Julia Tilton

Julia Tilton

@juliatilton.com

Journalist covering energy + climate in rural U.S. for @dailyyonder.bsky.social. Contributor to @spectrum.ieee.org. Previously NASA podcasts. Based in Maine 🌲 https://juliatilton.com

172 followers83 following60 posts

Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Earlier this year, my colleague Ilana Newman and I spent time in Decatur, Illinois, where Google has struck a deal to pair natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration, all in an effort to get more power to data centers in the region. Here’s our story: dailyyonder.com/in-rural-ill...

dailyyonder.comIn Rural Illinois, Residents Protest a First-of-its-kind Agreement to Power Data Centers With Natural Gas + Carbon Capture and Sequestration | The Daily YonderVerlyn Rosenberger, 88, got involved with the progressive grassroots community organization Illinois People’s Action (IPA) 20 years ago. Over the decades,
The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Google struck a deal with Broadwing Energy and Big Ag processor ADM. With recent carbon leaks still fresh, locals oppose the project.

dailyyonder.comIn Rural Illinois, Residents Protest a First-of-its-kind Agreement To Power Data Centers with Natural Gas + Carbon Capture and SequestrationVerlyn Rosenberger, 88, got involved with the progressive grassroots community organization Illinois People’s Action (IPA) 20 years ago. Over the decades, the retired schoolteacher’s causes have ranged from protesting predatory payday lending to regional oil pipelines. Recently, however, the focus of Rosenberger’s activism has been close to home: opposing expansion at the nation’s first commercial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) plant in Decatur, Illinois.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for Daily Yonder. We looked at where local data center bans are springing up around the country. So far, rural areas lag behind metro ones in terms of bans, but it might just be a product of data center development history: most data centers are currently in metro areas.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Nearly 700 bans have been proposed across the country, with a quarter in rural communities as anti-data center backlash grows ahead of midterm elections.

dailyyonder.comMost Data Center Bans Are in Metro Areas, Despite More Facilities Heading for Rural AreasBuilding data centers is broadly unpopular across the political spectrum, but so far, banning new development is a mostly metropolitan area phenomenon. While more data centers are located in metropolitan areas than nonmetropolitan ones, two-thirds of all new facilities are planned for rural communities. The rural data center boom comes amidst rising backlash to the facilities. Earlier this year, my colleague Sarah Melotte and I…
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Over the past year, I’ve reported from across rural America on the rush to build AI infrastructure. This week, we’ve got a special, hour-long audio report digging into the power dynamics of this data center boom. Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts 💥 dailyyonder.com/power-dynami...

Julia Tilton reposted

The Daily Yonder
@dailyyonder.bsky.social

The Texas Tribune reporter talks the Big Tech rush to Texas and Governor Greg Abbott's proposed regulations.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Taylor Goldenstein on the Unique Politics of Data Centers in TexasEditor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week. Taylor Goldenstein is an enterprise and investigative reporter at The Texas Tribune covering data center politics.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for IEEE Spectrum. Vieques, an island 10 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico, faces extremely high electricity prices and unreliable power. A team of Cornell researchers is trying to change that by installing a microgrid powered by clean hydrogen and solar. spectrum.ieee.org/puerto-rico-...

IEEE Spectrum@spectrum.ieee.org

The island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico, is building a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered microgrid to keep the lights on after storms.

spectrum.ieee.orgTiny Puerto Rican Island Tests Hydrogen To Slash Sky High Power BillsBetter backup power system aids storm recovery
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for the Daily Yonder, my colleague Sarah Melotte and I mapped the data center boom as it relates to rural America. We looked at where rural data centers are being built, where rural data centers are being opposed, and how construction maps onto existing grid infrastructure.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Though the majority of data centers are located in urban or suburban areas, rural communities face unique challenges in the data center development landscape.

dailyyonder.comWe Mapped Rural Data Center Development – and Opposition. Here’s What We Found. Washington, D.C.’s metropolitan area has long hummed with data centers. The region, which encompasses much of Northern Virginia, has become known as Data Center Alley, home to more data centers than anywhere else in the world. But the data center boom, driven by the rise of AI and the race to build the infrastructure powering it, is changing the geography of these energy-intensive, warehouse-like facilities.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

In today's latest for the Daily Yonder, my colleague Ilana Newman and I dig into why Illinois' attempts to regulate data centers failed this session, and what's next for the POWER Act. dailyyonder.com/illinois-is-...

