Wild Blueberry Heritage Center

At A Glance

Location: 

Columbia Falls, Maine

Primary Issue Area:

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

Active since:

2017

Tax Status:

501(c)(3)

Core volunteers:

36

Community Size:

1,100

  • L to R: Kaysie Logan, Former Program Director, Jeffrey Lovit, Treasurer, Lee Umphrey, President EMDC, Joline Blais, President WBHC, Liz Olcott, Executive Director, Dennis Wint, Senior Trustee

Our Purpose

At the Wild Blueberry Heritage Center (WBHC), our mission is to provide a deeper understanding of the natural history, science, and rich culture of the 10,000 year old wild blueberry’s indigenous ecosystem. Our vision is a future where the local community builds the capacity of rural farms and the prosperity of this biodiverse ecosystem, fostering ecological resilience in an ever-changing world. We are working to achieve this mission by creating a heritage center that will educate the local community and beyond about our unique ecosystem and cultural history, and thus promote enthusiasm and capacity for helping it thrive. Our goal is to generate knowledge and differentiate our unique ecosystem by collecting, preserving, and presenting our local heritage through modern technology and educational programming. We want to conserve the United States’ largest wild blueberry region by sharing the geological rareness of the natural barrens and building stronger relationships between agriculture, conservation, economics, and tribal traditions. We are also working to create and connect learning opportunities for people of all ages across the globe by updating our virtual museum (https://wildblueberryheritagecenter.org) available in different languages. We hope to revitalize the community and sustain rural, independent, family farms by inspiring pride for generational farms and encouraging aspirations for growth and sustainability within the wild blueberry industry.