Local Citizens for SMART Growth

At A Glance

Location: 

Searsmont, Maine

Primary Issue Area:

  • Land & Water
  • Environmental Health
  • Climate Change & Energy
  • Living Economies
  • Food

Active since:

2018

Core volunteers:

30

Our Purpose

Our mission is to preserve and enhance the future of local sustainable and regenerative food systems in Midcoast Maine, to oppose industrial scale aquaculture and agriculture, and to ensure that citizen awareness and opportunity to participate is included in all land use and economic planning decisions.  Our goals are: 1) to prevent a multinational corporation from constructing one of the world's largest land-based industrial "CAFOs" (concentrated animal feeding operation) in Belfast, Maine.  We are raising public awareness and opposition to the environmental risks of large, industrial Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) monoculture, which include massive fresh water extraction, harmful effluent discharge into Penobscot Bay, potential harm to existing shellfish and groundfish populations, and a huge carbon footprint. 2) To hold the City of Belfast accountable to local and state ordinances and laws, thereby helping to revitalize local democratic processes in support of environmentally responsible industrial development, and to build and strengthen the foundation for local, sustainable and regenerative food systems.  3) to restore healthy, bio-diverse fisheries to Penobscot Bay by working with other organizations to remove dams to provide for fish passage on local rivers, thereby allowing for restoration of Wild Atlantic Salmon on the coast of Maine.