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Seven out of 10 Illinois residents supported the POWER Act, but it didn’t pass in the Illinois Legislature this session. Supporters are pretty confident the bill will be brought back up later this year.

dailyyonder.comIllinois Is “Not Quite Ready” to Pass Data Center Regulations Despite Public PressureThe Illinois General Assembly’s 2026 session wrapped up without advancing the POWER Act, a bill that proposes regulation on data centers. On June 5, 2026, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced a pause on new data center tax incentives and directed the General Assembly to revisit the data center issue during their veto session later this year. Data center development has recently ramped up in the state’s…
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

This week for the Daily Yonder. As the legislative session wraps up in Illinois, state lawmakers are debating the POWER Act to regulate data centers.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

On the heels of Sangamon County approving a $500 million data center in central Illinois, residents throughout the region express concern over facilities’ impact on energy, water, and the environment.

dailyyonder.comAs Illinois Lawmakers Debate POWER Act, Concerns about Data Centers Spill Into Rural CommunitiesOn a Monday night in late April, nearly 100 people gathered in a public library conference room in Bloomington, Illinois. Sipping on seltzer water and snacking on granola bars, the crowd’s focus was on a projector screen, where a title slide read, “Let’s Talk Data Centers!” A few of the event-goers had brought notebooks, their pens poised to take notes during the presentation.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Yesterday for the Daily Yonder. Rural Illinois activists are behind a bill that would end companies' ability to use eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines in the state. This story came from a trip to central IL last month, where I spoke with one of the lawmakers sponsoring the bipartisan bill.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Following success halting multiple carbon dioxide pipeline projects, a local coalition in central Illinois wants to stop the use of eminent domain for these potentially dangerous pipelines. 

dailyyonder.comProposed Bill Would Stop Eminent Domain for Carbon Dioxide Pipelines in IllinoisWhen central Illinois farmer Steve Hess found out that his community had won a fight against Navigator CO2 Ventures, a Dallas, Texas-based company building a pipeline to transport carbon dioxide across the region for storage underground, he threw a party. “It was exhilarating,” he said, about the 2023 win against the Black Rock-backed pipeline where local opposition “knocked down Goliath.” …
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Last week for the Daily Yonder. This story is one I worked on for a while, about a rural town in Maine that lost out on nearly a quarter of a million dollars in federal funding for affordable housing, because of a data center that didn't get built. Read it here: dailyyonder.com/how-a-data-c...

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

In rural Midcoast Maine, nearly a quarter of a million dollars in federal money earmarked for housing was rescinded from a small town after local officials sought to use the funds for a data center.

dailyyonder.comHow a Data Center Derailed $240,000 for Affordable Housing in Rural MaineOn a crisp afternoon in early April 2026, Richard Davis walked to the end of a boat launch on the Back River, a tidal channel that cuts through Midcoast Maine’s rocky coastline. As the tide swept in, Davis, co-founder of a local group called Protect Wiscasset and an area resident, fixed his attention on the opposite riverbank. There, a 300-acre parcel of land, mostly covered by evergreen trees, is the subject of a decades-long debate that’s sparked questions about land use, energy, and local control in the town of Wiscasset, a community in Maine’s rural Lincoln County with a year-round population of 4,000 residents.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Yesterday for the Daily Yonder. Maine Gov. Janet Mills wrote to legislators that she vetoed a first-of-its-kind data center moratorium bill because it did not include exemptions for a $550 million data center development in rural Jay, Maine, a former mill town.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Janet Mills broke with fellow Democrats by vetoing a moratorium bill and clearing the way for a proposed data center in rural Franklin County, Maine.

dailyyonder.comMaine Governor Vetoes First-in-Nation Data Center Moratorium Bill, Greenlights Rural DevelopmentMaine Governor Janet Mills vetoed a bill on Friday, April 24, 2026, to impose an 18-month moratorium on data centers with electricity loads of 20 megawatts or more. If passed, LD 307 would have been the first temporary state-level ban on data centers in the country. Mills’ decision is a departure from her Democratic party colleagues in the state legislature, who…
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Maine lawmakers have sent a moratorium bill that would temporarily ban large-scale data centers to Gov. Janet Mills’ desk. If she signs it, Maine would be the first state in the country to impose such a restriction. I dug into what it means for New England, and the U.S., if this bill goes through.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

The legislation still requires the Governor’s signature to become the law, but it represents a growing bipartisan concern among voters over potential energy rate hikes and water usage.

