Above: Flooding in downtown Damariscotta during a winter storm in January 2024. Photo by Ashley Eugley

Three years into our five-year strategic plan, taking stock of our #1 Strategic Goal: Confront Climate Change.

Early in 2021, staff and board convened on Zoom to draft Coastal Rivers’ next five-year strategic plan. One topic rose to the top of discussion, again and again: climate change.

As a conservation organization rooted in community, all of us felt strongly that we needed not only to double down on our land conservation efforts and reduce our organization’s carbon footprint even further, but also to do all we can to help position our communities for a stronger future.

Key to our advancement of this goal has been the creation of a new position at Coastal Rivers dedicated to climate action.

Ashley Eugley joined our team in this role in September 2023. During her ten-month tenure here at Coastal Rivers, she oversaw the implementation of our climate strategy, and worked to establish Coastal Rivers as a resource for the region on climate issues.

Here, in her words, Ashley describes the substance of her work.

When I was growing up in South Bristol, it seemed nothing about this area would ever change. However – especially over the past decade – Maine’s coastal communities are noticing and experiencing climate impacts. Warming temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, sea level rise, and severe weather events across the region make the need for climate resilience and adaptation clear.

Coastal Rivers is committed to caring for our lands and waters, now and into the future, and to maintain them for future generations. In 2022, Coastal Rivers created the climate strategy position to advance our climate goals and to help our region become more resilient to climate change. Tahlia Mullen started this work in January 2023. Together with Coastal Rivers Staff and the Board of Trustees, she developed a climate action plan that prioritizes local ecological health and community resilience, charting a path forward for the organization’s climate initiatives. Tahlia handed the position over to me when she left for graduate school last fall.

As Climate Action Coordinator, my ethos centers on advancing local engagement with climate change by focusing on impacts at the level where life is lived. I prioritize connecting with a diverse array of stakeholders, including residents, land owners, community organizations, governments, and members of our natural resource economy.

I’ve learned a lot from speaking with people who are grappling with climate impacts in their everyday lives. Not only do these conversations reassure me that we have no shortage of ideas about how to address these challenges, they reveal a deep concern for community well-being, and a shared hope that future generations will enjoy what makes our area great, just as we do.

I am inspired by our community’s enthusiasm for taking action on climate change, and I am committed to building capacity at the local level. To date, I have worked in partnership with the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission (LCRPC) to facilitate robust public engagement on climate issues. This past winter, we organized surveys and climate workshops in the towns of Alna and Damariscotta to identify residents’ climate concerns and priorities.

With our guidance, both Alna and Damariscotta enrolled in the State of Maine’s Community Resilience Partnership – a program which makes the towns eligible for state-sponsored grant funding for climate projects – in early 2024. Looking ahead, we will continue our partnership with LCRPC by working with the towns of Bristol and Newcastle to facilitate publicly-engaged climate resilience and adaptation efforts.

I am optimistic. Despite the short time I’ve worked for Coastal Rivers, it is clear that local residents care deeply about the well-being of our community and environment. This – together with Coastal Rivers’ demonstrated commitment to addressing climate issues – gives me hope that we will generate an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future for our special midcoast Maine community.

Ashley grew up in South Bristol and graduated from Lincoln Academy in 2018. Her first experience with Coastal Rivers was during the summer of 2021 as a Community Science Intern. She earned her B.A. in Environmental and Urban Studies from Bard College in 2022. After graduating from Bard, Ashley spent a year solo-traveling the world on a Watson Fellowship for her project “Community Science as Community Agency.” She began her graduate studies in Environmental Policy at Yale University in August 2024.