The Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative (EMCI), founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization with broad conservation interests that seeks to:
- Foster environmentally sustainable communities of the eastern Maine coast.
- Encourage appreciation and preservation of the cultural geography of the Downeast region.
- Help inspire an appreciation for conserving its ecological communities through natural history research.
In so doing, EMCI works to fill a recognized gap in funding coverage of the Maine coast by focusing on the region east of Mount Desert Island and the Canadian border.
To this end, EMCI supports:
- Scientific research that helps guide sustainable management of the eastern Maine coast by private landowners, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, in an effort to conserve and enhance the region’s unique ecological communities, while being mindful of how these can contribute to an appreciation of the region’s economy and culture.
- Historical societies, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions that are custodians of information and artifacts relevant to local history that are sometimes scattered and not easily available.
EMCI is registered as a 501(c) 3 corporation.