dailyyonder.comMaine Is Set to Ban Data Centers, Becoming the First State in the Nation to Do SoThe Maine Senate took a final vote on April 14, 2026, to enact first-of-its-kind legislation banning large data centers in the state until November 2027. The bill, LD 307, puts a moratorium on data centers with power needs of 20 megawatts or more, stymying proposed developments in several parts of the state, including in the rural mill town of Jay in Western Maine and at the former Loring Air Force Base in rural Limestone, Maine, near the Canadian border.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for the Daily Yonder. Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation to bring more regulation to data centers in the state.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

In places like Sangamon County, communities grapple with questions about energy, water, and the effects on the local workforce and economy.

dailyyonder.comIllinois Is Taking a Close Look at the Potential Effects of the Data Center BoomIn the early 2000s, Lori McKiernan worked in a data center outside Denver, Colorado, for a stint during her career with United Airlines. Two decades later, she’s leading an organized effort to pause data center development where she now lives in Sangamon County, Illinois. This new crop of data centers, which are springing up around rural America to power artificial intelligence, is different, McKiernan said.

Julia Tilton reposted

Emily Waltz
@emwaltz.bsky.social

Rising physical attacks on grid equipment have pushed utilities to up their game to protect the power supply. One of the main new threats: drones. Here's how utilities are preparing. By @juliatilton.com for @spectrum.ieee.org spectrum.ieee.org/power-grid-a...

spectrum.ieee.orgHow Utilities Are Tackling Rising Physical Threats to Power GridsCan AI and drones protect power grids from physical attacks? Discover how GridEx tackled this growing challenge.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Physical attacks on the grid are rising, prompting utilities to address security threats, including those from drones. But the issue isn't unique to the U.S., grid security experts told me for my latest piece out yesterday in @spectrum.ieee.org. spectrum.ieee.org/power-grid-a...

spectrum.ieee.orgHow Utilities Are Tackling Rising Physical Threats to Power GridsCan AI and drones protect power grids from physical attacks? Discover how GridEx tackled this growing challenge.

Julia Tilton reposted

The Maine Monitor
@themainemonitor.org

As the nationwide expansion of #datacenters arrives in New England, questions about #electricity prices, grid reliability, and impact on water resources are forcing elected leaders in #Maine to pump the brakes. Read more for free from @juliatilton.com below 👇 themainemonitor.org/maine-consid...

themainemonitor.orgMaine considers data centers moratoriumMaine officials want to know how data centers will affect energy costs in the region, which already has high electricity prices.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for the Daily Yonder. Maine lawmakers are considering a moratorium on data centers as businesses move into the region.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

The bill’s advocates want answers about how data centers will affect energy costs in the region, which already has some of the country’s highest electricity prices.

dailyyonder.comAs Data Centers Look to Rural New England, Maine Considers a MoratoriumWhen local officials in rural Wiscasset, Maine, voted on November 4, 2025, to pause a data center discussion in the community of around 4,000 year-round residents, it may have been a sign of what’s to come. As the nationwide expansion of data centers arrives in New England, questions about electricity prices, grid reliability, and impact on water resources are forcing elected leaders to pump the brakes.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Friday for the Maine Monitor. I dug into what a climate superfund act could look like for Maine, amidst legal challenges against similar laws in New York and Vermont.

The Maine Monitor@themainemonitor.org

As #Maine grapples with how to pay to fix roads, piers and other infrastructure damaged by severe storms that are increasing as the #climate changes, lawmakers are considering an act that would fine major #fossilfuel companies for past damage. Read more for free from @juliatilton.com below 👇

themainemonitor.orgHow would Maine’s proposed climate superfund work?Maine lawmakers are considering a bill requiring oil and gas companies to pay for the recovery costs of climate-related disasters.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Last week for the Daily Yonder. This conversation with journalist and filmmaker Jon Bonfiglio was recorded during a reporting trip down the Hudson River in Sept. 2025. We spoke about journalism, the Hudson River Valley, and how rural communities engage in environmentalism.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

The journalist and recent producer of Against the Current, a documentary film about the Hudson River Valley's history of music and activism, talks about his relationship with the region and the river.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Journalist and Filmmaker Jon BonfiglioIn September 2025, my colleague Ilana Newman and I canoed 50 nautical miles down the Hudson River to spend time in and report on the environmental issues faced by the rural communities between Albany, New York, and New York, New York. Our trip was led by journalist and filmmaker Jon Bonfiglio. Jon has canoed down the same stretch of the Hudson River every summer for a decade.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Those who know me know I am a huge Bad Bunny fan. Benito’s performance of El Apagón during his set last night was a pointed message about Puerto Rico’s power grid. I reported on *some* of those challenges for @spectrum.ieee.org last summer.

