Steve Young frames decades of field work, nonprofit conservation experience in LUPC hearing

Steve Young told the committee he has worked in forestry, wildlife and environmental monitoring for decades, including jobs with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Fraser Papers, and later founding the Upper St. John River Organization. He said his nonprofit achieved 501(c)(3) status in 2019 and has used grant funding to acquire and manage properties for conservation and public access.

Young described collaborations with the University of Maine at Fort Kent and the Saint John Valley Technical Center for inventories, operations and community engagement. "We've established a dark sky location on one of the properties, and we've been very successful in partnering with the University of Maine at Fort Kent," he said. He also cited past contracts doing ambient air quality and PFAS monitoring for regional mills.