development" was absent, rare plants were undisturbed, and wildlife like deer, moose, caribou, lynx, black bear, pine marten, eagles, salmon, and brook trout were plentiful. The natural habitat that provided for wildlife also made it possible for sporting camps to sustain their existence as attractive places for outdoor recreation and enrichment.

Maine Sporting Camps and their surrounding habitats face serious challenges today. Changes in land ownership and land management policies, high land valuations and taxes, and encroaching development all threaten the future of Maine’s remaining Sporting Camps.

The Foundation maintains a database of every commercially active sporting camp, plus those that have already been converted to private, non-public, use. We survey the outstanding wildlife, habitats, ecosystems and scenic values nearby. The Foundation then builds coalitions to establish conservation easements in order to protect the undeveloped, pristine surroundings and wildlife habitats that make sporting camps such special places and provide for the public's need for remote outdoor recreation.

"Sporting camps are a cultural and entrepreneurial resource distinctive to the state"
– Alice Arlen, Author &
Sporting Camp Historian

"There are serious challenges facing the sporting camp industry"
– State of Maine Comprehensive
Land Use Plan, 2007

"Continued operation of
sporting camps contributes
not only to local and regional
economies, but also benefits
the tourism industry
throughout the State"
– Resolution of
Maine's 112th Legislature