IEEE Spectrum@spectrum.ieee.org

When #BadBunny climbed utility poles at last night's #SuperBowl halftime show, his point came across loud and clear: Puerto Rico's power grid is crumbling, and the U.S. isn't doing enough about it. Here's what's happening in Puerto Rico. Photo: Kathryn Riley/AP. spectrum.ieee.org/puerto-rico-...

Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Yesterday for the Maine Monitor, I wrote about a tiny but mighty species of zooplankton that fuels the Gulf of Maine’s ecosystem.

The Maine Monitor@themainemonitor.org

In the Gulf of #Maine, studying zooplankton offers clues on the whereabouts of the endangered North Atlantic right #whale, helping improve conservation efforts, reduce collisions with boats, and inform scientists’ understanding of #climatechange. Read more for free from @juliatilton.com👇

themainemonitor.orgWhat can we learn from zooplankton?Meet the researchers using the tiny crustaceans to monitor endangered whales and climate change in the Gulf of Maine.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for the Daily Yonder. This story comes from time spent in the rural communities on the banks of the Hudson River last September, reporting at times from a leaky canoe. dailyyonder.com/hudson-river...

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

We paddled 50 miles down the Hudson River and found the region’s legacy of conservation lives on.

dailyyonder.comAfter Fighting for Clean Waters, Rural Communities along Hudson Take on Climate ChangeWhen Joe Ritchie thinks of his childhood in public housing in Cohoes, New York, he thinks of black dust. As a kid, Ritchie remembers playing on his neighborhood playground and watching dark dust clouds form across the street, less than half a mile from the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. During the winter, Ritchie would have only a few days to play in fresh snow before a layer of black dust settled on top of it.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Yesterday for @spectrum.ieee.org. I asked renewable energy firms how their communications have changed under the second Trump administration. In addition to politics, they told me that AI and the need for power are driving their messaging campaigns.

IEEE Spectrum@spectrum.ieee.org

In an effort to adapt to Trump's energy agenda, renewable energy firms have quickly shifted the way they communicate.

spectrum.ieee.orgTrump's Energy Agenda Shakes Up Firms' Messaging StrategiesClean energy firms have shifted their messaging strategy to adapt to Trump's energy preferences.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for the Daily Yonder. I dug into why rural Wisconsin has become a bit of a hotspot for data center development. Spoiler: it has to do with taxes.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Concerns over transparency, tax policy, and data centers’ utility usage drive many rural residents to oppose planned developments.

dailyyonder.comRural Wisconsin Has Become a Hotspot for Data Centers. State’s Unique Tax Instrument Explains WhyBlaine Halverson joked that his only exposure to data centers was from the Mission Impossible movies in the 1990s. That was, until one came to his town. Over the last seven months, Halverson’s community of Menomonie, Wisconsin, population 16,700, has become a flashpoint in a growing debate over data center development and local control in the state. Halverson has lived in Menomonie, which is just over an hour east of Minneapolis, for most of his life.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

The best book I read this year was @sarahkendzior.bsky.social‘s The Last American Road Trip. My brief review, plus more rural media recommendations from my colleagues, are at the link below.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

There’s plenty of noteworthy rural media that we haven’t been able to write about this year. So before we put 2025 too firmly in our rearview mirrors, we asked the Daily Yonder staff for a final roundup of the year’s best releases. Here are some of their favorite movies, music, TV shows, and books.

dailyyonder.comRural Media in the Rearview: 2025 End-of-Year RoundupWe're not done with 2025 quite yet! Here are some of our favorite rural movies, music, TV shows, and books you don't want to miss from the past year.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

In this week’s Climate Monitor, I wrote about what the end of the federal tax credits for heat pumps mean for Mainers.

The Maine Monitor@themainemonitor.org

Homeowners may see costs associated with installing and running a #heatpump rise in 2026, particularly as #electricity rates climb. Average electricity prices in #Maine increased at the third-highest rate over the 10 years, an analysis by The Monitor found. Read more from @juliatilton.bsky.social 👇

themainemonitor.orgAs tax credits expire, how will heat pump costs change in Maine?Federal clean energy incentives are expiring on Dec. 31. But homeowners will still have access to Efficiency Maine rebates.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for the Daily Yonder. Energy policy experts say rural utility customers face unique challenges around access to fuel and energy affordability programs, at the same time as electricity prices continue to climb.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Energy policy experts say LIHEAP, a federal heat assistance program, isn’t enough to address growing energy poverty.

dailyyonder.comAs Winter Approaches, Rural Americans Struggle to Afford HeatEach year, an estimated 80 million U.S. utility customers have trouble affording their monthly heat and electricity bills. Now, as the cost of energy climbs, experts say more people are at risk of energy insecurity and poverty, defined by the struggle or inability to keep up with electric, heating, and cooling bills. Rural utility customers face unique challenges around access to fuel and affordability programs, and they often live in older, less energy-efficient homes than their urban and suburban counterparts. 
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Catching up after Thanksgiving: Sat down with @aseitzwald.bsky.social of The Midcoast Villager for last week’s Q&A in @dailyyonder.bsky.social. We talked shop about rural news, earning trust, and what to make of the media industry in 2025. dailyyonder.com/qa-rural-mai...

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Rural Maine Newspaper Editor Alex Seitz-Wald | The Daily YonderEditor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Back in September, I spent a day in the woods (almost) getting lost down a dirt road with a team of carbon scientists. We were visiting one of Maine's first woodland owners to enroll in carbon credits. Despite carbon market controversies, I found rural landowners optimistic about their prospects.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

Across Maine and eight Appalachian states, small-scale forest landowners are earning income by letting their trees grow and store carbon over time.

dailyyonder.comCarbon Credit Markets Help Rural Landowners Hold on to Their Land Down a winding dirt road and dense forest canopy in Denmark, Maine, a two-story cabin sits on top of a hill, adorned with moose antlers. Bob Libby, who has owned the property since the late 1990s, refers to the building as his camp in the woods. He and his adult son spend November weekends there during hunting season. Libby’s hope is that the camp will stay in the family for generations to come.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Today for Daily Yonder. I spent some time in Brattleboro and Ludlow, Vermont reporting this story on rural disaster recovery amidst a changing FEMA landscape.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

With federal assistance in the face of natural disasters in question, Vermont turns to reforming its waterways management and diversifies its sources of emergency funding.

dailyyonder.comFEMA Funding at Risk for Vermont’s Rural Communities After Trump Denies Disaster Declaration RequestThe site of Brattleboro Housing Partnership’s former development in West Brattleboro, Vermont, is unassuming at first glance. The windows are boarded up, and native tall grass stretches across the property and along the banks of the Whetstone Brook, a tributary to the Connecticut River. On a Sunday afternoon in early September 2025, Windham Regional Planning Commissioner Chris Campany stood on the bridge that connects the property to Route 9 heading into Brattleboro.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Bit of a scoop today. Rural and urban organizers are coming together in southern Arizona over concerns about water usage and environmental impacts of a proposed 200-acre aluminum recycling plant.

The Daily Yonder@dailyyonder.bsky.social

‘We're not trying to lead their causes, but just support…in any way that we can.’ – When residents of Benson, Arizona, began organizing against an aluminum recycling plant, a Tucson group offered to help.

dailyyonder.comArizona Rural Grassroots Organizers Take on Industrial Developers, Aided by Urban AlliesOn the evening of August 21, 2025, Chris Giokaris hopped on the interstate heading southeast from his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. His destination was Benson, a town of about 5,500 people located 50 miles away. The small town is known as the gateway to the San Pedro Valley, in large part for the San Pedro River that winds its way north from Mexico as one of the last undammed rivers in the Sonoran Desert.
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Had the opportunity to go on @newscentersmaine.bsky.social this week to discuss my recent piece for the Maine Monitor on forest carbon credits. I’ve mentioned before that it’s a wonky topic, but fun to try and flesh out what’s happening in Maine. www.newscentermaine.com/article/news...

newscentermaine.comHow does Maine's forest carbon credit market work?As carbon credits gain traction, efforts are underway to help small family forest landowners participate.

Julia Tilton reposted

Canary Media Inc.
@canarymedia.com

On the shores of southern Maine, these oyster fishermen are keeping things quiet. That’s because they’re early adopters of all-electric boats, which are slowly taking off in the U.S. Read @mariagallucci.bsky.social ’s collab with @juliatilton.bsky.social of @dailyyonder.bsky.social

canarymedia.comElectric boats splash down in rural Maine's coastal watersBattery-powered vessels are catching on in the U.S. and globally as the tech improves. In Maine's Casco Bay, early adopters are using e-boats on oyster…
Julia Tilton
@juliatilton.com

Friday for the Maine Monitor. Forest carbon credits are gaining traction in Maine, but some worry the market is inaccessible for small landowners. I wrote about one startup trying to change that by measuring trees from the sky instead of the ground. themainemonitor.org/how-does-for...

themainemonitor.orgHow does Maine’s forest carbon credit market work?As carbon credits gain traction, efforts are underway in Maine to help small family forest landowners participate.